Planting Flowers on the Wall

So we are in a odd little situation. Our state is starting the reopening process but our mayor has decided that our city needs an additional two weeks before we can start. He did open up the golf courses and farmers markets. Why does the cynic in me think that a couple of big donors called him up and said they needed to get back on the links?

I live maybe a mile or so from the county line. So, a short drive north, we can find more things open. Not really sure what the point is because it isn’t like they’ve walled off the city to keep us inside the city limits. Like every other decision associated with this stupid virus, nobody really seems to know what they are doing. If you think we need two weeks, then what do you expect to see in two weeks? Or did you just pull that out of some crevice somewhere.

We have a state park within the city limits. To give people an option to get outside, the state has waived fees for the state parks. Because that’s our first option for Rocco, I bought the annual pass back in January. Don’t think I’m getting a refund for the free months though. Anyway, as the weather has warmed, the place is jammed. So I’m not sure that there is proper social distancing going on there.

It is a bit too early for annuals here but that didn’t stop us. Yesterday, we hit 80 degrees which is rather warm for this time of year. So we went to a local garden store and it was jammed with people. After being in semi-isolation for a month and a half, it was hard to deal with that kind of crowd. I hate crowds to begin with and getting stuck in one after so much isolation made me really want to run from the store.

And, while we had a fair number of people in masks, I really think there were some folks who didn’t need to be out on a Saturday with that kind of crowd. Talking some real high risk type – elderly and those with some pretty clear health problems. We ended up not staying too long because they didn’t have enough carts so we bought one flat of things for my wife to plant.

Oh, and one national newspaper was showing scenes of various places opening back up. They actually featured this city but the photo they chose to include was people lining up for donuts at a newly reopened bakery. Now, since I’ve lived in that glass house, I’m not throwing stones but it is true that being seriously overweight is big risk factor for having a bad outcome if you get this virus. So lining up to get donuts may not have been the best choice for some of those people. Other photos were of a gym and another more healthy choice. We picked donuts. I’m so proud! (OK, I threw a little brick)

After the debacle at the nursery, we went to a small hardware store this morning. They had been picked over pretty well yesterday but we still managed to get a significant number of annuals to plant. It was good to get out and brighten the place up a bit. And, after we were done, we had our first hummingbird who may have been waiting for us to get some flowers in.

This was just round one. My wife wanted to keep buying but I pointed out that we only had a limited amount of room so we couldn’t buy out the place. Plus, this was just the first weekend in May. Plenty of time to fill in the other spaces.

I don’t know if the studio is going to reopen soon. OwnerGuy had taped a group class yesterday and talked about things opening next week. But I haven’t had any other communication so I don’t know what the story is. They are going to start virtual group classes next week but that’s all I know.

I know I said I wanted to get back and I do but there is still a part of me that thinks it is still a bit too early to be plunging back into society. If I was twenty years younger and really low risk, then it would be a different story. But I sure would like to see the state wide cases dropping a little more than they are now. I guess we’ll see when I have to make a decision.