LILIES AND COVID-19

There are many different kinds of lilies in my garden. The only ones for which I know the name are the Stargazer, Alsteroameria, Tiger and the Day Lily. So, rather than do an orange lily one day, a red one the next and a yellow the day after, I decided I’d just include photos of all of them in one post. You'll find them at the end.

It saddens me that the majority of them have bloomed already. When I planted, I thought I read they’d bloom the end of July. It’s only the middle and they’re already done. I could understand that if we’d had some really hot weather, but it hasn’t been that hot and it’s rained a lot as well.

Tuesday was kind of a difficult day for me because I couldn’t seem to settle. I couldn’t find a project on which I wanted to work. I didn’t feel like looking at photos. I didn’t feel like writing. I looked at my “todo” list and didn’t want to do anything on that as well. I felt a bit like the horses in the “Heartland” program I’m watching on television. The upset horse runs round and round the corral and is told to “settle.” Well, there’s no one here to tell me to settle so I’m just kind of going in circles about the house. I pick up one thing and put it down; move to another and repeat.

It's now Wednesday and I haven’t accomplished much today either. I had a difficult time going to sleep Tuesday night, so I woke up late and couldn’t get my physical therapy done in time to walk, so I didn’t walk. I did drive out to AJ’s house to take Angie the Stargazer lily. I drove one-handed so I could hold the vase upright and not crush any of the flowers. So far, all the lilies that had opened were good, and if Angie changes the water every other day or so and cuts off a bit more stem, the last three should bloom and fill her house with their scent for a week or more.

We had a nice visit. It isn’t often I get to see just Angie. AJ and Haley are usually around as well, but today they were both at work. We didn’t have a lot to talk about that didn’t involve COVID-19 and how we’re dealing with it, have dealt with it and will continue to deal. Angie works for the Edmonds School District, and while there was a school board meeting via Zoom last night, there’s been no definite decisions made about holding class in the schools or online.

If I were a teacher, I certainly wouldn’t want to go back to school and teach, especially in elementary school. Those kids are germ factories and if one comes to school with a single germ, s/he shares it with the entire classroom and sooner or later, every single kid in the class is home because s/he is sick.

And, if I were a parent, I’m not sure I’d want my kids to go back to school either. So many times, a child doesn’t feel well and it’s not for days or weeks that testing shows that child has a serious disease like leukemia. If that child is in a classroom with other kids or teachers that have COVID-19, I think it would be entirely possible for that very ill child to not survive.

I guess I’m just grateful that I don’t have young children although I do worry about my young grandchildren. I’m also grateful I’m retired and can just shelter-in-place as long as necessary. The world has changed so much since the beginning of 2020 that it almost doesn’t seem real and yet it is…it’s very very real.

Wednesday morning’s news indicated there was a vaccine that showed great promise, but would still require more testing. I also read an article in Time Magazine last week about a pharmaceutical company. The name of that company was not retained by my brain, but the CEO said if the vaccine they were testing proves out, they’ll ramp up production so there will be a stock to get out to people even before the FDA gives it an okay. Asked what the company would do if they didn’t get approval, the CEO said they’d just have to eat the cost and dispose of the vaccine.

It sure would be great to end 2020 with a vaccine that would protect us all from COVID-19 in the same way polio and smallpox vaccine protected us from those diseases. I’m sure there are millions or billions of us who are lighting candles, rubbing Buddha’s belly, doing vaccine dances or simply praying that when the grim reaper gives way to the baby on December 31, 2020, we can begin 2021 vaccinated.