Two Weeks of Quarantine

The last time I posted we hadn't been quarantined like we are now. The day after posting was my birthday and we went about our usual Monday routine by working out at the Baxter Y. We learned that all the other gyms in the area were closed when we saw a few new faces playing Pickleball. We stopped at two grocery stores and for lunch had a free birthday pizza. That evening we celebrated my birthday at Tried and True Alehouse ordering a tenderloin sandwich which wasn't free. We were one of the last customers to eat inside because the next day they closed except for carry-out orders. I'll remember my birthday as the day before the governor's order to stay home went into effect.

We're two days short of the 14 days of isolation and are feeling healthy with no symptoms. How long will we have to continue to hunker down?

I've found it easy to keep busy at home. That's never a problem for me. Since the gyms aren't available to us, we're finding new ways to stay active. Just about every day we watch a YouTube yoga or pilates class or one of two DVDs we have. Fortunately, it's not the middle of winter and we can get outdoors to either walk or run just about every day. On the day after my birthday, I ran my first outdoor trail run of the year. Actually, it was much earlier in the season than last year but out of necessity, I did it. I've probably mentioned this before, running outdoors for the first time in the season is a challenge. My hamstrings didn't like it but eventually, I managed a pretty good pace. The wind sometimes can make a big difference too. There were a few days when it was pretty chilly and gloves didn't keep my fingers warm but most of the time, the weather has been fine. We've enjoyed finding new places to walk or run and are glad to see others doing the same though no one stops to talk or visit.

Last Sunday I watched Concordia's service live via YouTube with only a few members present. Today, only the persons responsible for helping with technology were present and I watched from home. I know that many churches have resorted to some sort of streaming. Will we be back to regular worship for Easter Sunday? That's only two weeks from now and it appears unlikely that we'll have a regular Easter service. If we do, I wonder if some people will be reluctant to mingle in a full sanctuary.

Wild, Wacky & Weird Week

Last Monday, March 9, Ray lost his car key! He searched the car and found a few interesting things under the driver's seat, but no key. We searched throughout the house. We couldn't find the key anywhere. He usually carries it in his pocket but thought maybe it fell out when he fished out the front door key. He checked the sidewalk to the mailbox and even asked in the manager's office in the event someone had found the key.

On Tuesday he borrowed my key for our trip to the gym. At some point, I began to suspect that he had the key on him when I realized he was able to start the car without putting the key in the ignition. As we left the gym, he was able to open the car door without using the borrowed key that I was holding a good distance from the car. But before we could solve the key issue we had a diversion when the car wouldn't start--a dead battery! Fortunately, a young man at the gym helped by borrowing some jumper cables. In a funny twist of fate, his wife's car was parked facing ours; otherwise, we would have had to ask someone to move their car. We drove immediately to the auto supply store to have a new battery installed. But the car wouldn't start and after diagnostics, it was declared dead too. The tech dude said this happens once every 10 years! We finally reached home to learn that we missed the UPS delivery by only a few minutes and would have to wait to pick it up at the UPS store the next afternoon.

Back to the missing car key. We realized by this time, that the key was with us but where was it hiding? The previous day, Ray had searched his gym bag but I suggested that we search it again and dump everything this time. And there it was in a tiny side pocket. Search over! Hooray!

The next day we learned that the Greenwood Senior Center closed for the rest of the month or until further notice. That meant we wouldn't be playing bridge on Thursday afternoons. On Thursday we received notice that the St. Patrick's Race on the 14th was canceled because of the Covid-19 threat. More on that in a minute. Many other cancelations were announced including the Big 10 basketball tournament in Indianapolis and the Indiana High School Boy's Basketball Tournament. The first announcement said that the High School Tournament would proceed with a very small number of spectators allowed, but shortly after that, the entire tournament was canceled.

On Friday I went grocery shopping for a few things I needed for the weekend. When I stepped inside the door I realized that something crazy was going on. There were long lines at each cash register and as I walked the aisles I noticed many empty shelves and a huge number of people still shopping. There was no dairy milk, the meat counter was stripped and I don't think there was any bread on the shelves. One lady in the checkout lane told me that there were no bananas when she came in the store, but as she waited they restocked with the greenest bananas I've ever seen. I should have taken a picture but I brought some home. Even though it was a longer trip than expected, fortunately, I was able to purchase everything on my list.

These shelves are half-empty; others were completely bare.

Our car has a light coating of snow & ice.
BTW, the odometer is nearing 200,000 miles.

The weather wasn't ideal for a road race yesterday morning so we didn't bemoan the fact that the St. Patrick's Race was canceled. The good news is that we are already registered for 2021 as everyone gets a free entry next year rather than a refund. But what about our t-shirts? The race promoter announced that shirts could be picked up this afternoon or tomorrow at a downtown microbrewery. We found the place, picked up our shirts and enjoyed a brew and the atmosphere. Dogs are welcome and there were quite a few there plus I actually saw a few people enjoying their brew on tables in the sunshine even though it was only in the 40s.

I'm planning on wearing this shirt on 3/17/2020.

Before ending this post, there are several events from a week or two ago that I haven't written about. We enjoyed some time with church friends at their home when they hosted a Leap Year party on Feb. 29. On March 5 we attended a Lunch and Learn luncheon sponsored by the Adult Fellowship Group at St. John Lutheran. They served a delicious corned beef and cabbage meal but more important the program was really fascinating. The speaker, a researcher, writer, and teacher about cognitive and physical fitness explained that our brain can form new cells and neural connections and improve its capabilities as we age. Before I can begin forming new cells I'll have to find those notes. Just kidding! I'll be glad to share some of his thoughts if you ask. Thanks for reading and Happy St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday.