What lovely things have you seen/experienced lately?
We did one of these last week on the suggestion of WilliamB, and since you all found it so encouraging, I thought we'd do one again.
I'll start off with some happy things I've seen or experienced in the last week, and you can join in in the comments.
- My girls might not be able to see their friends, but they ARE very delighted to have the cat here. She's a fun distraction/snuggle buddy.
- A construction company in my area gave a huge donation to a restaurant, and the restaurant then gave free meals to hundreds of local residents.
- A friend sent me a snail mail note, which arrived on a day when I was feeling especially discouraged.
- My sister-in-law texted me something cute my smallest niece said about me, and I felt very loved.
- We've all been using Zoom/Facetime to connect with family and friends for fun, support, and encouragement. I'm grateful that we have the internet through this.
- I've seen lots of people helping other people...making and giving away face masks, donating meals to first responders and medical personnel, offering to do grocery runs for older neighbors, and so on.
- The weather here has been mostly sunny, a bit of an anomaly for April.
Alrighty! The comments are open for you.
P.S. A couple of readers' comments have gotten stuck in the spam filter lately. If your comments seem to be disappearing, email me and I will happily dig you out of the spam pile.
I'm still enjoying working from home, where I have an "office" window to look out of, and I can hear the birds.
Thank you for these beautiful examples!
Our local farmers market moved completely to online ordering/drive thru pickup and the community response was overwhelmingly positive.
I love not having to commute to work (even though I do miss the dedicated podcast-listening time!)
I have been cooking and eating delicious and (mostly) healthy meals.
Neighbors in my community still talk to each other as we go to get the mail, etc. Just from across the parking lot a bit more.
Many people are being forced to try new things with technology that they would otherwise have been hesitant or scared to attempt, and they are learning new ways to get things done and connect with others.
We did a family Zoom meeting for Easter Sunday to surprise my mom. She was so amazed! "I had no idea you could do this!" Ohio, Texas, Colorado and Massachusetts joined in!
People keep giving us food. Our elderly neighbor gave my husband a bag of gummi bears, our other older neighbor keeps dropping off eggs from his chickens, and yet another older man in the village dropped off a box of food from the commodities delivery (basically like a food pantry that delivers, for the elderly people here who don't get Social Security--there are a lot) that he and his wife couldn't eat. And then the school is allowing the community to order food (and recently, toilet paper, ha) through their Sysco delivery so we don't have to drive 90 miles to a store that may or may not have what we need.
Ironically, food is easier than ever for me to get during this time. 🙂
Life rule: Never move away from a neighbor who gives you gummy bears.
Yes!!!
I live in a town along the East Coast of Florida. Here we have a decades old tradition of having sunrise service on the beach on Easter Sunday. Of course, it had been cancelled this year and the beaches were closed.
However, my husband and I woke up early and walked down to the beach anyway and watched the sunrise from the walk over. On this Easter morning, the sunrise was muted and somber — just a glimmer of pink and gold. Yet, it still held the promise of hope and a new day.
I live on the beach in St Augustine. Sounds like you might be nearby.
Lovely things:
Neighbors helping neighbors!
People follow the rules at grocery stores and respectfully waiting their turn.
Spending time just sitting in my front porch.
I love doing this, and thanks WilliamB and Kristen!
We are getting rain again, but 1) we suffered no weather damage yesterday and 2) the rain today is keeping the air cooler for a while. I'm all for that! We've been over 90 a couple of times already, once even in March.
Years ago we transplanted some kind of very old rose from my husband's grandmother's house. We planted it to grow around an old fat wooden gatepost. These last few weeks, I've watched a wren sit on that post nearly every morning, surrounded by red roses, chirping its little heart out. It looks like a Hallmark card come to life.
Getting sweet texts from my teen granddaughter, about how much she misses seeing me.
A picture from my friend of her, wearing mask and gloves, finally getting to hold her new great-great-grandson.
Watching my church's Easter service by live stream. Our church was lovingly decorated with flowers and Easter lilies, donated by parishioners, and our wonderful organist "pulled out all the stops," playing gorgeous music.
I love that your granddaughter is texting you that she misses you. I am not surprised that you are a grandma who would be missed. <3
Aw, thanks! I give her the credit, though -- she is so sweet!
You reminded me of one of my favorite poetic lines, by Mary Oliver:
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,
I don’t know why. And yet, why not.
I love wrens. My Mom had a wren house on one of her clothesline posts. I remember her once showing me the birds by knocking very gently on the side of the house and a parent bird sticking its head out the opening to see what was going on.
That very accurately describes this wren. We usually get a nest of them in an old turpentine pot we hung on a porch post. They are so cute to watch.
Many voices talking about grieving, being honest, having grace with self. Understanding we are all learning new ways and it takes some time to adjust.
Yes! I think we all need to have grace for ourselves and for each other; it's an unprecedented time that really, none of us could have quite been prepared for.
Seeing my grandchildren’s faces for the first time in 3 weeks. I usually see them at least once a week. I missed them terribly.
Despite there being limited foot traffic at work I put out a box of lotions, soaps, purfumes etc. that my wife received as gifts, purchased and then later disliked or whatever. Almost all of them were snatched up by either employees or our cleaning staff. I'm happy when stuff goes from the "waiting around to be tossed out" pile and ends up being used by people.
My radishes are sprouting up. Hopefully we can start container gardening soon as well.
Watching the video of my granddaughters first egg hunt, where she stood next to an egg, turned walked somewhere else, came back and then SAW THE EGG! And her joyful excitement at finding it and more! Watching Spring bloom all around while turning my white car very, dusty, green!
Enjoying seeing more neighbors walk more around the 'hood!
My dear daughter planned an Easter sunrise service for us (her partner, my granddaughter and me). She fashioned a beautiful cross out of tree branches, they made candles out of empty toilet paper rolls (ironically) and cut out paper flames which they pasted onto clothespins so our toddler could "light" each of our candles. We lit a fire in our fire pit and lit the paschal candle and processed around the yard as the sun came up. My daughter conducted a service with prayer books bookmarked in color so we could find our places. We each had a reading. It was amazing. I watched the Pope say Mass in a cemetery in Rome on All Saints Day and this was no less memorable.
That sounds awesome Carol!! I may try that next year even if we are back to normal gatherings!
My daughter was experiencing pain in the back of her mouth. She could feel a new tooth. I texted my dentist and he asked for a photo and then had us come in as an emergency case. 45 minutes later, we've got 2 prescriptions, xrays of the problem area, and a diagnosis (as well as a new tooth brush and other info on her tonsil stones and teeth situation) Yes, I have my dentist's personal cell phone number. He's been my dentist for over 20years and we're Facebook friends too. I was his first. He could have very easily just sent something in to a pharmacy, but things in the picture just didn't look right. Turns out my 16year old is cutting her 12 year molars.
1. My company has easily and successfully transitioned to a fully WFH setup. On Thursday last week, our CEO told us all to take Friday as a bonus holiday if we were able to and still deliver on client commitments. I feel fortunate to be working in this company (now and for the past 25 years)!
2. My 3 kids were all in for dying Easter eggs on Sunday, something we haven't done in a few years as they are 15, 18 and 20 years old. It was a fun blast from the past!
3. We've been having some issues with a cable box, and I was able to speak to a live person today to get a new one sent to us. Albert the customer service rep was kind and chatty!
On our neighborhood Facebook page a lady was asking which houses had small children because she wanted to do an Easter surprise. Easter morning we woke up and she had put eggs in our yard for an egg hunt. She did over 75 houses. It was so sweet and my son loved it.
My husband and I realized that the area right inside our west-facing front door gets very warm and sunny from 6-7 pm, so we park our kitchen chairs there and toast in the sun even when it's cold and windy outside.
On a related note, I love seeing all the people in the neighborhood who never used to walk by, getting outside with their dogs and kids.
Friends/neighbors leaving surprises on our doorstep nearly every week. We even received a dozen farm fresh eggs.
Starting our day a little bit later than during the school year, and having more space in our day for rest.
Zoomed with my parents and all 5 of my siblings and their families. It's the first time we've all been "together" since 2015, and 6 littles of been born since then. Never would have guessed that a pandemic would be what allowed us to spend time together.
I'm mostly retired so this isn't a whole lot different for me. Yesterday my dog had a vet appointment in a different town (his surgeon changed practices) and there was no traffic on the two hour freeway drive. Amazing! The foothills are all green (you can actually see them for miles now) and spotted with cattle, vineyards and orchards.
Since there was no hurry to get home by a certain time I took the back roads home through the Sacramento Delta. Beautiful waterway with many migrating waterfowl and still some ships. Again, nice to be able to almost loiter down the road with no commuter on your bumper.
At the end of my workday I go sit on my steps for a little fresh air. My neighbor's cat--which is generally standoffish with everyone--joins me most days now. I talk a little, he listens and comments from time to time. After about ten minutes he leaves. I hope he's enjoying our visits as much as I am.
I love this! : )
- Listening to Andrea Bocelli's live streaming concert from the duomo in Milan on Easter Sunday. So beautiful and moving. (Thank you to Signor Bocelli and the others that made this happen.)
- Zooming our family from the dinner table during Easter supper. Miss hugging each other, but other than that it was awesome.
- Panic buying here (California) seems to have subsided, and as a result I have been able to step away from relying on canned and packaged products, and return instead to preparing our meals from scratch. So much better tasting!
- The simple joy of taking long walks with my husband now that our spring rains appear to be over.
- Free eBooks from our library. Though I likewise prefer to read paper books from the library (less electronic distractions), I am ever so grateful to have library eBooks as an option while our libraries remain closed.
Our lockdown has been extended by two weeks (gulp!). While we're worried for our economy and education systems, I love that our leaders are stepping up, and prioritizing our health and wellbeing.
Laughter with old friends and new.
So thankful for the telephone.
A stunning sky and city view last night, all pinks and gold.
Was greatly blessed by the generosity of 2 dear friends this morning. It is very humbling and emotional for me to be on the recipient of such a blessing.. I need to learn to accept it gracefully and not feel like a *charity case*.. These are generous and loving women who know how rough the last 6 months have been for our family and wanted to bless us in this time of crazy. I am deeply touch and grateful and yet still feel embarrassed that we have been cornered into this position where I can accept such "handouts."
** I am working hard to use this time to increase my patience as well as my pride**
Jes, please do accept the generosity of your friends and know that they are getting a blessing by being able to help you! There's no better feeling in the world and someday you will be able to pay it forward and receive that blessing yourself!
There is much to be thankful for:
We went for a walk early Easter morning. The yards in the block around the corner from other had many plastic eggs in them. Someone had put out eggs for the many children that live on that block.
People are friendlier when we are walking or in front of the house. I think people are taking the time to get to "know" their neighbors more.
There is a lot more texting going on with my scattered siblings, our group text is busy most days.
I am able to borrow ebooks from the library.
I was able to order an electric mower for my SIL for his birthday. It was delivered earlier than scheduled so he was able to use it on Sunday. My daughter gave us the idea and he was happily surprised by the gift.
I am still able to give some things away using Freecycle.
Also, our electricity went out yesterday, during a storm. Several BGE employees worked for many hours to restore power around 10:30 last night. There were several things they needed to fix to get us (and some neighbors) back up. Because we have good neighbors we have a mutual electricity mooching policy. Neighbors on one side of us are on a different grid and we generally lose power at different times. I ran two extension cords from the outlet on their shed, near the property line, into our house to keep the refrigerator and sump pump working (what I call our hillbilly generator). They know where our outdoor plugs are and are encouraged to run cords when they need to. The neighbor also checked last night to see if we needed anything.
My girl is getting old enough to appreciate sitting in my lap and looking at a book, especially with a blanket on our laps. It's pretty great 🙂
I am loving looking for the good these days:
*A local business bought hundreds of loaves of bakery bread from another local business and distributed it for free. A friend picked up a loaf for me.
*A was part of an "essential gathering" of about 25 women (spaced 6 feet apart and wearing masks) who sewed N95 quality, rewashable facemasks for the hospital. (They are made out of materials not available to the general public.) We finished 400 masks in about 6 hours.
*I took home the rest of the fabric and asked my church family to help me cut out the remaining masks. I dropped materials on porches, and cutouts are returning to mine. We'll have 800+ cut out in less than 48 hours. So many people thanked me for helping them have a meaningful project for a day.
*Tomorrow we'll distribute the rest of the cut out hospital masks to talented ladies who are sewing frantically to be ready when out hospital runs out of disposable masks.
*Meanwhile, I am still working on regular cloth masks for the rest of the community. Two friends are also sewing from my fabric stash, and one just requested more cut out and delivered.
*The weather is fantastic, so we're going on lots of family walks. Our dog particularly appreciates that.
*My foster daughter has begged to be homeschooled with my bio kids, but that's against policy. Distance learning has essentially granted her request, and she's thriving.
* My husband has been home from work, so we've been able to share more household duties and have more family time. It's lovely!
I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of fostering: why is homeschooling your foster child against policy?
There's no way to guarantee the foster parent will provide a quality education. Also, sending a child to school provides more adult eyes watching over them. We tried to get permission to do an online charter school, but even that wasn't approved.
My friend dropped off a tulip plant on Saturday when she brought me some baking powder. I gave her a gallon of milk that I had overbought, but knew her large family could use. The tulips just started blooming yesterday, when I very much needed it.
While my daffodils are done blooming and are now dying (it's ok - we got to enjoy them for a very long time), everyone else's daffodils are in full bloom now and looking beautiful!!
I love my Aldi very much and think the staff are phenomenal and our county's Facebook page made a post to give thanks to the manager there and how awesome she has been during this time. It's great to see others recognize someone I've appreciated and been blessed by for years.
Beautiful, colorful chalk art with messages like "April Distance Brings May Existence," "Keep Calm and Wear a Smile Under Your Mask" and "After Every Storm There is a Rainbow."
My 10 year old daughter and I took a twilight walk around the park by our house. As we finished the loop we noticed an older gentleman had pulled up a chair and was playing his banjo in the moonlight. We pulled up some grass to listen and ended up dancing to his music under the moon and stars. This will be one of my forever-favorite memories!
Oh my gosh, absolutely love this! You and your daughter will remember this forever!
That is like something out of a movie...except it's real!
Your daughter will carry those moments and someday gift that to her own children.
So very thankful for:
* quiet, slow family dinners every day
* several chilly mornings in a row in San Antonio
* furloughed, but grateful to technically still have a job plus the stimulus deposit was welcomed and unemployment benefits should be arriving soon
* healthy family
* lots of free time to scrapbook and read
* engaging and interesting conversations with my teenager about seeking what's truly important in life, budgeting, planning for emergencies
I didn't see this directly but it's so amazing I want to share it anyway. An anonymous benefactor purchased 3, $50 giftcards for each of the 549 households in Earlham, Iowa: one to the grocery store and one each for the town's two restaurants.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/04/14/man-spent-82000-gift-cards-sent-them-every-home-an-iowa-town/
Something I did see: when I went shopping today, I told the guy who was determining when the next person could go into the store, that I hoped everyone has being nice to him. (We'd just had a 30 min delay because the store had a backup in the checkout lines.) He said everyone was on their best behavior.
Aww, I think that's so great that the customers were being kind. Waiting in line tends to bring out the worst in people.
I am focusing on good news to keep my anxiety at bay and gratitude in my heart. Here's a few lovely things:
1. We joined our co-op in donating to a local restaurant so they could provide meals to the staff of our complex who are working extra hard to keep common areas clean and to the staff at the hospital behind our apartment complex. To date our co-op has collected over $16,000!
2. Each night we join our neighbors on our balconies, (they are all separated by at least 10 feet), and clap for all of the essential workers who are keeping things going while we are safe at home. Lately we have noticed some drivers are joining us with their car horns!
3. There are two new growths on my schefflera plant.
4. I have more time to read/cook/create art as I don't have to commute.
5. I am working from home, helping to keep the non-profit I work for able to serve the community during this time as best they can even though they had to close their buildings.
1. Finally above freezing.
2. The mask makers my husband has been working with has distributed over 2,000 masks. They have a great system set up for delivery of supplies and pick up of finished masks. These are all volunteers, men and women, and it fills me with gratitude to see that many people have stepped forward. Some older people who no longer can sew have donated their machines to those that can use them for mask making.
3. My leeks and basil and tomato seeds have germinated, which makes me cheerful even if it does mean that one side of the kitchen is crowded with lights and flats.
4. Our freezer/fridge broke down and we lost hundreds of dollars of meats and seafood. I was feeling pretty sorry for ourselves but then my friend's adult son called after his mom told him about our tragedy. He organized other young men to pick up the fridge my husband ordered from Home Depot, installed it, and took away the dead fridge. They arrived with N-95 masks on, told us to stay away and were in and out in a very short time. So, while it was horrible and expensive, it was very heartening to have these young guys come do all this and refuse any payment.
5. The dog we adopt from the animal shelter is so affectionate, it is a joy to have him around.
I'm going to be as gentle as possible, so please imagine me saying this in a very soft voice. Tragedy is when human beings die, not freezers.
Of course it is. I was not intending to diminishing what is happening to others.
I think I understand what Lindsey was trying to say because I use tragedy/tragic sometimes for things that I don't literally see as tragedies. Like, I look at my messy laundry room and refer to it as tragic.
And if my washing machine died, I might say it's a tragedy.
But for me, it's just a humorous overstatement, not anything intended to be taken literally.
A big family Zoom with my parents, all of my siblings and their spouses, plus nieces and nephews, and a pack of doggos. It was so wonderful and we set up a weekly Zoom to reconnect right now.
My local grocery store's staff is INCREDIBLE. They have had social distancing measures in place since March 17th. We're in Texas, where the outbreak wasn't really being taken very seriously. I don't know why this store manager chose to make the decision to limit customers' exposure so early on, but I am incredibly grateful.
I feel (relatively) safe shopping there because I see the staff sanitize carts. I wait each time for the cashier to wipe down their conveyor belt. I am grateful that each bagger has a mask and gloves. I nearly burst into tears last week when I ventured out because it was such a relief to see these folks taking such good care of their customers.
Obviously, I'm still cautious when I come home, but it's so heartening to see people sacrificing their comfort for others' health and safety.
Just before the lockdown started, my husband and I joined some friends for weekly trivia at a local pub. We enjoyed it so much we said we would return, but then the lockdown started. My friend then created a similar format trivia game for us to play over Zoom and it has expanded to around 20 families joining every week! We look forward to every Tuesday night for fun with friends online.
I want to know how to do this! Please share any insight ... my family would love this
The bestest positive thing happened today. We have a very large oak tree outside our fence that hangs over my veg garden. Technically the tree isn’t ours (it’s our neighbors) but they don’t care about it and so we’re fine with me having it trimmed up so my veg beds are in the sun. ANYWAYS, I have a couple of birdhouses in the tree, just as decoration. The guys took them down and put them in our veg area and proceeded to really thin out the tree. Those birdhouses were on the ground all day. They hung them back up in the same placeS when they were done. I went down to check on the hens and water my veg and I heard cheeping and realized there were BABY BIRDS in one of the houses. CRAP!!! Then OMG, the parents swooped in and were feeding the babies!! I was SO happy and SO relieved. They completely could have abandoned them but they didn’t. I sat and watched them feed their babies for a good half hour. Whew.
Yay! So glad the baby birds are being taken care of.
1. Sewed masks for my single mother friend who has been taking care of two little ones alone.
2. Had an unconventional and delightful Easter dinner of sloppy joes, oven fries and homemade apple pie.
3. Heard from our circle of friends Monday morning that everyone came through the Sunday night storms fine. Such a blessing to know they were all well.
4. Loving having my husband working from home. He's been my best friend for 34 years and this is much less stressful for him.
5. Weeding the back yard turned up some old and beautiful plantings of oxalis and Herb Robert, which makes me wonder if someone had a medicine garden. The house is old, so it could be.
I a glad you can see the happier things at this time. I am visiting with my granddaughter via face time. It is weird as she is just two but fun and so easy to love.
Our local authorities are extending our freeway and building a light rail system. Thankfully they are working during the day rather than all night.
Birds are so much in evidence right now. I love to hear them sing.
My son works in catering and has managed to secure some work.
Food supplies seem to be improving which is a good thing. I feel for our farmers because they are having huge difficulties finding a workforce. We have also had drought and fires so our fresh foods are down in supply and expensive.
I’m grateful that our schools are giving out free lunches in our area. I’m noticing all the gratitude for things I have now.
-On Easter I had a FaceTime egg hunt in my kitchen! It was a blast.
-A friend mailed pics of my own long ago baby shower and my daughter as an infant to share with my daughter when we needed to cancel my daughter’s March baby shower.
-In this year of big family events, my second daughter moved her wedding date to fall. Her sister and I briefly celebrated her April bridal shower date on her front porch, masks and all.
-My adult kids do my food shopping for me, since I am in the very vulnerable group.
-Each night my husband reads from a novel to me! It’s wonderful fun.
For an appetizer for our Easter dinner, I made focaccia. I could not find the recipe I have used in the past. This one said to divide into 8 and then make 4" rounds. Bonus: It was good and I found that I could make them on a daily basis for sandwiches when bread may not be available.
Because we like a little dessert with supper, I made a "little" cake from scratch. I bought a 6" cake pan one time and had not used it yet. It was just enough (and a little more) for the 6 of us.
Watching the daylilies coming up and thinking about where I will move them.
I started some seeds indoors. Basil is popping up on my kitchen windowsill. Next will be the tomatoes I hope.
Such a cute pic of you and your niece!
This is not lovely, but it’s funny. Yesterday I was waiting for a FaceTime call from my Rheumatologist for a remote appointment. I was all prepared and had all my stuff spread out on our kitchen bar so I could find things easily if I needed them...my list of meds, list of questions, file for this particular doc, my phone in my pocket, etc. So...about 20 minutes before appointment time I went for a quick bathroom break so I’d be “really” ready. Yep! Almost as soon as I sat down my phone rang. I kind of freaked, yelling for my hubby. When he didn’t appear, I answered, knowing that the nurse was supposed to give me a link to call. However, when I answered, there sat my doc (a rather stern man) in his office. I could see him...I’m assuming he could see at least my face...I hope that’s all. I immediately asked him to hold and laid my phone face down on my walker, so hopefully nothing embarrassing was visible at any time. I got up, adjusted clothes, washed my hands and headed to the bar in kitchen where I had all my stuff laid out. Turned out to be a good appointment. I think he was impressed that I had gotten my glucose numbers down since I last saw him all by myself (and the grace of God).
A rather embarrassing beginning for my appointment!