The Pandemic

Nashville is no longer in our immediate plans.  I was so torn between whether we should go or not, I was actually relieved when they shut down all the stuff in Nashville we were going to see.  We got a letter from the Grand Ole Opry saying our tickets could be used any time in the next year, once the shut-down is over.  I do have to call the other place where I pre-bought tickets, but I added insurance onto the purchase that will give us our money back if for any reason we couldn't make it.  So I'm not too concerned, and I'm relieved, as I said before, that the decision was out of my hands.  

I've seen a lot of folks more or less calling people "pansies" for being concerned about the attention given to this current situation, and bragging about how strong they are, how they are trusting in God, and how folks didn't used to worry about such things.  Then there are the crazies buying everything in the stores, leaving empty shelves for everybody else.  I guess they feel pretty smart.  It certainly shows you what people will do under pressure.  It's the "all-about-me" attitude that will likely be the end of the human race.  I'm here in the middle thinking, "OK, God has taken care of me so far and probably will again, but I think He might not want me to make fun of people who are concerned they might die from it, and I'm pretty sure He wouldn't want me buying enough toilet paper for a year while my neighbors go without.  Or buying up all the baby wipes and leaving none for the babies."  

I missed Church this morning, BOTH churches I attend.  Watching people being so cruel to one another has really gotten under my skin.  Last week sometime I saw this on Facebook and shared it. 

It reminded me of Grandma Stevens' house when I was a kid.  This morning, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to eat a Sunday dinner like we had back then; after thinking about it for an hour or so, I made the decision to stay home and cook the kind of dinner my grandma, my mom, and my aunts made in the 1950's.  I got a chuck roast from the deep freeze.  I noticed a package of soup bones back in a corner and decided to use those for making beef noodles.  Oh yes, and while my head was in the freezer, I noticed an apple pie filling I'd stuck in there last October.  There was even some cheap, off-brand vanilla ice cream for the pie I made!  All I had to do was make the crust, nestle the frozen apple pie filling into it, and bake it for 90 minutes.

Even the smells took me back to a different time!  There was a time I'd have called relatives within thirty miles and invited them all, but people aren't as thrilled with a home-made dinner as they once were.  Arick and Heather live next door, so at least I can always invite them.  When Arick came in here at noon and walked into the kitchen, he exclaimed, "Is that PIE?!?!?"

That's the sort of enthusiasm that makes a meal worth the effort. 

I'm getting rather tired of people griping about "the media" any time "the media" has a different opinion than theirs.  Folks, if we were to do away with the media, we'll be the dumbest civilization since the bronze age.  Of course reporters get things wrong.  Of course they have opinions.  If you think you can do a better job of distributing information, have at it.  Otherwise, just kindly filter out what you don't believe, I suppose, and be happy  That's surely what those flat-earth people do, with the evidence of the truth right in front of them.  Fake news, you say?  

All I know is this:  If I spent my time making fun of the effort to stop this virus before it gets out of hand and then lost a loved one to that very virus, I'd feel pretty stupid, not to mention sad.  And that could happen.

I'm just glad I cooked like Grandma today.  It was a balm to my spirit.  

And so is this picture, taken yesterday, of Cliff holding Brynn, my newest great-granddaughter.
She weighed over nine pounds at birth.

Peace