Pandemic Diary -- August 9th: Tropical Storm Isaias and Spotted Lanternflies

Next on my TBR stack, a novel in verse! And isn't that a gorgeous cover?

Beyond Me by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu

Tuesday, August 4 (Day 148):

Hurricane Isaias has been downgraded to a Tropical Storm. But it's still a nasty storm with a lot of rainfall in a few hours. The storm drain in our backyard flooded. 

And of course, our power went out, around 11:30 am. We're grateful we have a small generator, to keep our food cold. We decided to do this after losing all that food in 2011 from Hurricane Irene. It also runs the microwave and a few lights and the TV (my husband would go nuts without that). But no oven or stove, no washer or dryer, no air conditioner. 

And, naturally, there's no internet. Plus, our landline phones don't work, even the old-fashioned one with the cord that we keep plugged in for emergencies.

Thursday, August 6 (Day 150):

Yes. We've been sheltering in place for 150 days. Hard to believe. And this virus is nowhere near over, even though some people seem to think it is. We will always wear masks if we absolutely have to go out in public, but we mostly stay home.

Still no power, of course, and no internet. It's been two full days now. But I can charge my cell phone and use it as a phone. Not to go online. The internet is still out. 

However, I still can't talk to my mother. Her phone in her new room in Assisted Living still isn't hooked up! This is extremely frustrating. My sister makes several calls a day to the service provider, but still nothing is happening. I wrote my mother another brief letter, telling her how much I miss talking to her.

Rain in the morning, but stopped by afternoon. And yes, the spotted lanternflies always appear in the afternoon when the sun comes out. 

This is just a small portion of the 30 or 40 (or 50) we kill every day now!

Burgers on the grill for dinner. Then we watched "E.T". Believe it or not, we had never seen it all these years. Have you?

Saturday, August 8 (Day 152):

Woke up with a raging headache. Still no power. This is the fourth day now! Peco is telling us it'll be restored by 11 tonight. It's getting old...

Power came back on at 11:26 am! Woo hoo! First thing I did was start a load of laundry. Thank goodness.  

Our sons visited in the early evening, when the deck is shaded enough to sit outside. They stayed about an hour and a half. It was lovely seeing them both again, even if I couldn't hug them.

Still waiting for Justice for Breonna...

COVID-19 World Stats as of August 8 (from WHO):

Confirmed cases: 19,462,112

Confirmed deaths: 722,285

US Stats as of August 8 (from the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 4,920,369

Confirmed deaths: 160,220

Tell me about you. Did you lose power from Isaias? Are you inundated with spotted lanternflies?  Are you continuing to shelter in place? 

Pandemic Diary Entry #13

Sunday, May 17 (Day 67):  Finished reading The Year We Fell From Space by Amy Sarig King (Oct 2019, Levine/Scholastic, 272 pages, for ages 8 to 12).  Gorgeously written, as all of her novels are. And if your middle grade reader is reading this, they'll probably be grateful for the short chapters.

My favorite lines, from p. 51:

                        "... some kids join band or play sports.

                         I just think about the stars. Usually by myself.

                         I'm probably from another planet."                       

Support authors! Buy this book from Bookshop.org.  Or your local indie bookstore (you can even choose one while you're on Bookshop's website). Also available at B&N. 

It's beginning to look like summer in our back yard.

Our rhododendrons next to the deck get prettier every day.
And here you can catch a glimpse of our Accidental Garden!

Monday, May 18 (Day 68): Our Giant delivery was due between 9:30 and 11:30 am. Nice of them to let me know last night, via email, so I didn't have to get up at 5:30 and check. The food arrived around 10:30. Only 20 bags this time! Still far too much plastic. We didn't get any ground beef this time, so no hamburgers this week. Think someone's trying to tell us to become vegetarians? We also didn't receive the milk, the lemons or the Dawn dishwashing liquid.

Another long walk today. It looks like summer everywhere.

I realize these are weeds, but they're pretty!

The trees at the top of the hill from us are green and lovely

Lemon chicken and zucchini parmesan for dinner. Watched an old Goldie Hawn movie that, surprisingly, was not a comedy!


Wednesday, May 20 (Day 70):  Warm and partly sunny. I have to admit, the days have begun to run together, to blur in my memory as if they're all one. If I don't write in this journal every day, I immediately forget what we did. So I'll start skipping days and only write about the ones where something different happens.

Went through the first half of my manuscript again. Not making very many changes any more. Reading and re-reading my lovely editor's comments and occasionally changing one word in the text.

Started reading Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.  Wow, am I glad I didn't read this before writing my novel in verse! Aza, the main character, suffers from a mental illness. At one point, she eats her sandwich in quarters, as my character does.

In the afternoon, our younger son called! This is always an occasion. I love hearing his voice!


Thursday, May 21 (Day 71):  Got through part three of my manuscript. It's written in four parts, so I'll finish up tomorrow. This is the third time I'm going through my editor's line edits, so I think it'll be as complete as I can make it for this round. Hope she likes what I've done!

Veggie pasta for dinner. It turned out better than I thought it would. Zucchini, mushrooms, and chopped tomatoes sauteed in olive oil and served on rotini. Lots of oregano and basil and pepper.

Here's something you probably never knew about me: I'm allergic to garlic and onions (my maternal grandmother was too). It makes cooking difficult, especially anything Italian. And every commercial salad dressing or pasta sauce or soup contains garlic powder and onion powder.  So I have to get creative. Any recipe ideas that are free of garlic and onions would be most welcome!


Friday, May 22 (Day 72): Woke up with a headache. Then the rain started after breakfast and eventually my headache went away.

In the afternoon, I finished going through line edits (for the third time)! Yay! Feels like an accomplishment in this time of crisis (and headaches). I loved working on them because it was such a beautiful escape.

Keeping my fingers crossed that my editor will like and accept what I've done.

Leftovers for dinner. A few episodes of Cheers on Netflix.




COVID-19 World Stats as of May 22 (from WHO):

Confirmed cases: 5,105,881
Confirmed deaths: 333,446


US Cases as of May 23 (from the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 1,595,885
Confirmed deaths: 96,002




What about you? Have the days blurred together, so you don't even know what day it is anymore?

Tell us about any good books you've read this week.

And if you have any favorite recipes that don't involve onions and garlic, please let me know. Thanks!

Pandemic Diary Entry #12

Sunday, May 10 (Day 60): Mother's Day flowers from my sons! Younger son delivered them Saturday evening, and stood on our deck in the freezing cold. We saw each other briefly through the window. It nearly broke my heart when we both put our hands up on either side of the window.

That's all I'm saying about Mother's Day.



Monday, May 11 (Day 61): Spent a few hours working on line edits. I'm getting more and more excited about my novel in verse. I know the world has changed, and we're in a crisis, but the fact that this is still happening has me giddy. I won't be at all surprised if my book launch in Summer 2021 will have to be virtual, as all the books coming out this spring/summer have been and will continue to be. But it will still happen. (Early on, in mid-March, I had a meltdown and thought we were all going to die and nothing would ever be the same, including publishers and books. Now I'm calmer about the whole thing. Does this mean I've reached the Acceptance phase of the Five Stages of Grief? Not sure.)

Chicken and roasted vegetables for dinner. Roasted vegetables have become my new favorite food. If my mother had cooked them that way when I was growing up I would have loved vegetables instead of hating them.

Started reading, The Year We Fell From Space by Amy Sarig King. It's middle-grade and totally absorbing. Twelve-year-old Liberty Johansen tells her story in present tense. Her parents have decided to separate, and her world is falling apart. Liberty makes star maps, and sees new constellations that no one else sees. With the author's signature splash of magical realism, this is a fascinating read.

Watched a few episodes of Cheers on Netflix. Yes, we've seen them all before, probably twice, but it's been years and we've forgotten most episodes. Most importantly, it's making us laugh, sometimes uproariously.


Tuesday, May 12 (Day 62):  Woke up with a headache. Should have known not to spend so many hours on the computer yesterday. Luckily, it went away on its own during the morning.

Long walk this afternoon.  Rhododendrons are blooming! And dogwood trees. I love this time of year.

Wednesday, May 13 (Day 63): Spent nearly two hours on line edits. And I'm finished! Woo hoo! I'll go through the entire ms again next week, but for now I'm taking a break.

Crab cakes for dinner, and homemade potato salad (haven't made this in years!). The potato salad was much better than the crab cakes. Should have known not to use canned crabmeat. Ick!

Read several chapters of The Year We Fell From Space. I feel so fortunate to be able to buy books from Bookshop.org. I hope you do the same thing if you can afford to buy books. It benefits local indie bookstores, instead of, you know, the behemoth. 

Read a fascinating article from Vox on how to beat Covid-19 and save the economy at the same time. The people in charge should read this!

Thursday, May 14 (Day 64): Sunny and warmer. Finally! It's been so cold, we've had to cover the tomato plants in our Accidental Garden.

Made pancakes for breakfast for the first time in ages. This pandemic is forcing the cook trapped inside of me to come out and play. I miss being able to go out to lunch once in a while. But we have yet to try take-out food. Soon, I think.

My husband is finally beginning to realize we might be living like this, unable to visit our family and friends, for another year of more. Why did I sense this back in March? 

I'm also making an effort to stock up on non-perishables. Seriously. Some people hoard TP. I'm starting to build up a supply of canned goods. If this virus is still with us in the autumn, we'll need provisions. 

Tuna salad for dinner.

Friday, May 15 (Day 65):  Spent hours skimming through the entire manuscript on my laptop. I know, I know, I was going to take a break! 

Rain in the morning but cleared up by afternoon. 

Our rhododendrons are finally blooming and the bumblebees love them!

More azaleas. Last week I showed you the red one that's our best.
This white one is in good shape too. It's close to the house.

These azaleas, on the other hand, have been attacked by those bullies, the deer herd!
They love the flowers. Must taste like a gourmet salad to them.

Saturday, May 16 (Day 66): Just when I think I'm handling this pandemic, thriving, even, I wake up in pain. An aching jaw, so bad that even with massage, it hurt like hell. It went away after breakfast, but I still couldn't stand to read. This is the same jaw pain I've had before, and it's undoubtedly from anxiety over Covid-19.

Talked to my mother on the phone for a long time. She admits she doesn't really read books anymore, just the daily newspaper (she subscribes to the Inquirer and it's delivered to her door). She says by the time she reaches chapter two she can't recall what happened in chapter one. I remember when my father was at that stage. And it makes me sad. But after all, she is 92. If I'm still alive at 92, it'll be some kind of miracle.

COVID-19 World Stats as of May 16 (from WHO)

Confirmed cases: 4,525,497

Confirmed deaths: 307,395

US Stats as of May 16 (from the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 1,435,098

Confirmed deaths:  87,315

How's your week going? Are you continuing to stock up on food and supplies? Are you venturing out of the house more?

Pandemic Diary Entry #11

I'm thrilled to have a wonderful job to do this month: going page by page through the edited manuscript of my novel in verse, reading and reacting to my lovely editor's comments. This is a new step in the writing journey for me. Line edits! And it's actually fun. I put in an hour or two a day on this. Any more and I develop a headache.

Because it's so time-consuming, the journaling had to take a back seat. Shorter entries this time (you're probably relieved! Thanks for reading this diary).

Monday, May 4 (Day 54): Our two-week grocery delivery arrived around 9:30 am. And we received most of what we ordered! Twenty-four bags. Such a waste of plastic. So many of the bags contained only one item! Unfortunately for my husband, no potato chips. Guess everyone who gets food delivered is looking for their favorite snacks. I told him he can share my sweet-potato chips. They're healthier! (Yeah, right.)

Besides the potato chips, we didn't receive TP, naturally. We haven't actually purchased any since March 4th. I'm amazed we haven't run out yet. About six rolls left.

Yes, this is the same son in the photo from my last entry, who was three then and is now 30!

The other (and most important) event of the day was a visit from our younger son in the late afternoon! Haven't seen him since early March. We sat outside and talked for about half an hour. He was heading home to the city from his new job working at a fulfillment center for Gap. It was fantastic to see him, even if I couldn't hug him (He insisted on wearing the mask, even though we stayed at least six feet apart).


Tuesday, May 5 (Day 55): Put in my next grocery order and was able to grab Monday, May 18th starting at 6:30 am. Just under two weeks!

Talked to my mother on the phone. She's still okay, and there are no new cases of the virus at her lifecare facility. Thank goodness! Her mind is not what it used to be, but she knows there's a pandemic.

Two hours on line edits. Making great progress.

Then received an email that made me smile. The 36 rolls of TP I ordered direct from the manufacturer have shipped! Woo hoo! Never thought I'd be so excited to get TP.

If I've learned nothing else about myself during this pandemic, it's that I desperately need something to look forward to. And it can be as simple as a delivery. Or a visit from my son. Or even a good movie or TV show. Or a snack. As long as I have something to look forward to every day, I can get through this.

It's sobering to think of all the people who can't afford to buy groceries while they're out of work. Or don't have the internet. Here's an essay about the disparity. I fully realize how fortunate we are and I'm grateful.


Wednesday, May 6 (Day 56): Worked on line edits for two hours and had to stop because I was getting bleary-eyed. Cloudy and cold today. Too windy for a walk.

I'm almost finished reading This Is My Brain In Love by I.W. Gregorio (my friend Ilene Wong). What a wonderful story!

Fish and roasted vegetables for dinner.



Thursday, May 7 (Day 57):  Cold but sunny. My husband worked on the garden for hours. We're calling this "The Accidental Garden". (Remember, there used to be a huge spruce tree there until the storm blew it down!)

Progress on the Accidental Garden

He was too exhausted after setting up all that deer fencing and spreading topsoil, to go for an afternoon walk with me. So I went on my own.

All the trees up the hill from us now have leaves! I love this time of year.

Our prettiest azalea. Now that the daffodils are finished, it's nice to have
something else flowering. The deer have decimated most of our azalea bushes.
My husband had a fence around this one the past two weeks, but he needed it for the garden!

Watched the last episode of "Godless" on Netflix in the evening. Now we'll need to find something new to watch, preferably something less violent.


Friday, May 8 (Day 58):  Finished reading Ilene's book!

If you buy only one YA novel this year, make it This is My Brain in Love by I.W. Gregorio (Little, Brown, published April 14, 2020, 384 pages, for ages 12 and up). What a delightful read! Jocelyn and Will feel like real high school students to me. Their sweet love story draws you in, and then the obstacles they face -- racism, mental health issues, the struggling restaurant Jocelyn's family owns (and where Will takes a summer job) grip you, right through to the satisfying end of the novel.

Order it from bookshop here!

An hour on line edits. Salads for dinner.

Watched the first three episodes of Cheers on Netflix, after searching for something new to watch. We both lit up at the idea of Cheers. It started in 1982, when we were dating, and we both remember it as being entertaining and funny. We definitely need entertaining and funny right now.


Saturday, May 9 (Day 59): 

Sunny but too cold for this time of year in Pennsylvania. Good thing my husband covered the tomato plants in our garden last night.

Worked on line edits for almost two hours. Cleaned out a kitchen cabinet that had become way too crammed.

And then, this arrived:

Woo hoo! Four packages of 9 rolls each. We're in great shape!

COVID-19 World Stats as of May 9 (from WHO):
Confirmed cases: 3,925,815
Confirmed deaths: 274,488


US Stats as of May 10 (from the CDC):
Confirmed cases: 1,300,696
Confirmed deaths: 78,771




Tell me: what do you look forward to the most?

Pandemic Diary Entry #10

A carnival (source)

Wednesday, April 29 (Day 49):  Woke up with an aching jaw this morning. Cloudy and cool. But I remembered a dream for the first time in a long time! Only bits of it remain, but I was at a carnival and it was too crowded. I couldn't get away from people. Everywhere I went, there were too many people, too close together. So I guess you could call it a nightmare. Whew! At this point in the pandemic, I can't imagine going to a carnival ever again.

By 10:00 am I was feeling well enough to attend a virtual #HFGather, an online chat from the Highlights Foundation, with Sarah Aronson, the host, talking to Erin Entrada Kelly, the Newbery winner in 2018 for Hello, Universe. Her new book, We Dream of Space, sounds like an excellent read. It's set in January 1986, when the Challenger blew up. Remember that? I do! The book pubs in May and I'm definitely ordering a copy from Bookshop.

Today is also my younger son's 30th birthday.

This is my younger son when he was 3 years old. Now he's 30!

It hardly seems possible. He's my baby! And suddenly he's no longer a twenty-something. We had a wonderful, hour-long video chat with him and his older brother after dinner. He thanked us for all the gifts we sent him, which were all e-gift cards. I know what it's like to have a pandemic birthday. But he seemed quite cheerful and he's still healthy, so that's what counts! It's not the same, seeing your son on a screen, because all I want to do is hug him. But this is how we live now.

Barbecued chicken for dinner. Yes, we eat chicken frequently. We should probably become vegetarians. What do you think? Can't see my husband ever agreeing to that. And I like chicken. He prefers steak, which we certainly don't have often!


Thursday, April 30 (Day 50): Rainy with high winds all day. That high, constant wind knocked over several trees in our neighborhood. And one of them was our spruce tree in the back yard! No damage, thank goodness, but it was a shock. The wind blew it right over around 2 pm.

Our spruce tree (yes it had two trunks, actually three, but the third one's hard to see)

Read four chapters of This is My Brain in Love. I'm still in love with this YA novel. It almost makes me want to be back in high school again and be friends with Jocelyn and Will. And the author deals so well with first love, mental health and racism. It's an important book and one you should all read! 

Yesterday, I received an email from my editor at Holiday House, with the attached manuscript of my novel in verse, which she's been line-editing since March.

Yay!

Line editing is all new to me, so I'm learning as I go. She wants it back by the end of May, so I have a month to go through it line by line, read her comments/suggestions and respond if necessary. In some instances, I'll need to write a few new lines. In most cases, it's just one word that needs to be replaced. Who knew I used the word "heart" and the word "stomach" so often! Also the word "all"-- which she says everyone uses all the time overuses.  😄

Leftovers for dinner. Then had an hour and a half video chat with my fellow brain aneurysm survivor and friend in Australia. It's mind-boggling that they're going through the exact same things we are going through with this pandemic. It's hard for them to find TP too! But they're generally much better at keeping the virus contained. They have such strict laws against, and high fines for, going where you don't belong.


Friday, May 1 (Day 51): Cloudy, but the sun was trying to come out. All morning, we heard chain saws from up the street and later walked up to investigate. Obviously, we weren't the only house that lost a tree or two in that freak storm yesterday.

Up the hill from our house, they lost two trees!

Read several more chapters of This is My Brain in Love.

Worked on the line edits of my manuscript for an hour. I'm starting to really get into a rhythm. But if I work on it too long, I get a headache.

Tuna salad for dinner. Yeah, we're getting low on fresh food and our next delivery isn't until Monday.

Watched an episode of Godless on Netflix. What an unusual Western. It can be violent at times, but also thought-provoking. And the acting is fantastic. Have you watched it?


Saturday, May 2 (Day 52): An absolutely beautiful spring day! The weather couldn't be more perfect. We spent a lot of time outside. Took a walk in a different direction and met some new neighbors who moved in sometime in January or February. They had an unfortunate event on Thursday, during that windstorm. Their detached garage got smashed by a falling tree. It seemed to be the only property damage in the neighborhood. They were pretty philosophical about it, as we stood more than six feet away from them in their driveway and talked briefly. 

The neighbor's detached garage, damaged by a fallen tree on Thursday

After dinner, we watched "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" on Netflix. Have you seen it? It has a stellar cast, including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch, among others. It got great reviews, but we found it... surprisingly slow. And I had no trouble guessing who the mole was.


Sunday, May 3 (Day 53):  The landscaping company came to cut up our tree, the same company that cut up the neighbor's two trees on Friday.  You'd never know there had been a tree there. And now... room for a garden! Which we wanted to do anyway. The seeds my husband ordered arrived yesterday! Perfect timing.

I got an email from Giant Direct, telling me it's my last chance to add more items to my order, which is being delivered tomorrow. I added a few things, including the bag of potato chips my husband begged me to buy.

During this pandemic, I'm constantly assessing and re-assessing the food situation. It's astonishing how much I look forward to a delivery now. Partly because we're only shopping every two weeks, but also because we don't go anywhere. So it's something to look forward to. Like the Wells Fargo Wagon coming to town in "The Music Man", you know? It's an event! 

Chicken casserole and baked potatoes for dinner.

Watched another episode of Godless. Then went outside to look for the Starlink satellites -- a "train" of tiny moving lights that are actually briefcase-size satellites bringing the internet to rural locations. They're from Elon Musk's company, SpaceX. We saw at least 12 of them in the ten minutes before the clouds moved in. It was cool! And something to talk about besides the pandemic. Here's a link to an article about them.

Have you seen Starlink?


COVID-19 World Stats as of May 3 (from WHO):

Countries or territories affected: 215
Confirmed cases: 3,442,234
Confirmed deaths: 239,740

US Stats (from the CDC):
Total cases: 1,152, 372
Total deaths: 67,456


This post is getting too long, so I'll say goodbye for now. What are you watching this week? And what are you reading?

Pandemic Diary Entry #9

Friday, April 24 (Day 44): Woke up with an aching jaw and a headache.

Rainy day. Cold and gloomy.

I never remember my dreams anymore, since my second brain aneurysm rupture in 2017 (I used to have vivid dreams before that!). So I have no idea if I'm having nightmares about the virus or what. Usually, only a vague feeling of uneasiness lingers after I wake up. Do you remember your dreams during this pandemic? Are they often nightmarish?

Because of the headache, which lasted most of the day, I couldn't read the new book that arrived on the 22nd. Rats! I was really looking forward to starting This is My Brain in Love by I.W. Gregorio (my friend, Ilene Wong). Tomorrow, definitely.

Leftovers for dinner and watched another episode of Monty Python's Personal Best.

Saturday, April 25 (Day 45):  Read a few chapters of This is My Brain in Love and it's delightful! Such a lovely escape. And wow, would it make a great movie. So visual. I can just picture these two teens and the Chinese restaurant and even though I've never been to Utica, I can picture it too. That's the sign of a great writer!

I made a sign for my mother for Mother's Day. Since we can't go visit her on Mother's Day, her lifecare facility is doing an in-house TV show, putting together photos from relatives of the residents. So my husband took a photo of me holding up the "Happy Mother's Day, Mom/Grandmom, We love you and miss you" sign. Then I emailed it to our sons, who will add their own photos into it, and make a kind of collage.

Today was a gorgeous day! This is the day we've been waiting for.  Took a lovely long walk around our entire neighborhood. And because it was Saturday, lots of kids were out on bikes, and plenty of parents out walking too.

I love this neighbor's Eastern Redbud tree! Wish we had one.

Saw something I'd never seen before during a walk: a neighbor, walking a few feet behind his little kids, was carrying a glass of red wine! My husband and I laughed and I said, "Now, that's a walk!"

Burgers for dinner.  Watched the last episode of Monty Python's Personal Best.

Sunday, April 26 (Day 46): Another rainy day and I accomplished very little. No headache this time, at least. I did a little writing upstairs, while my husband attended church online downstairs. This is how we live now.

Did a load of laundry, which I decided would be my main accomplishment for the day. Ha! But I also read several chapters of This is My Brain in Love. And I'm totally in love with it and with the characters! Buy this book, people! It's entertaining and thought-provoking and a delightful escape from the pandemic. Plus the two main characters are so real. Here's a link to bookshop if you'd like to buy it.

Baked a casserole for dinner, along with roasted sweet potatoes, my new favorite vegetable.

Decided to watch the Downton Abbey movie again, on demand. Mainly to see Queen Mary (because she also played Marilla in Anne With an E!)

From IMDB

The first time we watched this film was in the theater last year -- in fact, that was the last movie we saw in a movie theater. Can't imagine doing that ever again! Social distancing has become so ingrained in our lives now.

What I really can't imagine doing is going on a cruise ever again. We love travel but it's definitely off the radar for the foreseeable future.




Monday, April 27 (Day 47):  My husband had to have Mohs surgery to remove a large basal cell carcinoma on the top of his bald head. He'd already put it off a month. He was worried about going in to the dermatologist's office, but they assured him they only allow a few patients in at a time, the chairs are spaced far apart in the waiting room, and everyone has to wear a mask (patients, as well as doctors and nurses) They also had plenty of hand sanitizer. They wouldn't have let him in the door if he wasn't wearing a mask. Luckily, we have some!

The horrible part? It took four hours! I was home waiting for him (I had my own telemedicine appointment with our family doctor) and was going crazy because he wasn't home and didn't text or call. I couldn't imagine why it took so long. He was exhausted when he got home and I advised him to simply rest for the remainder of the day. Whew! We're both glad that's over.

Pasta for dinner.


Tuesday, April 28: I read several more chapters of This is My Brain in Love.  Ilene, you really have a winner here! I want to keep reading because I'm so absorbed in the story and the characters, but at the same time, I need this book to last! I'm so in love with it.

With my husband resting after his surgery, I took a walk alone.

Not sure what these tiny wildflowers are, but they certainly say "Spring" to me!

A bit of leftover tar from when the road was patched.
What creature do you see here?

Our back yard, getting greener every day.

Leftovers for dinner. Watched the first episode of "Godless" on Netflix.



COVID-19 World stats as of April 28 (from The Guardian):

Confirmed cases: 3,113,447
Confirmed deaths:  216,929

In the US, as of April 28 (from the CDC):

Confirmed cases: 981,246
Confirmed deaths: 55,258

News sources have made much of the fact that the US now has about a third of the cases in the world. Trying to open up the economy again, and let people go out and mingle, doesn't seem like a smart move to me.

Stay safe, everyone! Stay home.


Tell me, do you have nightmares about this pandemic? Do you remember your dreams at all?

Pandemic Diary Entry #8

Monday, April 20 (Day 40): Tried to put in my next grocery order and couldn't get a delivery window. The drop-down menu only went up to Sunday May 3rd, and each time slot was taken. I'll have to try again tomorrow.

On our walk today, the sun was shining, even if it was still cold. I'm grateful that our daffodils still look fresh when everyone else's are turning brown. And I love how green everything is getting.

Chicken on the grill for dinner, and we opened our last bag of frozen peas. Don't know why I didn't order any last time. It's hard to think two or three weeks ahead when you're used to buying for a week at a time. If our seeds ever arrive, we'll be planting peas (a little late, I know. You're supposed to plant peas and potatoes in March, right?). We also plan to grow tomatoes and peppers and maybe carrots.

We watched the last episode of Anne With an E on Netflix. Sad to see it end (and they never finished one minor character's storyline, since the show was canceled after three seasons).  Yes, they took great liberties with L.M. Montgomery's novels, and I'm sure purists were horrified, but we both enjoyed the show. Adding diverse characters gave it a richness that only made it more interesting.

Geraldine James as Marilla in Anne With an E on Netflix, from IMDB

My favorite character was Marilla. What astonished me was how much her character changed and grew, more than any of the others. Anne was always open-minded from the beginning, and Matthew in his quiet way was also open-minded, but Marilla went from being a rigid, closed-minded person who was overly strict with Anne and who was afraid of people of color, to a much more broad-minded and friendly person.

Here's what really astounded me: the actress who played Marilla was the same actress who played Queen Mary in the Downton Abbey movie! And I had no clue the entire time I was watching Anne With an E.  I didn't think to look up any of the actors on IMDB until after the show ended.

Yes, this is the same actress as the one
who played Marilla, above!  Found on Pinterest

Tuesday, April 21 (Day 41): Rainy day. Up at 7:15 and put in my grocery order. This time I could choose a delivery time slot for Monday May 4th -- again, the earliest one, starting at 6:30 am! That was the only one available so I grabbed it.

Did some laundry. Read for a while. Still reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. Also spent far too much time on Facebook, as usual. Starting to hear of more and more friends who know someone with the virus or even, tragically, have lost someone because of this awful virus.

Ham and sweet potatoes for dinner. This ham will last us for many dinners!

Watched Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which my sons ordered for me for my birthday. It was entertaining, even if it's not the best SW movie. A wonderful escape from reality, for sure.

Wednesday, April 22 (Day 42): Earth Day! Believe it or not, I remember the first Earth Day in 1970. I was in high school and we had an assembly instead of classes. I was so inspired to save the Earth, I walked home from school instead of taking the bus. And I picked up trash along the way.

Today, of course, we're dealing with a lot more than trash along highways. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is still a huge issue. Plastic crams our landfills and clogs the ocean, killing sea life. And there's too much carbon, causing climate change. Anyone who thought climate change was a hoax only needs to look at before and after photos to see how much cleaner the air in major cities is now because no one is driving!  Los Angeles, famous for its smog for decades, now looks like this:

From the CBS news article

Also for Earth Day, here's a link to an article from The Guardian about a mutant enzyme that recycles plastic bottles in hours! Honestly, when I first saw this headline, I thought it was from the Onion or some other satirical news site! A mutant enzyme sounds like trouble to me.

This reminds me of Amy Sarig King's MG novel, ME AND MARVIN GARDENS, from 2017. Anyone looking for a great MG read, look no further! Obe Devlin finds an unusual creature that eats plastic!

Cover from Goodreads 

Thursday, April 23 (Day 43): Finally finished reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. Fascinating and gorgeously written, with an ending I did not quite expect. But the characters all grew on me throughout the four-book Raven Cycle.

Next up:

THIS IS MY BRAIN IN LOVE by I.W. Gregorio (Ilene Wong)

Finally, it arrived! I pre-ordered this book way back in March, the official pub date was April 14th, and it just arrived yesterday! Perfect timing, since I just finished The Raven King. My other books will have to wait, because there's no way I'm putting off reading this. I've known Ilene for years and have been proud to call her a friend.

And reading is my favorite form of escape these days...

I realized today that I've neglected National Poetry Month.

Some writers feature a poem a day on their websites. Some write a poem a day. I like to read a poem a day. Here's one great blog that does that, Gotta Book, by Greg Pincus. And here's my spine poetry, made from YA novels in my collection!

How do YOU live now? 

Macaroni and cheese with ham chunks for dinner. One of my husband's favorite meals (not so much mine, but, hey, it's food and it fills you up!). We watched an episode of Monty Python's Personal Best on Netflix.



COVID-19 STATS (as of April 23) from WHO: 

Countries affected: 213
Confirmed cases: 2, 626, 321
Confirmed deaths:  181, 938

Interestingly, the countries affected are the same as the last few weeks. That stat was 209 on April 9th and has been 213 ever since. Is that a good sign? Not sure. How many countries are there? The UN appparently recognizes 241, including territories. I had no idea there were so many countries in the world. Did you?

On April 2nd, the confirmed cases were 900, 305. Confirmed deaths were 45, 693. So, of course, those numbers keep climbing.

Pennsylvania currently has 37,069 cases and 1,421 deaths.


Stay healthy, everyone! Stay home!


And, how do you live now?  Tell me in the comments (it doesn't have to be poetry, just a few words about your current life). Thanks!

Pandemic Diary Entry #7

From Goodreads

Hope you're all staying healthy. And staying home! It's not over yet and I suspect this coronavirus will go on for a longer time than most people think. Until there's a vaccine, and despite the strict measures most states and countries have in place, this virus might continue to ravage our world for many months or even a year.

If you know anything at all about the 1918/1919 flu pandemic (often mistakenly referred to as the "Spanish" Flu), you know it came in three waves: the spring, the autumn and the winter. There were at least 50 million deaths worldwide. Here's one link from the CDC about that pandemic. More links can be found at the bottom of that page. And here's another more detailed article from History.com.

This pandemic makes me more interested than ever in historical fiction. Can anyone recommend any MG or YA novels (or adult novels) specifically about the 1918 pandemic? The only one I've read is Like the Willow Tree, a Dear America diary by Lois Lowry (Scholastic, 2011). 



Thursday, April 16 (Day 36):  It was only 39 degrees F when I woke up this morning! (That's about 4 C for those of you from countries more advanced than we are here in the US!) Too cold for April. And cloudy and gloomy.

Spent far too much time on Facebook, and also read for a while. Still reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. About halfway through it now. It's a wonderful escape.

Leftovers for dinner. And a few episodes of Anne With an E on Netflix, which is also a delightful escape from reality.



Friday, April 17 (Day 37):  Beautiful day, although still overcast and too cold for April. On our walk, I enjoyed how green everything is getting.

Our back yard

Yes, the American suburban lawn is an ecological disaster. It's only one step above a parking lot. But in a time like this, I love how green it's becoming. (I would prefer that we let it grow wild and turn into a meadow, but we think the neighbors would get upset!)

Didn't sleep well last night, as usual, so by evening I was too tired to do anything but watch Netflix.



Saturday, April 18 (Day 38): Finally got our food delivery. It's been two and a half weeks since our last food delivery! Now I know to order again right away. Thankfully, we received nearly everything we ordered, except, of course, toilet paper. Ha ha. We're okay for the rest of this month, but by May we'll need to find some.

The food arrived at 7:15 this morning. Yes, I was up and had the garage open for the delivery person to place those 17 bags (!) inside, since it was raining at that hour. Our fridge, which had been close to empty, is now full! And our freezer was empty enough for me to clean it out, and is now also comfortably full.

Food, glorious food! Here's a clip from the movie, "Oliver!" via YouTube:

Cold and cloudy the rest of the day. It snowed where our older son lives in New England, but not here.

Mopped the kitchen floor. My one accomplishment for the day.

Chicken for dinner! And two different kinds of vegetables. It's a small miracle. And I actually accomplished something else today: I spent almost two hours working on my next novel in verse. I've been too paralyzed by fear to do any writing at all. 

So I consider that a breakthrough.

Sunday, April 19, 2020 (Day 39):  It's cold again but at least it's partly sunny. I slept great last night! Seven and a half hours. This is unheard of. I must have been worrying about food too much the last two weeks. Or, you know, about this pandemic which could potentially kill us all! (Relax, I'm usually not too anxious these days. I think I may have actually reached the acceptance phase of the five stages of grief! Or at least gotten past the denial and anger parts.)

Talked to my mother on the phone, who continues to sound cheerful. Still no new cases of the virus, so that's excellent news.

On our walk today, which was a long one, plenty of trees were still blooming: 

A neighbor's tree, which I've now decided must be a cherry tree.
Not a weeping cherry like ours, just a cherry tree.
Correct me if I'm wrong, someone!

A wild crabapple tree down the street from us

We treated ourselves to steak on the grill for dinner! So nice to have plenty of fresh food to choose from now (no more SPAM! Yay!).

COVID-19 Stats (for April 19, from WHO):

Countries affected: 213
Confirmed cases: 2,245,872
Confirmed deaths: 152,707


How are you doing? Are you stuck in one of the first few stages of the Five Stages of Grief?

And what are you reading and/or watching to keep busy?