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.
