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RiverFork of Trill
Apr. 5th, 2021 09:52 pmWe had a thunderstorm this morning, the first in over four months. At first when I woke up in the pre-dawn hours, I thought it was a truck rumbling down the road, but then I realized that it was in the sky, and it kept going. I got up and treated myself to the interesting sight of a breaking dawn that got darker instead of lighter. I also saw some spectacular lightning bolts off to the north. Then there was the usual rain and a bit of hail. On Friday at noon, the tornado siren sounded for the first time this year. It was just a test. They always test it at noon on Fridays. It's a homey sound, like the train whistle and the thunder.
I was looking forward to Easter weekend, but for some reason was not able to enjoy it as much as I had hoped. Something is causing me random, unreasonable anxiety. Queenie and I are both having vivid flashbacks, but she has COVID as an excuse, and I have none. Saturday, we had planned a post-vaccination outing with the Dirty Bastards, for coffee at an outdoor coffee stand. One by one, they all cancelled, except for one couple. And when we got there, only the Numismatist was there. His wife has a lot of joint pain and other problems, and this was a day when she didn't feel inspired to get out of the house in time to come. I feel for her, and wish we could have seen her, because I know from experience that when you feel too depressed to see people, that is often the time when you most benefit from a little low-key, friendly companionship. Anyway, the weather was lovely, the coffee was excellent, and the three of us enjoyed each others' company although we missed the rest of them.
Saturday night, we were able to go to Easter vigil for the first time in a long time. The music was good, the candlelight was lovely blooming out of the darkness. We got home about 11:30 and had a few jelly beans and a little ice cream (thanks to our new freezer!). It was a far cry from the midnight breakfast parties we used to host once upon a time. Lots of memories . . . . In the morning, I mixed up the hot cross buns (finally--I was impeded in my baking by too many phone calls). I had a brief Zoom with the Nonesuch, and then a group Zoom with the kids. At some point, I was barefoot, wearing pearls and an apron, and eating bacon--an iconic moment. We Zoomed outside, for it was a lovely day just as advertised. A bittersweet occasion for various reasons. I showed the buns to the camera when they came out of the oven, and invited the kids to have some--but in vain! There's no teleportation. After we finished our conversation, I saw that Irish and his family were out in their back yard, so I extended an invitation across the fence for them to have some buns. The pirate girls enjoyed them very much, so that was one nice thing. At least I got to share some food with somebody. That's important. I had managed to get some ham, artichokes, and mashed potatoes cooked in spare moments, so that was our dinner. The ham was from the farm ladies, and it is so good. It makes you realize why people liked to eat ham in the first place, before it was standardized into a sort of pink sponge from the supermarket. I glazed it with marmalade and brown sugar, but the smoky, meaty flavor really needed no adornment.
Today I texted with Queenie, who is still "knackered" as she puts it. It was 11:30 or so and she was just waking up. I made four loaves of regular bread, because we were just about out, and you can't use hot cross buns for everything, although the Sparrowhawk likes to make dainty ham sandwiches out of them. I also changed the sheets and towels and ran the old ones through the washing machine. But that was about as far as the spring cleaning went before running out of steam, The Sparrowhawk went to the boxing gym for the first time since everything closed, and I went for a walk. It made me feel a little better, but I'm still haunted by something.
I was looking forward to Easter weekend, but for some reason was not able to enjoy it as much as I had hoped. Something is causing me random, unreasonable anxiety. Queenie and I are both having vivid flashbacks, but she has COVID as an excuse, and I have none. Saturday, we had planned a post-vaccination outing with the Dirty Bastards, for coffee at an outdoor coffee stand. One by one, they all cancelled, except for one couple. And when we got there, only the Numismatist was there. His wife has a lot of joint pain and other problems, and this was a day when she didn't feel inspired to get out of the house in time to come. I feel for her, and wish we could have seen her, because I know from experience that when you feel too depressed to see people, that is often the time when you most benefit from a little low-key, friendly companionship. Anyway, the weather was lovely, the coffee was excellent, and the three of us enjoyed each others' company although we missed the rest of them.
Saturday night, we were able to go to Easter vigil for the first time in a long time. The music was good, the candlelight was lovely blooming out of the darkness. We got home about 11:30 and had a few jelly beans and a little ice cream (thanks to our new freezer!). It was a far cry from the midnight breakfast parties we used to host once upon a time. Lots of memories . . . . In the morning, I mixed up the hot cross buns (finally--I was impeded in my baking by too many phone calls). I had a brief Zoom with the Nonesuch, and then a group Zoom with the kids. At some point, I was barefoot, wearing pearls and an apron, and eating bacon--an iconic moment. We Zoomed outside, for it was a lovely day just as advertised. A bittersweet occasion for various reasons. I showed the buns to the camera when they came out of the oven, and invited the kids to have some--but in vain! There's no teleportation. After we finished our conversation, I saw that Irish and his family were out in their back yard, so I extended an invitation across the fence for them to have some buns. The pirate girls enjoyed them very much, so that was one nice thing. At least I got to share some food with somebody. That's important. I had managed to get some ham, artichokes, and mashed potatoes cooked in spare moments, so that was our dinner. The ham was from the farm ladies, and it is so good. It makes you realize why people liked to eat ham in the first place, before it was standardized into a sort of pink sponge from the supermarket. I glazed it with marmalade and brown sugar, but the smoky, meaty flavor really needed no adornment.
Today I texted with Queenie, who is still "knackered" as she puts it. It was 11:30 or so and she was just waking up. I made four loaves of regular bread, because we were just about out, and you can't use hot cross buns for everything, although the Sparrowhawk likes to make dainty ham sandwiches out of them. I also changed the sheets and towels and ran the old ones through the washing machine. But that was about as far as the spring cleaning went before running out of steam, The Sparrowhawk went to the boxing gym for the first time since everything closed, and I went for a walk. It made me feel a little better, but I'm still haunted by something.
