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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
We had to get away again. ... We were extremely lucky with a weather window. Paddling out to the middle of the lake on the kayak and paddleboard was extremely freeing. It was true social distancing. You truly felt as if you had the space to breathe. Fenrir TroubleOn4Paws, had so much fun swimming, hiking, and being ferried around the lake that he was often tuckered out around camp. Except when the raccoons decided to throw an after-hours party right beside our tent. Garbage and food were left out so the Trash Pandas were in party mode. Fenrir barked his displeasure at the disturbance, waking us up. I swear that one of the little masked marauders dared to come right up to the tent and put his grubby little paws on the tent fabric just to tease my dog. *insert eye-roll* It was refreshing to get away. Very much needed - especially since work is recalling us to go back into the buildings. I don't believe it is a good idea and am not a fan of the decisions of our Powers That Be. I need to find an outlet for the stress caused by this mismanagement.
July 31, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I believe that people around here are identifying with the Brood X cicadas. After 17 years, the little insects are finally freed from their solitary confinement underground. Now they can fly free, mingle, and make lots of noise. I think the parallel is obvious: we can now get out and mingle, too. We weren’t out of circulation for nearly as long as the cicadas were, of course; but sometimes the lockdown seems as though it continued for years. A cicada eruption is one of the great spectacles of natural history; a lot of us look forward to it. The cicadas are cute little guys—black with bright red eyes and transparent wings—and very tame. They’re not very strong flyers; sometimes they make unscheduled landings on the sidewalks. From there, you can pick them up and put them back on the nearest tree trunk. And you should; if they stay on the sidewalk, they’ll get stepped on or simply roast on the hot pavement. I realize that this good deed doesn’t make very much difference to the world at large, but it makes a huge difference to that particular cicada. But the cicadas are one more thing: they’re a MEMENTO MORI, a reminder of our mortality. After they die out, in about a month, the cicadas won’t be back for another seventeen years. How many people who are alive and watching them now, will still be alive to see them again, seventeen years from now?
June 3, 2021