Sunshiny day

I can't believe this social distancing is beginning to feel normal to me.  Every day seems to fly by!  I don't like the reason we're in this situation, but I'm getting used to it.  Seems like each day I say to Cliff, "Tomorrow we're going to Lexington and I'll get some produce at Dave's," then the next day I decide I don't want to go.  

It's turned into such a pretty day, Cliff went outside without taking his after-dinner nap.  Nice weather will make this pandemic isolation so much more bearable.  There are many chances of rain, but that's just another sign of spring, so I'll take it.  

I haven't taken Gabe out for our walk through the woods yet, but I will when I get this entry done.  Last night I put his Seresto flea collar on him; those things are expensive, but they will keep fleas and ticks off him from now until November.  He really doesn't need a flea collar in winter, so I just have to buy one a year.  He and I both found a tick on ourselves a few days ago, so it was time for the collar. 

I called my sister in Oklahoma City to check in:  she said it's going to be 90 degrees there tomorrow.  I think our temperature is supposed to reach 70, and that sounds divine to me.  I asked Maxine, who is 92 years old, "Did you ever imagine a time like this would come, when you have to stay at home and not see anyone?"  After all, she lived through the Great Depression, and she sent her future husband off to Germany to fight in a war.  She remembers what those times were like, but she agreed she's never seen anything like this.  One of her grandsons called her saying, "Look on your porch."  They had left a bouquet of flowers for her; what a nice surprise.  Like me, she said misses doing her own shopping.

Here's a positive local story:  Odessa, a town ten miles south of us, has one grocery store.  Some time back, it was being run by a despicable person who re-labeled outdated meat and sold it as fresh; that was only the tip of the iceberg.  People stopped going there for awhile.  A new manager, I believe, took over, cleaned things up, and has been trying to get back in the town's good will.  Since this pandemic hit, I have seen many positive posts on the Odessa Facebook community page about what a turnaround they've done; I'll bet the sins of the former employee will be totally forgotten when this mess we are living through is all over.

  
Like Phoenix, the store seems to be rising from the ashes.  I wish I could show you all the positive comments that have been posted about it lately.  If you keep scrolling down to 2017, you will realize the old management was still there, because there are terrible comments and reviews.  But now, many people have mentioned going there and finding every single item they needed, while the big city stores and Walmarts everywhere had mostly empty shelves.

On another positive note, the butcher shop a mile away from us has started stocking a few basic groceries, since we have no grocery store in town:  Of course the place has meat, but they now have milk and even toilet paper!  Prices are high, but in these tough times it's good to know there is a nearby business that stocks a few of the essentials.  Wellington, for years, had a mini-mart just east of town.  It has changed hands several times over the years, but it was in operation when we moved here in 1975  and was operating until last year's big flood; it was just too much, and the people in charge gave up.  We used to have a gas station here, too, and a bank... even a little grocery store and drug store.  It's all gone.  We can still buy gasoline in town, but it isn't at a station: there are unattended pumps sitting out there at 24 highway.  You buy gas with a credit card and pump it yourself.  We often see big farm tractors fueling up at the Diesel tank, which makes Cliff's day. 

I hope all my readers are happy and healthy.  Hunker down and stay safe; today I am optimistic, even though I have no idea why.  Gabe and I need our exercise, so I'll stop blathering and get to it.

Yours truly,
Donna