Passing the Time

Donna and I are pretty good at entertaining ourselves. That's good, because during these challenging times, you have to find things to do or go stir crazy.

As the week began, we were still getting out a bit, though we were keeping our distance and following the CDC suggestions of washing hands, wiping down surfaces, and so forth. We even took advantage of a senior time at Walmart on Tuesday morning. The store opened its doors to senior citizens an hour before regular start time. Donna and I arrived promptly at 6:00 AM to find a fairly long line. We decided we would brave the line, which really moved rather quickly. Employees were allowing 4 in at a time. This gave them time to wipe down carts and have them ready as all of us old geezers entered.

Most items were in good supply, although selections of bread, cereal, meat, and dairy products were not what they usually are. Paper towels disappeared while we were there, and there was no toilet paper to begin with. But we got mostly what we came for.

One day we drove through a chicken place and got some tender meals. We took our food out to Spring Creek Park and had a pleasant picnic overlooking Spring Creek. It was nice to eat on the creek bank and watch the ducks and other birds. The breeze was light and the temperature perfect.

We've been walking, of course, and doing quite a bit of work in the yard. The mowers came on Wednesday, and I always have to clean up after they cut the grass. I usually get the trimmer out, for the mowers are more interested in quantity rather than quality. So, there is always some touching up to do, often quite a bit. And since they don't bag, there is always grass to blow off the patios and sidewalks.

Donna has tomato and pepper plants scattered around the beds, and all of her patio plants are roaring to life. With the beautiful warm weather this past week and good recent rains, everything is greening up.

Tomato and pepper plants along our north wall.

Earlier in the week, Donna set out here 3 hummingbird feeders. Let the wars begin! Those rascals surely are stingy with those feeders, but they are a delight to watch.

Feeders in a row across our back patio. The little birds dart from feeder to feeder, running off any who dare tresspass on their domain.

We now have 3 cases of COVID-19 in Tom Green County, so Donna and I have decided to isolate ourselves even more. We are now using curbside services to pick up groceries from H.E.B., and we are eating all of our meals at home -- no more take out. The next few weeks should be interesting for us. Will the number of positive cases rise locally (I'm sure they will), and how bad will it get here?

And let me leave you with a humorous story which I like to call, "The Saga of Donna and the Chicken".

I was sitting in my recliner the other day, minding my own business, when Donna looked out the windows overlooking our back patio.

"There's a chicken in our yard," she exclaimed.

Well, I've been here before. Donna sees lots of things; after all, she drinks a lot, you know. For example, Donna has seen ostriches on hikes (turned out to be turkeys), and she is great at seeing things in the clouds, even when there are no clouds.

Well, I moseyed on over to the window and peeked out.

When I peeked out, this is what I saw through the slats.

"Donna," I said. "That's a buzzard."

We stepped out on the patio and were able to snap a few more pics before he flew off.

Donna's chicken.

Technically, I believe that is a turkey vulture. We get quite a few buzzards that circle Rio Concho West. We think it is because of all of us old geezers. They seem to be waiting for us to die. Perhaps we'll just drop dead while we are walking or while we are getting our mail or morning paper. And some of them fly really low through the neighborhood. As we sit on our back patio looking towards our street, many will actually fly level with our eyes since the street is a few feet lower than our patio. So, when you hear of our death, just know we are being taken care of by nature's caretakers.

Take care of yourselves out there, and be smart!