That's The Week

It's been a long week.

Alex and Stacia are in the final push to finish this school year.  We'll all be putting in time tomorrow, but I think they will both make it.

We continue to "stay at home."  Here are some glimpses of the week.... Tuesday, we made a run to the inside of a store to pick up a few essential items.  Michael found a mask in the garage. Honestly, we feel silly wearing masks...BUT our state is about to begin the experiment of opening back up. A big part of seeing success will be for citizens to voluntarily act responsibly...and our governor has asked we wear masks when inside stores or in places where we are around those who do not live in our home. It's an easy thing to do. Staying 6 feet away from grandchildren is proving to be much more difficult.

I've noticed some are getting far to wrapped around the mask so to speak....I lost my mask Monday between the car and the pharmacy....good GRIEF...the looks, the comments...you would have thought I was the vilest criminal in Alaska.  I had my mask on this trip...and again the looks from those NOT wearing masks.  Out of love for my father, my family, and those I come into contact with, I will wear a mask when out and about. Why? Because our Governor has asked us to, and because I have PERSONAL FRIENDS who tested positive and were totally befuddled when they did.  I don't THINK I have the virus, but shoot, Beth hadn't left her home in 4 weeks and somehow contracted it....so I will wear my mask out of care for YOU - even if you are one making fun of me for wearing the mask. How's that? You do you. I'll do me. 

Another odd mask thing - folks don't smile, or exchange greetings when wearing masks. I am working to break that trend. We may look like bandits, but we can be friendly bandits.  

I have a personal goal of walking 20 miles this week. I  have discovered it's fun to catch up on polos and to send polos while walking.... Stacia and I walked together one day which was fun too. 

This particular day I was exploring a new road...wow! I loved it, but began to feel like I was getting a bit too isolated with no bear spray or protection. It turns out I was walking my way to the shooting range....which was closed. On a typical day there would have probably been more traffic and it wouldn't have felt so eerie. 

This week has also had it's share of church Zooms. Tuesday night was Bible Study, Thursday was a church staff meeting, and this morning a coffee date.

Staff in a box

This has to be the saddest, and yet most hopeful, photo of the week. Our snowman has melted....he was created Feb 19th, so lasted a bit over two months...that's not bad. Spring...is....here.

We still have fabric on the free bolt from Joann's. Krista and I spent significant time making more masks today. We gave 20 of them away before dinner....we may never get enough to take back to Joann's.  Adding the masks all of us have made we are up to 117....and we have significant fabric left....I want to make some cute ones....The girls would like to work on their quarantine quilt....I gave up starting a quilt when I saw  mask making was the new skill I was destined to learn during this time. 

We ended the school week with pizza, Despicable Me, and some fun clips from Holderness Family. Stacia and I did have a Bible Study adventure which I'll blog separately, but this is our week.

Oh yes, our Covid numbers are great in Alaska. I think it's because we are spread out, our population is small, and our leadership began informing and putting mandates in place when the  first case popped up. Our Governor has begun to cautiously open things up. As of today, there can be limited retail and dining in....this amounts to 25% of capacity and family groups making reservations and eating together...at a table 10 feet from the next table. We can gather in groups of 20, but if we are with those whom we don't live with, we are to be 6 feet apart. High risk folks are encouraged to continue to stay home. OH! We can travel between communities on the road system. They are opening some service industries with new restrictions...no waiting rooms, one provider/one client at a time....hair salons, barbers, chiropractors...and elective procedures will begin again. The plan is to watch for 2 weeks and if numbers aren't out of control, they'll open more up at the end of that time. If things spike....they'll tighten those areas back up.  We've been told there will be more cases, but they feel the health system can handle it at this point. Frankly, if we all do the social distancing and wear the masks, wash our hands etc....things should go well....if not....there you have it....I think a big test will be the point where groups begin gathering again and air travel opens up....

Bible Study Adventure

One unexpected benefit of the quarantine has been the need to find new spots for our Mother Daughter Bible Study. We miss Sophia's....but we have loved our new routine, too. We drive through and get our "regular" order....and find a scenic spot to enjoy breakfast and discuss this week's Bible passages. 

Today, we set out to find the "Swimming Hole." We weren't sure of the real name of the spot...but we remembered where it was. We THOUGHT we MAY have found the spot...but there was much less water than we remember....

 Kareen, a local friend, confirms THIS IS the swimming hole and it will be much fuller in a month.  After  our breakfast discussion...we decided to keep driving up this road. It is a road we've never driven up before.

We went to the Pioneer Ridge Trail.....and decided it would be best to come back with real shoes and possible hiking sticks.

We continued to drive, in awe of the views we discovered. We noted this was the Alaska of reality shows...buses, broken down RV's, and tar paper shacks....all with chimneys, sweeping valleys, rivers and snow covered mountains. 

We drove to the end of the road and found a resort - empty at this time. We noted a nice parking spot and hoped it would be a spot we could park and picnic with G Dog (Dad).  It really isn't a great spot for him to sit and enjoy the view....we climbed down below the signs which said, "Private property stay below high water mark."

I stood in one spot and took the picture above and turned the other way and got the picture below. It was serene, beautiful, refreshing.

Interesting ice shards...

Gherkins have been making little rock towers/cairns for decades...long before it became a "thing," and certainly before it  became "bad"....we did not destroy any environmental elements. 

This cool print was filled with ice crystals....

We picked up quite a few flat rocks to paint. We found these rocks interesting.  

 

Stacia scooped a handful of snow and discovered she was holding a handful of ice crystals. 

Further inspection proved this area of the beach to be ice crystals rather than snow.

 It was a yummy breakfast, a beautiful drive, a new adventure and a great discussion on the weight of our words. Words matter.

I look forward to more Bible Study adventures with Stacia.

Unremarkable Monday

I'd love to say we woke today full of vim and vigor - whatever that may be.

However, everyone seemed to be dragging.

Nolan got off to work.

Alex and Stacia got up and hit the school books. I have 90% of the school work I need for Stacia.

Krista was later than usual - turns out she isn't feeling well and spent much of the afternoon in bed.

I sat a goal of walking 20 miles this week.  Considering the blisters on the bottom of my feet, the goal may not be realistic this week. I knew I could say 15 and I'd hit it...so I'm stretching.  I thought I'd do a 2 mile walk to get the week's goal started...and then I'd do 45 in on the elliptical. I felt good and kept walking when I hit the 1 mile mark and had planned to turn around.

Irony Illustrated

The only thing better would have been a caution sign

Look how much snow has disappeared in the last few days. I like to walk alone. I pray, think, observe....and I polo. Yep, it's a great time for me to catch up on polos....I polo my sister friends (Beth and Julie) and my cousin, Lorri. I had a polo from Arielle to answer so got that done too....other than that -  I simply enjoy the moments.   I was feeling good....rounded the corner and knew I had about 3/4 of a mile left....and then I remembered...it's uphill.

Up the hill - turn right - you're home...you can do it. 

Made it! 

I WAS walking and NOT snowboarding. 

Five miles and my pace improved from Saturday, which had improved from my solitary walks last week. 

My feet really didn't hurt - just a tad bit uncomfortable - while I walked. I had on big wool/fleece socks....when I took my shoes off....YOWZER.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to walk tomorrow.... I stayed off the elliptical. I'm trying to give them time to heal.

Michael worked on repairs today...fixed a fan that wasn't lined up to blow anything OUT... this should greatly help in the downstairs bathroom.

I ordered a new step tracker and it came today.  I got tired of Fit Bits that last 6 months.  Seriously. I've had 3 now. The latest quit synching, then the sleep monitoring quit, the heart rate quit, and finally it simply froze. Nothing would get it going again. I'd had it less than 6 months. I figured I may as well get a cheap off brand from Amazon. AT 1/6th the cost if it only lasts months it won't bug me...AND it is supposed to do the same or more....I found this little note in the box and knew right away this was not an American company....far more polite than I expected. "Hello dear,"...

Stacia, Dad and I watched  Holderness Family clips this evening. Michael is doctoring Big Red. Krista and the boys disappeared....I expect to bed.

Today we heard the price of a barrel of oil has dropped  below $0. It's like -$37 a barrel. Wow. Praying for all those we know who work in the oil fields of TX or on the North slope of AK.  Much of our state's budget depends on the price of oil....and I think it was figured on $60 a barrel or maybe $20.....certainly not on -$37.  Another historical moment...the day toilet paper cost more than a barrel of oil.

Another Sunday - the new norm?

What in the world is Michael doing? 

I'll leave you to ponder that and we'll get back to it later. Today, signals the end of our family's 5th week in sequestration and the start of the 6th week of "staying at home."  We are thankful for church via You Tube.  Though we miss the real thing...with interaction between congregants.

Pastor Shannon came to visit

We had a funny moment during church. You can see Michael up there in his recliner.  I am sitting on the opposite end of the room. I flung a question up to him in the middle of clip - which he answered. Then it hit me...we're in danger of becoming the Corinthian church...wives flinging questions across the room to husbands...mayhem.  ::Snort::

Most of us took leisurely Sunday afternoon naps today. I didn't get a walk or work out in. My feet are feeling better, but I really want the blisters healed and read for walking again by tomorrow....

Check this out - the three little pines we planted made it through the winter. 

WHAT was Michel doing? Why squeegeeing the yard of course. The water from the mountain and the road all run down into our yard... what a mess it is this time of year. We are considering a French drain....but for today, I broke up the ice at the bottom of the stairs in preparation of bringing Dad down...and when we came out this sight greeted us. 

I made sugar free blondies and we enjoyed them around the fire. They aren't quite as moist as ones with sugar...but everyone ate them. Nolan and I went up and brought down ice cream for most too. Ice cream and fire...Sunday night. LOL 

Note the girls' attire...shorts and rain boots. 

Once again, I feel the need to explain Alex's actions. He is not throwing snow at her - he's putting flames in her hair out. ::snort::

I really have no words for this shot. 

Six weeks....our governor is opening up non-essential medical practices and elective surgeries. I'm not sure how long they plan to watch the numbers before talking about things like restaurants and church...but I'm at peace. We have all been very impressed with our Governor and his leadership team. When the federal government couldn't send all the tests we needed, they got several local businesses to begin making them. A local brewery made hand sanitizer.  When we couldn't get masks, they suggested making cloth masks at home, before the CDC admitted they'd be better than nothing. They are very careful and aware of how we differ from other states....I can't imagine the balancing act and the stress this time is for our state and national leaders. I've prayed for more commissioners by name in the past six weeks.  Our state numbers seem to be fairly level 5 - 10 news cases a day....sad to see the US numbers of death rising...but the rate seems to be slowing....grieved to hear Japan is having another outbreak....praying for our world.

Peace at home

 Chicken Spa - Michael is giving her an Epsom salt bath. He's researched on YouTube and she's happy to take a bath - which I think signifies things aren't great for her.  She's staying in the box and that tells me she's very lethargic.

Thus ends the day, or begins another week of Sequester 2020.

Signs of Spring EVERYWHERE

Saturday was gorgeous! It was 48* when I opened the doors and sat out on the deck with tea. It was 52* when Krista and Stacia came up and suggested a walk. YES.  Dad was happy to spend the morning reading his paper on the deck. I hear it was up to 68* at our weather station - on the deck. 

Krista and Stacia thought we should do a 6 mile walk. I had been doing 3 and 4 mile walks. I was game. The boys joined us.  The only problem was I needed to be back home by 12:45 to start a Zoom Coffee Date with a couple of gals from church. 

It was a BEAUTIFUL WALK.....there were mountain views on EVERY road....and we made it home in time. It was only 4.75 miles to our home, I walked up the street and back to total 5.3 miles. I wasn't about to go less than 5 miles after all the effort we'd put forth. The girls went around again and walked 9.5 or so....I discovered blisters on the bottoms of my feet...good time to stop. 

Signs of spring in Alaska - families out walking. 

Front - Krista, Me
Back - Nolan, Alex, Stacia

We did run into what looked to be a clandestine birthday gathering on a deserted corner in the middle of nowhere.  I would have wondered about drugs...but you know not quite the same.

Water running down the roads can only mean spring break up....

First buds in our yard

 Mint tea in the sun 

The lost shovel - oh the things one discovers as the snow melts. 

A chicken in the basement. 

What? Yep - a chicken in the basement. She's not doing well and Michael has been trying to help her along. She's a great hen and lays huge green eggs...but I suspect Big Red's days are numbered. 

We grilled chicken, I made potato salad in the instant pot (genius - potatoes and eggs boiled at the same time).  Dad suggested a game of Farkle after dinner.  We checked to see if Lorri could play a game with us and she COULD. We are finding lots of ways to utilize Zoom. 

Cousin Lorri chats with Dad 

 Alex plays from the counter - far more than 6 ft from Dad....the times we live in. 

It was a fun day. Such beautiful, sunny weather...first mosquitoes! Yikes! Michael is fixing the Mosquito Magnet and I think it's time to get it going.

This Is Us?

I've wanted a reader board for a long time...and this was on sale. I didn't realize until I got it home, and had all the pieces apart, that it only has pegs on the BOTTOM of the letters...and since the board is wood, the letters don't slide very easily...I valiantly put up a verse, "My peace I give to  you...." six weeks ago.... 

Today, I thought I'd put our memory verse on the board....a helpful reminder in many ways....

I learned from the first go around to center it out before I started sliding letters into place....and finally,  it was finished...

 Michael finds the "This is us" - crooked and off centered - to be ironic. He says it "fits." I wouldn't know what he's talking about and trust that eventually he'll straighten it for me. ::wink:: It's been documented throughout decades of moving  I simply can't hang a straight picture....but check out the reader board! ::snort:: So - I got out the duct tape - yes, I did....and I taped those pesky letters to the board.

What do you think? Should I leave the sign crooked...It's quirky, slightly off center, a bit of fun....but it's kinda driving me crazy too because the whole world can see at a glance that I'm just a bit less than perfect. Come, to think of it, it is us. It's o.k.

This is us.