May Flowers

And here we are, a month since my last post imploring folks to stay safe and stay home. Since then, we've advanced to wearing face masks in public whenever we can't effectively be "social distanced" (6 feet away) from other people. Since most of us have to at least venture out occasionally for necessities, whether groceries or other items/tasks, the face mask is an important piece of attire.

People get so testy about their "personal" freedom being invaded, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Unnecessary exposure to a potentially deadly virus, and an early, unanticipated death is not on my agenda. I'll wear my mask. When I get inspired, I'll do some creative versions, but, for now, a simple white one will do the job.

Fortunately, a few essential businesses are open that provide groceries and other household supplies, so a picked up a few pots of pretty pansies, because they are always so cheerful after a long, cold winter. The first two pots I picked up were more pastel in tone, with pale yellow and lavender rather than the usual bold, dark purple and bright sunny yellow, but I found those at another location a week or so later, so now I have more of them to cheer me each day. They're currently still in their pots and in the photo below they were just sitting in my big green planter next to my garage door, waiting to be planted. 

Before I could plant them, the weather went wacky, so I haven't planted them in larger pots yet. It's still unusually cold here. It has been a bit erratic for spring weather, so I've brought all of the pots of pansies inside for a bit until the temps stop dipping into freezing. And yes, a few days ago, on May 9, we did get the dusting of snow that was predicted. We rarely get snow after March, but when we do  it doesn't last long. Still, we've only had a few really lovely warmer days in the high 60s to low 70s. Oh, how I miss those wonderful warm spring days! They're finally due to return later this week and, hopefully, that means they'll be lingering for the next month until summer appears.

While it's unlikely we will see a return to "normal" life or activities in my region this summer, with many events and activities cancelled, postponed or shifted to virtual, there is a gradual loosening of business restrictions in some areas of my state where the virus impact wasn't as significant and its spread was more easily contained. That's not the case in my region, though I expect we'll get there eventually. It's still a trying time, and I continue to keep myself busy as usual at home and donating to causes that are important to me that help others who are more severely than I am. It's the right thing to do and I'm glad to be able to do that. I will look forward to doing more of the things I enjoy when the situation allows.

As the pansies remind us each spring, life will go on...be well, be safe and stay home if you can.