How can it be that so much and yet so little has transpired in the last 250 days? The sameness of every 24 hours and yet the strangeness of these days is hard to wrap your mind around.

It's been more than 35 weeks since the world seemingly came to a screeching halt because of the Coronavirus and so it feels like the last 8 months (and potentially even more) have been lost. The countless big and little changes to our daily lives including the curtailing of school and college for millions , the move to work-from-home for anyone that can, the end to dining in restaurants, going to the theatre, the postponement and cancellation of myriad social events, vacations, and trips, crowd limits in stores, and the list goes on and on, have all made for the weirdest and, if I'm honest, the most unsettling year. Add to the heap: mask-wearing (becoming oddly politicized) , social distancing, no handshaking, Zoom (teleconference) calls for work and home life, household paper shortages, diligent hand washing, ubiquitous hand sanitizers, and most significantly the anxiety that comes from constant concerns about your health and the health of others. Especially sad are the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. FINALLY, cap it all off with a presidential election, the 59th since our country's founding and a particularly polarizing one, and 2020 is epically strange. 

I'm going to endeavor to post more often, as my intention was to record some of the details of this unique time in the world. Of course, many of these things I'd just as soon forget but others have been worth chronicling. I'll see you soon. 

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Gratitude for Life’s Small Gifts

Hummingbird feeder (and guest) outside our kitchen window

Endeavoring to make lemonade out of  lemons (which I can assure you does not come naturally to me) of the stay at home order and coronavirus, the last 100 or so days have come with several new, renewed, and beneficial activities, including lots of time looking at  and feeding the birds. Mind you, I’ve always loved birds or the idea of birds, anyway. Hummingbirds, in particular, with their incredible lightness and ability to fly up, down, forward, backward, sideways, and also hover, are fascinating. This year, I was excited to learn more about the feeding and behavioral habits of these tiny fast-flying creatures. Most interesting is that no hummingbirds are found in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, or Antarctica (Western Hemisphere, for the win). 

The two hummingbird feeders I placed in our yard in March are far enough apart to appease the hummingbirds’ territorial nature but close enough to our windows to enjoy viewing.  It’s an exercise in patience (yet another thing that does not come naturally to me) to put the feeders out weeks before they begin migrating and to wait for the hummingbirds to arrive. This year, I placed a small hummingbird swing adjacent to one feeder and am delighted to see them rest there (guarding their food source, the literature says). 

Though difficult to see, that's a heart-shaped hummingbird perch, on the left. 

I’ve had a hummingbird feeder or two in the past but never endeavored quite so ardently to keep it clean, ant-free (ants love the sugar water), and full.  It’s a pleasure; watching hummingbirds arrive daily, most often very early in the morning as well as late in the afternoon, and trying to learn and embrace some life lessons from these little creatures. Hummingbirds are said to represent living a life filled with joy, light, and sweetness. Moving from flower to flower, they are fully present in the moment. Who couldn’t learn something from that?

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If You're Not Outraged, You're Not Paying Attention

George Floyd, Murdered May 25, 2020

Happy Birthday, Robbie!

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Celebrating, Part 1

More to come . . .

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Election Day

I can wax  sentimental about voting, feeling very strongly that it’s everyone’s right and duty. Needless to say I’m committed to voting in each and every election, despite the perils of being called for jury duty (which may or may not be an urban myth).

Yesterday was municipal Election Day in Williamsburg and most of Virginia.  Our 5- person city council had 4 candidates vying for 3 open seats.

I’m a person who likes to vote on the actual Election Day.  I have nothing against advance voting, I just enjoy feeling like I’m a real part of the process, seeing the wheels of democracy turn in what feels like real-time -  going to the polls, standing in line, casting my vote, polls closing at 7 pm, votes tallied, winner declared (hopefully) by the late evening news. 

This year, in what may have been a first for me, or perhaps just a very long time. I requested, along with about 1,400 others in our town , an absentee ballot (as that felt like the safe and prudent thing to do given coronavirus). My husband, son, and parents also voted absentee. 

The candidates I wanted to win, did win and I’m delighted but truth be told, I’ll add voting in-person to my list of things I’ve really missed this spring.

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The End of The Beginning

Exactly a year ago today when my son was graduating from college, I told him I was a little bit sad; sad that this chapter of life ("with all of the privileges of being an adult but very little of the responsibility of being one") was coming to an end. 

Tate receives his diploma, May 11, 2019

Then, with way more wisdom than I had at 22, he responded, "Don't be sad, mom" and he quoted Winston Churchill “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

I find myself thinking a lot about all those who've worked hard to complete their degrees this graduation season, those first-in-their family-ever grads from high school or college, those who've juggled raising families or jobs or challenging circumstances to get to this finish line but whose celebrations this year will look a lot different. Despite the lack of  festivities, my hope for all the 2020 graduates is that this "end of the beginning" will be full of sweet memories and light and hope and dreams, and fun, too. 

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