Sunday, April 12, 2020

Easter and Beans and Tortillas














Easter was... interesting. Officially, Sunday April 12, was Easter. But one thing that was decided by Max and Maria, Alex, and William, was that we would celebrate on Monday, because Monday would be the end of Bambi's isolation. So, Monday Maria would bake another lemon cake, and we would make favorite dishes, like falafel and hummus, and Galaxy's Edge flatbread, which Alex has mastered. Sunday, we did other things.

For one, I cleaned the goat and chicken run. I am not going to make any attempt at false modesty or humble observations of this chore. After flooding rain, and weeks of regular storms, the labor of mucking out mud and soaked straw was colossal. It was fricking intense and smelly and humbling, and hurty. That's the truth, and my reward was sweat, blisters, pain, and aches (pain and aches are unique symptoms and I will list them separately), and a really fresh and pleasant home for Chicas and goats... I couldn't stop admiring, with satisfaction, how greatly improved I made everything. I even made a new nest area, and hauled out the sadly ruined old rabbit hutch. Just look at Ada's smile! Isn't that the look of thanks and appreciation? Thank you, Ada, you're welcome. Happy Easter, dear ones.

Other Sunday things included making beans, and flour tortillas for dinner. But Max made us lunch, and that was a nice treat. He fixed us hot dogs, and we still have sauerkraut... thank goodness! We love Claussen's sauerkraut, and pickles. We did not have buns, but thanks to Janece and Paul, we had oven warmed sourdough bread.

(Shopping is a whole other thing, right?? We aren't going out. Not much. I went to the nursery and picked up plants, but totally remotely, all of the orders and payments were done over the phone. Gloves, mask, and everything washed down when I returned home. And thank goodness for them, for how easy they make that. Yeah, we are being extra careful... for the sake of the PPE, and because some of us have conditions that make us high risk. Janece and Paul went to Costco, and they shopped for us. These are the things people are doing, right? The new normal, we call it. They masked up and got on the gloves, and ventured out, and we were at home, like we were remotely observing a moon landing... They're on the moon! They've landed! They're stepping out of the capsule! And us, on our little planet, wondering what they will see, what they will bring home! They're saving us! Shopping day is so weird and miraculous. We know how to Venmo, now, and we make an assembly line in the driveway to wash bananas, and clean milk cartons! It's Little House in the Big Woods! Paul and Janece return from the hunt, and we render the bear! We still have frozen brisket. We count the cans of beans, and we all exclaim gleefully because they brought chocolate Easter bunnies, sourdough bread. They're part of our team, helping us do what we can... our community is so good. And shopping is so weird, and miraculous.)

We lost Internet. BC, that would have been inconvenient, but when it's our school and work tool, it's really inconvenient. The cable company had to shut us down, something about old wiring. And they sent someone out on Sunday. Poor guy. He couldn't come in the house to make a finished, neat update, and luckily Geoff was able to consult with him, and something was hacked together to get us back online. We have a long cable flung over the roof, and hanging across our entry, into a window... like a cable bypass operation. It seems to be working, at least.

And, no matter what else is going on, there is always PPE. Maria and Alex got on the assembly line and prepared the clear shields. They get hole punches and the corners get curved. I kept up the job of de-burring all the edges of the shield frames. I spend about 10-12 minutes on each frame. On Monday, we will have enough to order a pick up, that will be delivered to a local hospital, and Bambi will be out of isolation, and we will have our Easter.

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