What time is it? Do you remember when time seemed to be going way to fast?
When we arrive in Seattle almost 7 years ago, things were moving much faster than our previous three years spent aboard our cruising boat Wand'rin Star. Life certainly slows down when you are never moving faster than 6 knots and most of the time you are moored somewhere new and you just take your sweet time to explore new environments. A year is a Year! Then a move to Seattle, one of the Tech hubs of the planet, and all of a sudden the pace picks up....you become a time traveler. The months are screaming by and it is already New Years Eve? In the course of a "cruising year" your first born grandson turns six and his little sister three. 1=6.
Then we all are placed into at self isolation at home. 2020 will definitely become known as the loongeest year on record. Any idea of returning to the old normal is completely gone, and figuring out the new normal will be a very long experiment. Self Isolation routines are just as personal as any other part of ones life.
Here is our daily routine:
8:30-9am Wake Up
9-10:30 Lazy Breakfast/coffee, Watch the morning news.
11-12:30 I practice guitar, the Admiral does stuff, like read, or cook, or keep up with the latest pandemic news from Seattle, Fort Worth, and Austin on Google
12:30 -1:30 Richard Simmons Sweating with the Oldies Aerobics routine together.
1:30-2:30 Lunch and some PBS documentary
2:30-3:20 Short walk in the neighborhood.
3:30 Then the Admiral talks with her 87 yr old dad, and I practice some more guitar.
Mess around
5:30 time for Happy Hour and the Evening news.
The Admiral finds sleep around 10:30, I stay up and watch a movie on Amazon Prime.
Some days we sweep and mop, every ten days or so I go to HEB to pick up an order.
On Weekends the Grandkids come over and enjoy the back yard and swimming pool. Since they are also adhering to strict stay at home procedures we have a nuclear family bubble that can co-exist.
As the picture becomes very clear we are adjusting future plans almost on a daily discussion basis. For people in our age group, those over 65, we must accept that we will continue to live in this self isolation life style until there is a vaccine. Even if and when a remedy becomes available we will live out our lives much differently. The next unknown virus is just around the corner and hence we will forever be guarding our health. Living in a 12 story condo building is out. Living in a single family home is back in. The way we travel to and from different cities will change to a slower mode of transportation. Flying is out, slow road trips are in.
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| A White Morph Squirrel, at first we thought it might be an albino, but no red eyes so Google helped sort it out. |
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| A Green Anole Lizard loves the Iron plants in the backyard.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anolis_carolinensis |
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| A cool looking moth on the fence. |
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| Indian Blanket https://texashighways.com/wildflowers/wildflowers-of-texas/ |
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| Prickly Pear |
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| https://www.inaturalist.org/lists/103702-Cacti-of-Texass-Check-List |
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| Scarlet Hedgehog |
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| Yuca |
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| Barrel Cactus |
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| Lots of Deer this year in Northwest Austin adding to the city nature. |
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| The Family Naturalist |
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| Frozon crayons, ice cube with water coloring. |
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| We are Blessed this house had a pool! |
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| A type of soccer golf, 2 points if you get it in the chiar. |
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| Thank you Mark! Mighty fine Coffee, made every morning of May very special. |
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| A student of mine from back in the day contacted me on messenger, Charlie Whitman, and wanted to thank me for being one of the few teachers who helped him along. The bonus points from a career in teaching are the calls you get from previous students thanking you for your small part in their lives, and seeing how they are successfully living out their purpose in life. This is a recent band pic and he is certainly living a very full life. he is a very intelligent person who simply did not fit in the public education box, a man well ahead of his times. |
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| First let me say I am Not Judging! As we choose how to spend our expendable income, perhaps we can avoid doing these types of single use celebrations. Instead of spending $170 for something to help fill up land fills, perhaps it might be better spent doing something sustainable to celebrate, like plant a very special tree that will remind her, him, or they of the special moment for many years to come and help our environment recover from to many years of excessive carbon. Just one example of thousands of ways you could spend the $170 in a much more loving and sustainable wayhttps://www.texasballoondelivery.com/austin-yard-balloons |
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| Teaching Texas Essential Skills: Sitting on a tailgate and enjoying it! |
