Wednesday 10 June 2020

June 10th - hot and stormy

I woke in the middle of the night last night, 3:25 to be exact, because I realized the ceiling fan was no longer on. The power was out - again. This is the third time in the past few weeks that we've lost power. It was very windy last night, so maybe a tree branch took a line down somewhere. I got up and was concerned about the strong winds (a tornado swept through the area in which I grew up in 1979 and I still get a little bit cautious when the sky looks ugly, or hot and cool fronts come together - no the tornado did not damage our home, but did damage some in our general area), and closed some windows for fear the rain would come sweeping in. I think I woke again when I heard the hydro truck just down our road - I could hear the workmen talking back and forth.

Well, I did manage to get back to sleep, and then slept longer than usual this morning, but of course was awake in time to open up my virtual learning page and get onto my work email and start my day. It was very, very hot today with heat warnings. Then as I was putting the sausages and a chunk of beef on the barbecue for supper, the sky got dark grey and the wind picked up and there was a general flurry of securing things and closing up the chickens, and I kept the meat on the barbecue as long as I could, moving closer and closer to the house under the porch so I didn't get hit by the rain or by spruce cones that were flying off the blue spruce at the back of the house. I managed to get everything cooked enough and we ate supper and the worst of the wind died down and then we moved to the other porch and enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the rain was falling gently. Still, the hummingbirds came to their feeder and we watched gold finches flit around and a robin with something in its beak called and chirped and hopped around, but whoever it was calling for didn't show up while we were watching.

I received notice just a couple of days ago that we could return library books to the library in the town closest to me, but only by putting them through the book return slot. We could go online and reserve books and then we would be able to pick them up "curbside" - which is now a regular term, isn't it? Business being done "curbside". I still can't see my own family doctor and have to wait more than a month to even talk to him on the phone, but I can do other business "curbside". Anyway, I reserved two books and got notice just one day later that they were ready for pickup. The lady from the library called me and told me which entry to drive to and so after I picked up this week's groceries, I drove to the library, pulled my vehicle up, a girl was in the entry way, she held up a paper bag with my initial and last name on it. I gave a nod and a wave and she came out, masked up, I put the window down on the passenger side and she basically tossed the bag of books in and I said thank you very much and off I went. Life is so strange now.

We can now have gatherings of ten humans as long as we distance between people with whom we do not currently reside. No dentist appointments or doctor appointments, but I think we can get our hair cut. I got two hanging ferns for the front porch and I wove my way through a literal maze at the garden center. I was stuck behind two individuals (I actually knew them from years and years ago) and a garden center cart and they were completely oblivious to me standing there, waiting while they pondered over every herb on every shelf, and because it was set up like a maze, I couldn't just jump over to the next aisle. Eventually they started to round a corner and move over to one side, so I scooted past them and continued through the maze until I got to the check out.

Coming up this week, I am to go to my work place (my school) and assist in parents coming to pick up their child's or children's belongings. We left for March Break and never came back, so running shoes, desks full of notebooks and pencil cases and doo-dads are still at school, as the virus made it impossible for anyone to just nonchalantly pop into the school to grab some things. The older students will have lockers full of things - and oh yes, there will be sandwiches and apples, and heavens knows what else in those lockers... There are very strict guidelines and protocol as to how this is going to happen, and likely not everyone will come. I get one hour before people start to arrive to make sure that text books and classroom reading books don't go home with children's belongings. I have fewer and fewer students visiting my virtual learning page, which is understandable as it basically feels like summer and it was never business as usual, or a continuation of our classroom learning, but I still provide activities, and videos of myself explaining things, and assignments for those whose parents are no doubt nudging them in the direction of the computer for something to do for an hour or so. They will all still receive final report cards - mailed to their homes I would imagine.

My vegetable garden is now all planted and I've gone out a few times looking carefully at the rows to see if I can see anything sprouting, but all I see is a couple of random potato plants where last year's potatoes were! Obviously something was left in the ground and not rototilled too far away. I don't know if I'll leave them to mature or not - they are messing up my "perfect" rows! But with this rain and heat, I should be seeing something soon. Bye for now.

28 comments:

  1. Our public libraries in Edmonton aren't open yet and I just read today that when they do, we will have to return books slowly (presumably on some kind of library-by-library system) because there are 250,000 of them out and it would overwhelm them to have them all returned at once. The books have to cleaned and/or isolated before they can be loaned out again.

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    1. Our little library also "isolates" the books after they've been returned.

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  2. That must make going to the library feel a bit like dealing in illegal substances! We love your description of the weather changes and the cones raining down on you as the wind picked up. F's dad used to call that a 'buster'.

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    1. When I walked out this morning, I saw lots of little branches and bunches of leaves down as well. Yes, it was very odd to have my stash of books dropped in my vehicle in a brown paper bag!

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  3. I enjoyed the read Jenn. Thank you. We share many of these things here too. Xx

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  4. It will be curbside pickups for a long time for many businesses; our new normal. As of 12:01am June 12th in all of Wellington County by order of the Heath Officer, must wear a face mask when in any business; grocery stores, pharmacies, offices, doctors (that's if you can get in). Our power also goes off far too, so in the summer we can at least bring the solar lights in to read & then opt for cooking on the barbeque. A pinecone hail storm would hurt! I am so glad our library glad offers curbside. The library being closed was what I missed most.

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    1. The mask is not a "must" here. There are a lot of people who do not wear them, but store clerks, etc do.

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  5. Love your description of the storm approaching and sitting on the porch.
    Curbside does seem strange. Only because I suppose we had nothing like that here. And, doctors kept on working normally.
    My hair is getting longer and longer. Hairdressers opened up ages ago but I can't be bothered going yet.
    Roll on summer hols. You'll have plenty of time for the garden and the girls. Hope you have decent weather

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    1. I am surprised that your doctors kept on as normal. If you went to the emergency department at a hospital, you could be seen, but family doctors were taken away from their practise to help with the pandemic. Mind you, where I live there is NOBODY in hospital for this and nobody has died, so it makes me wonder what my doctor is doing that he can't be seeing patients.

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  6. I think you had the same weather we had two nights agago and yesterday. It was so hot and now the temp has really dropped and I was picking up little empty plastic flower pots that had blown around when their container tipped over! Well done on the garden and nice about the library. You are opening slower than we are and I wish I lived where you did. Even though we aren't fully open, no one seems to be paying attention and people get very angry when you ask them to wear a mask or keep distance. I don't go out except where I can control my environment. That's actually OK with me, but it's also really a shame.

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    1. Well, when you go to town, in the grocery store, for example, many people are not wearing masks, but all the employees must. We are just fortunate in that we have currently 10 cases in a very big geographical region and only had 99 altogether (most have recovered).

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  7. I like the way you write. Those first two paragraphs felt like two pages from a really good book, I didn't want it to end. We are in a period of hot humid weather right now with a chance of storms and flash flooding. It's too hot and sticky feeling to work outside. I went to gather the eggs yesterday and in one of the nests was a big black snake. I've been expecting that to happen...it does every summer. Scares me to death!

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    1. Oh my! I have never seen a snake in or close to the hen house. I would have shrieked! It was very hot here, but now this morning, it's cooled off considerably.

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  8. We've been having the terrific winds as you have, but not the hot weather. Quite cool and I'm ready for our cold June temps to be gone (and so is my garden) and summer to really begin. Things in my garden are holding their own but not growing.

    The descriptions of the every day things in your neck o' the woods sound much like ours. Our library is allowing ordering of books but it's taking several WEEKS for requests to arrive. One of the librarians told me (over the phone) that after they receive a book from another library they have to "quarantine" that book for two weeks. Makes the whole process s-l-o-w. I miss the taken-for-granted of our library services.

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    1. Yes, that is a similar procedure where our library sets all returned books aside (somehow, I guess knowing how long they've been isolated) before making them available again.

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  9. When will be you be relieved of your duties for the summer for good?
    I wear a mask, though most places in town do not require them. I suffer mightily from seasonal allergies so (on my rare, necessary visits to town) I don't want anyone getting upset with my sneezy coughy self.
    My potatoes, onions and carrots are up. Still waiting on zuchinni, beets and parsnips. Lots of heat and rain up here in the Ottawa Valley so I don't know what's keeping them. GOing to plant oak leaf lettuce today.

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    1. We are expected to work (i.e. post activities / assignments, respond to students, do our report cards, communicate with staff and admin, and eventually clean up our own classrooms) right until the end, just like any other year because we are being paid. I believe our last day is June 26th. I still don't see any seedlings up yet, but I have high hopes.

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  10. "Life is so strange now." This really says it all. We are more 'open' than you... and many don't wear masks... even though we get at least 300 new cases daily. DH and I stay home for the most part, do curb-side pickup of groceries where they just put them in the back of your car - no getting out, no open windows.
    My daughter has had black snakes in her hen house. Scary!
    We CAN get haircuts here, but even though my hair is getting a bit uncivilized, I'm not ready to risk it yet... not with the numbers still going up.
    We order things online, spray them down when they arrive, and then wait 24 hours before opening anything. May or may not be necessary, but why take the risk?
    We do believe this will go on for quite a while - so best get used to it and learn to accept the new normal. Take care and stay safe!

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  11. So glad the tornado did not hurt your house. We're starting to slowly open things up too. Not that it matters much to me, I don't get out much. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

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  12. What a muddle at the schools! I guess everyone expected to be back long before now. September may be just as bad unless there's a big change before then. We are still getting 200+ cases every day so no chance of returning to normal any time soon. I still can't get my hair cut (should post a photo, it's so long and untidy) but I did get some library books this week.

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  13. You make me feel as if I've received a full pardon. It's been a month since I had my hair cut and saw my dentist. I've had real and virtual doctor appointments. I've even been out to lunch at a tiny restaurant near us. On the other hand, I think come fall there will be a big reckoning.
    I hope your garden rows sprout soon. It's only June 11, I know, but really, little seeds. Come on out.

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  14. Library pick up does sound like doing a drug deal. My husband likes neat rows in the veg plot too but potatoes always pop everywhere every year despite us going over the plot many times. I too love your style of writing, so easy to read.

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  15. It's pretty much the same here. I guess that's because we're also in Ontario. But starting today, we can create a social bubble with ten people, starting with the ones living with us and then filling it up with others. So next weekend, we may finally be driving up to Ottawa to see my younger daughter and her boyfriend!

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  16. Yes, a strange world we're living in. We had some terrible heat for a few days which has thankfully passed and left us with lovely cool weather. I haven't tried our library yet, but I think it is similar to your experience. We keep going on and learning new ways to do things. But so strange.

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  17. I’ve just come across your blog, liking the name. I do driveway coffee with a neighbour, suitably distanced. You paint a vivid picture of your weather. Here in Melbourne in south eastern Australia the winter has begun with some sunny days but freezing mornings (1-2C). There has been some rain too and we’re always keen on that here, and I can just hear (over the Swedish Radio Choir) that the rain has started again tonight.

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  18. It's 48 degrees here this morning - COLD for this area at this time of year. But my gardens have been very happy. Things are opening up again around here, I hope it doesn't mean a new wave of illness. My father passed last week from the dreaded disease,awful thing.

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