At the beginning of this month our routine activities included:

• Church and Sunday school with Emma and Dad every Sunday morning. And Dad watching XFL football every Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings.
• On Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, Dad and I try to go to the gym at the Parrish YMCA.
• I am going in to work in the church office doing data input; volunteering at the North River Care Pregnancy Center on Tuesday afternoons. Most Tuesdays, I get to eat supper with granddaughter, Vanessa, before going to the Easter Cantata practice which starts at 6:30.
• Miss Shirley and I continue to visit shut-ins every other Thursday morning. (This month we added Betty Alderton to our list.)

Sunday, March 1 through Saturday, March 7 (Week1)

We attended Sunday School and church as usual on Sunday and wished daughter-in-law, Kellie, a happy birthday on Monday, 3/2. I took flowers to Rick’s grave on Wednesday. They are light green in honor of St. Patrick’s day and spring.

On Wednesday, 3/4, the Spectrum cable guy was working on new internet so I picked up Emma after school (missing our normal going to the YMCA). Then after supper, JP and I went to Best Buy to by an amplifier to get the new WIFI to work in my part of the house (missing choir practice). JP got it running before we went to bed. Thanks, son. The lady who joins me in visiting shut-ins every other Thursday, affectionately known as Miss Shirley turned 85 today and was happy to share her special day with the three ladies that we visited. Some precautions against the Coronavirus were in place. We did not touch or hug one another and in the rehabilitation center, we were asked to use hand sanitizer when we got there and again when we left. On Friday, 3/6, I took Dad to get his nails trimmed while JP installed a ROKU in his room so that he can watch tv in bed. When we got back from the YMCA, the tv was working. Thanks again, son. I ended this week on Saturday, 3/7, by helping a friend from church pack boxes in anticipation of her move.

Sunday, March 8 through Saturday, March 14 (Week 2)

Sunday, 3/8, would have been my mother’s 91^st birthday. We all miss her still. The pastor announced in church today that Dale Alderton’s funeral will be at church next Sunday afternoon. The choir has been asked to sing at the service. The monthly cleaning service came on Tuesday. The house always smells and looks much better when they leave and I am very happy not to have clean bathrooms! On Tuesday, 3/10, I worked in the church office and at the pregnancy center in the afternoon; then I met Jane for an early supper at the Shake Station before we went to the Easter cantata choir practice. Dad and I went to the YMCA gym Wednesday afternoon and I went to choir practice that evening. Thursday, 3/12, The pregnancy center (NRC) board meeting was preempted with preparation for Life Crop fundraiser aka “Create for Life”. This event has been held for many years. It started out as a bunch of ladies working of scrap books, but has evolved into any and all kind of crafting. The event opened at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, 3/13, closing for the evening at 11 p.m. It reopened at 8 am on Saturday and closed at 5:00. I worked on a couple of needlepoint projects one of which is pictured below – crosses that can be used as bookmarks or Christmas ornaments. Pictured with me are our church pianist, Jane and another NRC board member, Linda.  You can click on the picture to see it in a larger format.

During the fundraiser, the pregnancy center director was on a long conference call with the Florida Department of Health. They were suggesting that all pregnancy centers in the State consider closing their doors for the next two weeks. She discussed the call with the three board members that were at the event and the decision was made to see only essential clients and to do as many appointments by phone or video as possible. We will close the area of the center that we call our “store” where the clients go to choose clothes and other donated items after each visit. During the next two weeks, we will perform a deep cleaning of the office and reorganization of the “store” (this is the area where I spend most of my time when I volunteer there every Tuesday afternoon.) Also, the State announced today that all public schools will be closed until March 30 due to Coronavirus. That means an extra week off for Emma whose break was scheduled to start this coming Monday.

Sunday, March 15 through Saturday, March 21 (Week 3)

We attended Sunday school and church in the morning and Dad and I attended Dale’s funeral in the afternoon. They announced at church today that the only service we will have until Easter is the Sunday morning service. – no Sunday school, no Sunday evening or Wednesday evening services. Also, all planned activities (like the senior’s monthly pot-luck supper and the Easter egg hunt have been cancelled.) We are going to try to have choir practice on Wednesday evenings at the time that the service would have been. But, I’m sure that will be “played by ear” also. Dale was a member of the choir and a member of Dad’s Sunday school class. He will be greatly missed. On Monday, 3/16, I made my monthly drive over to Ormond Beach to see my brother-in-law, Edward. I have been driving over there at least once a month for the last six months and today’s journey was amazingly different. Today was the first day in who knows how long that all of the theme parks in Florida are closed. Every other time I drove on I-4 towards Orlando, I ran into a traffic jam west of US 27. Today there was no drop in speed at all. This was true on all of the roads I took and the traffic was even less on my way back in the afternoon. I chose to go ahead with this month’s trip as I don’t know if interstate travel may be restricted in the future.

On the Tuesday morning news it was announced that all gym’s in the US would be closed, including the YMCA and restaurants were asked to cut their seating area’s by 50% and the government was asking that no more than 10 people gather together for anything. Vanessa came over to see Emma Tuesday morning. She made breakfast for her, Emma and me. She says that the restaurant where she works, Shake Station, in Ellenton, will continue to stay open for “take out” meals.

By Wednesday 3/18, the State announced that public schools will now be closed until April 15^th. I expect to hear that all church activities and services will be cancelled, but I haven’t as of early Wednesday afternoon. Dad and I will be taking walks around the neighborhood in place of going to the YMCA. People are being asked to stay at home as much as possible but encouraged to communicate with each other. How many times have you said – not knowing what’s happening is the worse possible scenario? Well, in an effort to communicate with friends and family who read this blog, I will be putting in more details and posting more often than I have so that you all know that Dad and I are well.

Normally, I would have been visiting shut-in’s today, Thursday, 3/19, but since I cannot do that (due to the Coronavirus) I went in to the pregnancy care center to help the three-person staff with the deep cleaning and reorganization while client visits are restricted. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home and, once the groceries were put away, Dad and I went for a 20-minute walk in the neighborhood. It is so nice to have sidewalks for him to use his walker on. (He usually just uses a cane, but the walker has a seat that he can make use of if he gets tired.) I heard from Rick’s sister’s son, Mat. He tells me that he and his fiancée, Lindsay, have postponed traveling further north along the Pacific coast and have returned to Arizona to stay with a friend until there are fewer restrictions regarding the virus. I am glad to hear that they are staying as safe as anyone can be.

The Friday morning, 3/20, news announced that the California Governor has ordered all Californians to stay at home, marking the first mandatory restrictions placed on the lives of all 40 million residents in the state’s fight against the novel coronavirus. The mandatory order allows Californians to continue to visit gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, take-out and delivery restaurants, banks and laundromats. People can leave their homes to care for a relative or a friend or seek healthcare services. It exempts workers in 16 federal critical infrastructure sectors, including food and agriculture, healthcare, transportation, energy, financial services, emergency response and others. No time frame was set for when the order would end. By the evening, at least three other states had issued similar orders including New York and Illinois.

In Florida, several stores have announced that they will restrict their first hour of operation to senior shoppers only, while others like our outlet mall, Beall’s and Macy’s have closed completely. Today is the first day of spring and many Florida beaches have been covered with “spring breakers”, so Sarasota, Manatee, and Pinellas Counties will be closing their beaches to everyone starting tomorrow.  Our governor has also restricted all restaurants to take-out dining only.

Dad and I saw a mother, daddy and baby sand hill crane on our walk today – another sign of spring. You might have to click on the picture to see the little one in the shade of the tree.

After I got home from the walk with Dad, I took Emma to Rye Wilderness Reserve where we had a late picnic lunch and she enjoyed the playground equipment.  The temperature was in the high 80’s.

Kellie’s office (the Manatee County Tax Collector’s Office) announced they will be closed for the next two weeks starting Monday. The church has secured permission for live streaming of the services but that does not include music, so the choir director has asked all choir members to come to church an hour early on Sunday morning so that we can prepare for the live broadcast.

Saturday, 3/21, was a quiet day, leaving the house only long enough to go for a walk.  The news announced today that XFL football had cancelled the rest of its first season – no surprise there.

Sunday, March 22 through Saturday, March 28 (Week 4)

I attended the Sunday morning service at Palm View First Baptist Church without Dad or Emma. There were less than 25 people in the sanctuary, including 5 in the choir. It was important that choir members attend, if possible, because for the first time ever, the service was streamed live. Everything went well and I think Dad will attend with me next week. In the afternoon, he and I went for our walk without Emma. She was in the pool with her mother and Kellie’s friend, Rebecca. On the walk, Dad and I encountered a mostly black wading bird with bright white spots (Click on the picture below to get a better look.)

Monday, 3/23, was quiet. We went for our afternoon walk (along with Emma), but had no other activities planned. I received phone calls cancelling Dad’s dentist appoint and my monthly massage. But, I got an e-mail from the cleaning services saying that they were a small family-owned business and would continue to clean houses as long as the residents felt comfortable letting them into their homes. I replied saying to be sure that they had me on their schedule for April. I baked a small ham for supper and made sweet potatoes and asparagus to go with it. I have planned to use it for several meals, but also had enough to give some to Kellie, JP and Emma for supper.

Tuesday, 3/25, was the first day that Pubix Grocery stores opened from 7 to 8 a.m. for “senior” shoppers only. I arrived at the store nearest to me at 7 am to find the entire shopping center parking lot full. There was a line of people waiting to get in which stretched from the door of the store all the way down to the end of the center and spilled out into the street. By the time I got in the store, there was not a single shopping cart left. I was lucky enough to get one of the small plastic baskets which was enough for my short list. Even so, there were many shelves which were empty already. After returning home and putting the groceries away, I went to do my volunteer work at the church office. While there, the director of the pregnancy center called and told me not to come in because one of their staff had a slight temperature this morning and they want me to stay safe until they know whether she has the virus. The State of Florida has announced that it is closing all of its state parks. This makes me worry for my brother Bill and his wife Mary. They just started their “excellent retirement adventure” in their beautiful, brand new 5^th-wheeler and have planned to stay in parks from Florida all the way to Maine. They have only made it to Georgia so far, but they seem to be having a wonderful time. Here in Manatee County, the government has now closed all boat ramps. That announcement left a lot of people wondering why???, but I saw a post from a friend saying that a lot of people were boating out to the many sandbars and small uninhabited islands to meet friends and party – just like going to the beach. To my sadness, I received an e-mail from the minister of music saying that there would be no choir practice tomorrow as the decision had been made to have on-line services only until further notice.

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On Wednesday, 3/25, Dad, Emma and I took our afternoon walk. Later, as I looked out my kitchen window, I saw an example of life renewed when a family of sand hill cranes took a stroll through my front yard.  (Click on the photo to get a better look.)

I purposely waited until 7 p.m. to go back to Publix because I had received a text from the pharmacy saying they had some medicine for me. I thought that time of day would be less crowded – and it was. But, the pharmacy closed at 6 p.m., so I will have to make another trip.

I saw on Facebook on Thursday, 3/26, that my brother Bill and his wife were leaving the campground they are currently in and will be returning to Florida to stay with Mary’s mother for the next month. He said that a number of campgrounds where they had reservations had cancelled them. This is what I was afraid would happen. But, I’m glad to hear that they will again be near us and hopefully will be able to visit now and again. Dad, Emma and I took our regular afternoon walk. The weather has been unusually warm and we have had no rain this March.

Since Friday is our second schedule garbage pick-up day in the week, and I put the garbage out in the early morning, I decided to try the “senior hour” at our nearby Dollar General Store this morning (8 a.m. to 9 a.m.) I found all of the paper products that I needed and even got some bleach – none of which at Publix on Tuesday. I started working on cleaning out my closet after lunch. It looks like it will be a multi-day project. We went for our walk in the afternoon with Emma and saw a duck by the pond.  The picture will be a little clearer if you click on it.

I heard from my friend, Ruth Baker, today. She asked how we were doing and said that they were OK. We made a date to have a drink when we are allowed to get together again. I texted my friend, Jackie Sosville, to see how she and Ken were doing. She says that he has an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection – that can’t be good. Please keep him in your prayers.

Saturday 3/28, was quiet. We went for a short walk, but it was very hot. We have broken the high temperature records four times this month and have not had a drop of rain.

On Sunday, 3/29, I decided to start the Lord’s day by watching the sunrise from my front porch while reading my Sunday School lesson on Sanctity.

Emma knocked on my door at 8:30 to ask if we could wear our church dresses today. I told her that I was not dressing up but she could if she wanted. I also told her that I had told PaPa that he could wear his pajamas if he wanted. She thought that was silly! She came back over about an hour later with a pretty dress on. The three of us ate breakfast together like we do when we are actually going to church. Since we still had some time to kill, Emma and I went on a short walk returning home just before the 10:30 start of our Palm View First Baptist Church service steaming live via You Tube on-line. JP had helped me hook my computer up to the big screen tv in my living room, so all three of us had no problem seeing or hearing the program. I was pleased that Pastor Jonathan even included a message for the children. The service was over by 11:00. I made some split pea and ham soup in the crock pot early this morning, so Dad and I ate some around 2:00 in the afternoon. The rest of the day was pretty quiet.

I was surprised when I heard from Dad’s doctor that they had not cancelled his scheduled blood draw on Monday, 3/30. They were only letting 10 people in the waiting room at one time, so after I got him checked in, I sat outside in the car. We will go back next week for his annual wellness visit and get the results of the blood tests done today. Today was also the first day of my granddaughter, Emma’s, in-home school. She and her Dad told me that they got some work done in the morning, but JP said that so many students were trying to access the program on this first day of on-line school that the program crashed several times. They decided to take a few hours off and return to the work about 4:00 in the afternoon when they hoped the program would be more stable. Part of her break was spent playing in the back yard on her new swing set (I know it looks more like a flying saucer!) and, of course, she went for the afternoon walk with me and PaPa.

Tuesday morning,3/31, included taking out the garbage and going to Publix to grocery shop. I learned last week that I need to be in line before the 7 a.m. opening. This morning was quite different from last week. Many fewer people showed up and most kept their “social distance.” The manager came out before they opened the doors and told everyone in line that they did not have any toilet paper or paper towels, so a few people went home. After returning home to put the groceries away, I started on my way to the North River Care Pregnancy Center. The director had called me to say that they had almost finished deep cleaning and reorganizing the facility and would appreciate me coming in. On my way there, I stopped by to see my Sunday School teacher, Kathi Durrance, at her office. We met in the parking lot. Her birthday is tomorrow. I brought her a card and a cupcake and explained to her how I choose to celebrate my “last day of being whatever age” rather than my birthday. She thanked me and I went on my way, driving through a car wash and Goodwill on my way to the center.

The staff at the pregnancy center has been helping clients over the phone instead of in person. And giving the facility a complete cleanup and reorganization. I have included a couple of pictures of the “diaper room” and the “client store”. After watching a video or taking a class, the expectant Mom’s are rewarded with diapers and wipes and a chance to look through donated baby items and choose a few to take home with them.   Most often, my volunteer duties include straightening up these two rooms and putting out newly received donations.

In addition to working in the “store”, I sat with Teri, the director, to listen to a webinar about small business loans that will soon be made available to cover the cost of salaries and a few other essentials needed to keep people working during this coronavirus crisis.

At the beginning of this month our routine activities included:

• Church and Sunday school with Emma and Dad every Sunday morning. And Dad watching XFL football every Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings.
• On Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, Dad and I tried to go to the gym at the Parrish YMCA.
• Going in to work in the church office doing data input on Tuesday mornings and volunteering at the North River Care Pregnancy Center on Tuesday afternoons. Most Tuesdays, I got to eat supper with granddaughter, Vanessa, before going to the Easter Cantata practice which starts at 6:30.
• I returned to church on Wednesday evening for regular choir practice.
• Miss Shirley and I visited shut-ins every other Thursday morning. (This month we added Betty Alderton to our list.)

At the end of this month our routine activities included:

• Going for an afternoon walk in the neighborhood every day
• Going to grocery store once a week at a time set aside for “seniors” only.

I mentioned that I started cleaning out my closet last Friday. On Sunday, I looked in the drawers of the 4-drawer file cabinet in my closet and decided which files I could discard; on Monday, I cleaned out most of two drawers and strained my back in the process. Yes, this will, indeed, be a multi-day project, but I will feel really good about it when I’m done. My goal for next month is to accomplish something every day no matter how small it might be. My wish for all of you is that you stay safe.