April 29, 2020. The Unplanned and Unexpected Spring of 2020. (Jackson MO)

March 16, 2020
The last day of normal. It seems much longer since Normal ended.
I had a dental appointment.  Coronavirus-19 was being mentioned.  The governor was announcing "quarantine", "social distancing", "wearing masks", "closing businesses", closing schools.  

It all happened.  
Restaurants are closed, except for drive-throughs and curb service. Many won't reopen.
Churches are closed.  We now worship online.
We wear masks when away from our home.  Thanks to a kind neighbor across the street we have masks.
Our son is shopping for groceries and delivering to our home. There are shortages of various products.

Heroes are everywhere. 

The most vulnerable are afflicted with "the virus". We find ourselves keeping up with number of cases reported, numbers recovering, and most awful, number of deaths.
ZOOM is now used to keep in touch with family and friends.
Sports, from amateur to professional, has been cancelled.

High school and college graduations are cancelled or postponed.  Brady, our college senior, has finished his final year "online".  Suddenly the future for him has changed.  There are no job interviews, no place to "work on a Master's degree".  

There is much to be thankful for.
Communications that allow us to "see" one another through Zoom or FaceTime.
We, and our close family, are well. But...yes, we have friends that have lost loved ones because of the Virus.
We have a home with lots of space in which to wait out the "stay at home" orders.  We are not in a large city on the 44th floor with no yard or birds to watch, or walk around.

Glen had a first "tele-medicine" FaceTime event:  discussed symptoms with a nurse,  "yes, it is gout",  "show me your ankle", and "I will call in medicine for you."  (Yes, the gout is gone)

We have enjoyed some "mental health" days: a drive to three wildlife refuges, a drive to a local azalea garden which was in full bloom.

Glen is keeping the bird feeders full. We watched Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird hatch five eggs, feed countless caterpillars, grubs, flies to those five babies.  Those five babies have now flown and Mr. and Mrs. are now constructing a new nest.  

When will we be able to get a haircut?

Bald Eagle nest

Above are a few pictures from our day trips.  

Looking to the future.
We have tickets to "Hamilton" at the Fox Theater in St. Louis in June.  Will we be able to attend?
Will the campgrounds on state and federal lands be reopened.  Will there be a family reunion in July?
When will it be safe to shop for our own groceries?

At this point we don't know.  

Day 18: Winter Trip: Zapata,TX,,,,,,,,,DECEMBER 31 2019 NEW YEARS' EVE

It is the final day of 2019.  New Years Eve.  

End of year. End of a decade. Beginning a new year and a new decade.

Me (in a serious tone): [to Glen]  did you ever think you would be in 2020?
Glen: yes, after I went to the eye doctor.

First 2020 joke.

We have been to a brief service at church.  We were reminded to count our blessings, to look forward to a new year, to new opportunities.

Last Saturday, December 28, we hosted an informal jam session at our place.  There were 8 performers and three in the audience.  The performers appreciated the opportunity to play/practice/learn about keys/timing/learn new songs.

It was so much fun that we are going to have a repeat this coming Saturday! 

Our son Darin celebrated his birthday the day after Christmas.  

We wish you a new year filled with blessings. 

Day 12. December 24, 2019 CHRISTMAST EVE (Zapata TX)

This past week has sped by!
We have worked each day at outdoor projects: trimming mesquite trees, and raking mesquite beans/leaves.  It is looking better!

The musicians from Tuesday night are wanting to have an informal Jam session.  We are working at organizing the table/chairs in the outdoor space.  We eventually want to have space for 6-8 musicians to gather here, maybe on Saturday after lunch.

The weather is wonderful, warm enough for everyone to gather outside after lunch.  Highs the past four days have been in the mid-high seventies.  

Yesterday Glen joined several others for lunch, celebrating the eighth wedding anniversary of Del and Jean, ages 88 and 94.  Glen was the musical entertainment, leading the group in several songs.

Last evening Jim and Dee invited us to join them at the local sushi restaurant.  Yes, sushi in Zapata.  It was delicious; I might say the best ever we have eaten.  I hope the locals appreciate the different cuisine, excellently prepared sushi.  We want them to be successful.

This afternoon Dee and Jim prepared lunch for friends from this neighborhood.  There were nine of us.  The lasagna was delicious.  It was wonderful to visit with and catch up with friends/neighbors. We enjoyed the time and meal on the patio.

We have just returned from Christmas Eve service at church.  The service was followed by a casual meal with tamales.  Tamales are generally only prepared for the Christmas season.  They are always deliciously homemade, much better than those bought in a can from a grocery store shelf.

December 19, 2019. Day 6, Zapata

Things said last week......
"Remember, we don't have to be in a hurry to get everything done!"
"We have lots of time to get things done."
"We can't work as hard as we used to!"

Yes, we said those things!
Things said last week....

"Remember we don't have to get everything done immediately."
Remember we can take our time."
"Remember we need to take more breaks and rest."

Did we pay any attention yesterday or today? No!
Once we get started it is difficult to take it easy or not work at breakneck speed!  But..
We are taking breaks!

Today we trimmed ONE tree, with a limb pile as big as a pick up. We pile the limbs outside the fence along the edge of the street.  The county maintenance department truck came along while we were finishing and picked it up! Faster than I could get a picture of it!  

The birds have found the suet and grape jelly early this morning! We enjoy watching and seeing bird varieties that are only here in south Texas!  Pictures later.

Glen attempted to the lawn mower started with no success! He will figure out the problem when there isn't other things to do.  I used the weed eater on the few scraggly weeds growing around the most used space.

The replaced water pressure regulator worked with no issues today. Glen worked on moving the items stored in the bath area.  

Glen also found the box with the wind screens.  He hung three of them!  We are ready if it really rains tomorrow. There is 80 percent chance.  Rain is needed urgently here. 

Tired yet?  I won't bore you with detail by detail with all we did today. Also visited with two neighbors.

Check FB for a couple of pictures. I have a new phone but that doesn't really explain why I haven't figured out how to get pictures from the phone to my iPad!  There should be sharing between the two but there isn't.

December 18, 2019. Day 5. Arrival Zapata Tx

After spending two great days with Trisha, Jeff, and Natalie, we left Tuesday morning heading south and west to Zapata.....with the intentions of spending the night in the way.

Plan B!
We go to interstate 35 and kept going to Laredo, turned south on Highway 83, and arrived just before dark last night.  We usually avoid interstates because of 18-wheeler traffic and rough surfaces.  Yesterday's trip wasn't too bad.

END OF DAY
Several hours later: we are tired!

The concrete floor of the outdoor space has been cleaned! Some limbs from one tree has been trimmed. 
Glen has a plumbing project.  He is replacing the water pressure regulator which we were told at the end of last season didn't work properly.

The water has been turned on and trash service started.  Not that there is much grass but what is here needs mowing. We thought we had someone who was going to mow but it is obvious that he hasn't been here!

It is a good start on all that has to be done.

Last night Glen went to the last hour of jam session.There were eleven in the audience and seven on stage.  Numbers will pick up after Christmas.  It will be three weeks before the next session because of the holidays.  Of course he was welcomed with open arms. I pleaded fatigue and stayed home.

We have visited with several neighbors!
The neighborhood is changing.  There are several more houses and more being built since we here in early spring 2018.

The lake level is LOW, not the lowest we have seen, but low!

December 15, 2019 Day 2, Winter Journey (Rockwall TX)

The head start on the trip yesterday made a short traveling day today.

Leaving Searcy on I 30 we stayed on interstate to just east of Dallas!

We are parked on the street in front of Trisha and Jeff's home! We will visit here until Tuesday morning! 

We are enjoying listening to podcasts. Trisha and Marcella have been telling us about the many subjects available on podcasts. I have finally figured out all the steps involved....Bluetooth speaker turned on and synced with the phone, finding the episode we want to listen to! None of this is difficult. I just had to convince myself I could turn on the right things!!

The podcasts do make time pass quickly!

December 14, 2019 Winter 2019-2020. Day One

The weather forecast for southeast Missouri is uncertain for the next couple of days.  We chose to leave today, knowing we could leave without weather threats.

After spending the morning at our son/wife and children, there was one last load from the house to the motor home...the refrigerator items! 

We were on the road shortly before one!  We traveled a different route. Normally we would go south toward Memphis TN then westward across Little Rock Arkansas. Today we went west to Poplar Bluff MO, following highway 67 to north of Little Rock.

There was much less traffic, a few miles of two lane highway, and a better highway surface on today's route! We enjoy going through the smaller towns, saw hundreds of bales of cotton, scores of Hawks looking for mice, and fields filled with water and several hundred snow geese looking for a landing site!

We are spending the night at Searcy Arkansas. We found the Love's truck stop and the parking area was filled!  Across the street was a parking lot type area, open for overnight parking 5p.m. To 10 a.m.  for $10! Much quieter than Love's, level and an attendant on duty! Just what we needed!

We will travel farther south and west tomorrow!

Darin, our son, was ready to use the tractor that he purchased to use on his farm!  Glen helped him hook up the brush hog, then the blade!  He is going to have fun "playing" with the big boys' toys!!
Zade and Ashlynn are learning to drive the side by side (with an adult as passenger)!

Ten more days til Christmas! Are you ready?