coronavirus fear

Power outage…..seriously?

/ Roadtirementvintage / 26 Comments

Yep, the storm last night caused a power outage. The Electric utility company sent out a text at about 5 am telling us that our power was out. Expected to be fixed by 8:30 am.

Next text at 7:15 am reporting that the power was back on. Yes, Amazon Echo did light up. For about 4 minutes, it was on, then off again.

Next text at 7:20 am again stating “a power outage has been identified in your area and may impact (our address). The current estimated time for restoration is 9:15 am on May 18”.

Next text at 9:45 am puts the restoration at 12:30 pm. Outage caused by equipment damage. Dang, I need coffee!

Sher and I are now in our RV in the drive way. The on board generator is purring along smoothly. We are having coffee (whew), enjoying TV via the broadcast bat-wing antenna, and kind of like being back on the road. Well, not really, but we are glad we have the opportunity to have coffee and internet via our phone hotspots. There is something nice about hearing the rain on the RV’s roof.

Power outage, yet another aggravation during this COVID-19 thing. Sigh…..

Robins in the garden

/ Roadtirementvintage / 17 Comments

This robin was enjoying a romp in the mulch looking for worms

There are lots of robins in neighborhood, and we are seeing lots of young, still growing birds in the yard. We have tilled up sod for our flower garden, and this freshly exposed soil has become a worm buffet for the robins and other birds.

Our bird feeder has really become a center of feathered activity. We are seeing an almost constant stream of birds feeding from the feeder. The larger birds, too big for the feeder’s small perches, are enjoying feeding on the ground where the seeds have fallen from the feeder. We daily see cardinals, starlings,  doves and the occasional Blue Jay. We saw a red headed woodpecker one day hanging from the bottom of the feeder. I was surprised to see a woodpecker on the seed feeder.

Don’t jump the gun as businesses start to open up again. Remember to follow the guidelines: masks, distancing, sanitizers and hand washing. Be safe and stay healthy!

Working on the flower garden

/ Roadtirementvintage / 16 Comments

Sher is planting petunias in some additional containers. She just got done planting some herbs. Our son, in the back left, is getting ready to hook the hose to the pressure washer. You can see a kitchen sink. Yes, that will be pressure washed and turned into some kind of planter in one side and a bird bath in the other.

We’ve been raking the tilled ground in preparation for placing some mulch. We have some pretty colored rocks that we picked up out in the country a few days ago. These are all glacial deposits that came down from Canada during the Ice Age.

This COVID-19 thing has us  stuck at home, like so many of our friends and family. Putting together our flower garden is a welcome project for many reasons. It gets us out side, gives a goal to shoot for, and when it comes to the vegetable garden, hopefully we’ll be able to consume the fruits of our labor.

Indiana is starting to slowly “open back up”. Some more stores are now open at reduced capacity. Restaurants can open for inside business at 50% capacity with restrictions. It is easy to desire to get back to normal after the long stay at home. But remember, the virus is still out there!

Don’t let your guard down, be safe and stay healthy.

Garden preparations times two

/ Roadtirementvintage / 16 Comments

Today I rented a rototiller from the local tool rental business. Sher and I had decided that we wanted a flower garden in the backyard. Our son also has a small vegetable plot out back, and we decided to greatly expand that garden as well.

Yes, that’s Maj tilling ground soon to be a flower garden

For the vegetable garden, we laid out a space about 14′ X 25′.  We figured that would give us plenty of room for a variety of goodies. The tiller was a powerful rear tine unit that worked very well. Our soil conditions were a tad bit too moist, but all in all a lot of good rich soil was turned. This ground has been under sod for decades, and will produce a plentiful harvest.

The vegetable plot, just tilled.

We have some starts already, soon to be planted in the vegetable plot. As things progress, we’ll share more photos showing the progress as things grow. We’re hoping that the flower garden and the vegetable garden will provide lots of enjoyment as well as some home grown food.

The State of Indiana is just beginning the Back On Track Indiana reopening process. Even with the so called back to normal date of July 4th, us senior citizens and those with health issues are still warned to be careful in public. We are yet to decide when and where circumstances will allow us to get out and travel.

 

River view and Indiana opening again

/ Roadtirementvintage / 20 Comments

On one of our drives we came upon a pretty little river. The current was fairly fast flowing, and we did see some ducks on the river, and some folks in kayaks enjoying a nice day.

People in Indiana are slowly trying to get used to the “Back On Track Indiana” procedures. This is the first full weekend of the Stage 2 of the “reopening”. Restaurants are back at 50% capacity, travel restrictions are gone, and everybody is to wear masks anytime you are outside your residence, among other changes. If you are interested, you can see Indiana’s plan at this website.

A different 10th anniversary for Roadtirement

/ Roadtirementvintage / 18 Comments

Our comfortable site near Austin

Right to the point, today is the tenth week anniversary of the beginning of our self- imposed isolation which began on February 25th.

Sher and I were on our Winter Texan living when the coronavirus thing was starting to heat up big time. We got out of Seattle in the end of January after visiting our daughter and her family, just before that Nursing home COVID-19 outbreak was reported. We were in our RV Resort in the Hill Country west of Austin. We’d planned on finishing February in Austin, and then heading to the Rio Grande Valley for March.

As the media brought more and more accounts of an upcoming pandemic, regardless of source, we decided that we would be better off in our home base in Indiana. As it turned out, that was a good decision because as things got worse most RV parks and campgrounds closed. So we got back to our house on February 25th.

Nearly empty lot at Cracker Barrel: carry out only

That began what is now our tenth week in “isolation”. We are both over 65, and I have more than one of those pesky underlying health issues that make for a scary scenario if the coronavirus infects us. So for the past 10 weeks we have been basically stuck at home. We’ve been out just a few times, with our son driving. He has been going to the grocery and pharmacy for us.  The only retail place that Sher and I have visited was a farm store for some flowers. We stayed outside and way away from other customers and store staff.

The State of Indiana is now going through a series of stages getting back to “normal”. By July 4th any restrictions will almost be gone. There will still be warnings for us old folks with underlying health issues. We are supposed to “adhere to social distancing guidelines and remain cautious at work and in (sic) our communities” so states the Back On Track Indiana recommendations in Stage 5.

Roadtirement has had 70 days of isolation. We will have to decide what activities will be safe for us. I don’t think either of us can afford to catch this damned virus, and so far there is no treatment or vaccine.  Sigh…

Yes, the 1st Earth Day was 50 years ago

/ Roadtirementvintage / 8 Comments

Big 4 Mountain, Cascade Range

Wow, April 22, 1970. Where were you on the first Earth Day? I was a freshman at a small liberal arts college in Illinois. I knew several fellow students who were really activist minded about the environment, anti-war movement and other social issues. My geology professor was already a hard core environmentalist. The Nation wide and world wide Earth Day marches were quite something to see/read about.

Here we are in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic. There have been many reports documenting the effect that all of the stay at home orders have had on Earth. Have you seen the air quality/pollution studies showing the very dramatic decrease in smog due to few people driving?  How about the video of the kangaroo hopping across an Australian city and only seeing one car?  Geologists studying earthquakes are seeing subtle readings on seismographs that before have been hidden due to human activity.

I read somewhere that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is Earth’s way of scolding humankind and sending us to our rooms until we learn how to behave. Makes sense to me. It is my hope that the “new normal”, what ever that turns out to be, will show much more respect for Earth. Our existence depends on it.

— stay safe, wash your hands,  stay healthy —

Indiana extends shutdown and protests follow

/ Roadtirementvintage / 6 Comments

Here’s some colorful phlox for you to see before today’s Roadtirement blog topic.

Indiana’s Governor Eric Holcomb has extended the state wide stay at home order from April 20th to May 1st. However, some restrictions are being lifted. Most of the non-essential elective surgery procedures will be allowed to continue. This has been so the PPE supplies were available for health care workers treating COVID-19 patients.  Apparently dental appointments will also now be allowed.

There were lots of folks protesting the shut down in front of the Governor’s Residence in Indianapolis over the weekend. The participants were not observing “social distancing” and few wore face masks. I appreciate the protesters’ right of free speech, but sorry, that was a really stupid way of doing it. They got the TV coverage they were after. But, people, the pandemic is NOT yet over. You can protest and do it within the current health and safety recommendations.

COVID-19 empty park

/ Roadtirementvintage / 11 Comments

Not a soul in sight

Sher and I took a drive the other day as the weather was nice even though a tad bit on the cool side. As our son hadn’t been out for a while either, he graciously drove.

We started our jaunt  driving around town, and we immediately noticed that there was a fair amount of traffic out on the streets. No pedestrians in sight, with the exception of a fellow with a carry-out order from a local restaurant.

No children laughing and romping around today

Then it was off to a local city park. The attached photos are the result. The nice shiny new playground equipment had been closed with caution tape. The normally busy park was empty. We did enjoy getting out for a while, maintaining social distance. Heck, we stayed in the car! We do not know how the upcoming “open the country back up” suggestions will affect us. Without a vaccine or real effective treatment we’re not sure when it will be safe for us to get back to normal, whatever that “new normal” will look like.

Stay safe and healthy out there, folks!

Palm trees, puffy clouds, coronavirus isolation

/ Roadtirementvintage / 13 Comments

The picture is really kind of pretty. Those green fronds of the palm trees starkly contrast with the white and blue hues in the sky. But what does that have to do with COVID-19 isolation? Nothing.

So much is happening in the country, the world, our state and our street. No, I take that back, very little is happening on our street. But the country? We got our stimulus money from the IRS. Trump put up a campaign ad disguised as a “briefing” in one of his press conferences. He backed down a little from his “I have total authority” statements. But those statements really tell a lot about who Trump thinks he is. Have you noticed that he likes to cut off reporters before they can even finish their questions? And in some cases he then yells at them because the question they want to ask might put Trump in a bad light. And don’t get me started on Trump’s asinine use of Twitter.

When is our isolation going to end? As one who has  a list of those underlying health concerns I am really hesitant to think about soon returning to a “normal” life out and about. Until they (whoever they are) can come up with an effective treatment or an effective vaccine I am not sure when Sher and I will feel comfortable or safe going out. It will be interesting to see what conditions state or federal governments will need to see prior to “opening for business”.

Thanks for allowing me to “rant” a bit and share the frustrations that so many of us are feeling right now. I just hope that as soon as possible we can all get back into the new normal, whatever that turns out to be.