Travels with The Rayman

Dear reader, have you developed any new habits in light of our current incarceration?  Oh, you know, I kid when I use such an inflammatory description such as incarceration.  It actually doesn’t really feel that drastic, now does it?

Habits, it has been said, are hard to break.  And yet, we here at the beach bungalow have been breaking them with some repetition so that is funny just on the face of it.  Take for instance, the act of sleeping.  Our entire working lives and into retirement, sleeping in was never much of a thing.  Well, that has changed.  Since we have been given permission to go no where, and do nothing…sleeping is a new thing.  Take for instance, this a.m.  Woke at 7ish and lolliygagged in bed until 8:30.  Some of it, admittedly, was actual sleep.  The rest of the time was filled with contemplation.  So many things to contemplate.  How should I cook those chops tonight?  Should we still rent out the house this summer?  Should I float down the river this summer?  What will happen with the dispute with the Canadian Rockies train company?  What horrible thing has Trump done now?  Should I continue pulling weeds today?  Is it raining or is that just fog?

And on and on.  Some fleeting of thought, some deep dives into knotty issues.  It was lovely.  So, there is that habit.  No jumping up, throwing on of clothes to beat it to the first tee.  Or running to the grocery store for bananas.  A trip to get just one thing is not a thing in longer.  Which, is another habit broken.  Substitutions are the new rule at the moment.  No bananas?  How about an apple?  Do I have one of those?  How about raisins?  yes, I have raisins because we accidentally bought two life time supply bags of raisins at Costco…home of the place where you buy way more than you need because it is such a better deal.  Turmeric?  Do I have that?  If not, well, throw that recipe in the trash.  There just isn’t a substitute for that, is there?  

Making a special trip to the store for one item is just not a good idea because of all the work it entails.  Gloves, masks, swipes.  These are our new going-out-clothes now.  We don them at home or in the car in order to enter a store, or an office, or…well, anyplace except our home.  That is our new habit…if you go, make it worth your time and trouble.  If I have a need for buttermilk, say, throw some vinegar in milk and save your time for something else.  

In a manner of speaking things are easier and harder all in the span of a day.  And that makes it all interesting… sometimes.   There are few absolutes except to stay safe, wash down with swipes anything touched.  Another new habit of necessity.  

Weeding is my new morning activity.  And I literally mean weeding here.  During this hiatus from  normal life, we had our yard re-done.  And when it was replanted, they applied (threw) gorilla hair all over the place.  Gorilla hair is also known as shredded bark.  Right after our yard was completed, it rained.  And after the rain came the weeds.  Everywhere.  Oh, how I wish things I wanted to grow would grow like a weed.  Here is an example.   To save money, we opted for 3 or 5 gal. plants.  I am hoping to live long enough to see them bigger.  I guarantee that if they grew like weeds, it would take about a week.  Weeds are relentless, obstinate, uninvited, opportunists.  Do you suppose they hope we don’t notice?  Put all guessing aside.  That is exactly what they hope.  And if you do notice and don’t get the whole darn root, they grow back like the tail of a lizard grows back.  Or they spread their seeds the moment you pluck them from the garden.  That is just what they do.  God, weeds will inherit the earth.  That and alligators.

Turning on the TV during the day is a new habit.  Never, ever, ever have we done that.  And yet, here we are.   Cuomo is our guy.  He pays attention to facts and science and it is so refreshing, we can’t look away.  Oh, we don’t do it every day.  But we do turn the tellie on now again these days.  And why not?  There aren’t a plethora of things demanding to be done.  Except those darn weeks.  

Today we were to go to Santa Barbara to see the Pod Save America gang…all these young, bright ex-Obama aids that have turned their experience into a money making machine that includes doing live shows.  But, alas, that was cancelled.  And my eye appointment was cancelled.  My calendar looks empty.  Oh, wait.  It is empty.  So, the new habit is not to look at the calendar so much.  Because there is NOTHING on it.  

After some reflection, I guess, there are some silver linings in all this.  Life is slower.  And slower isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Just look at it as… in the words of the immortal BeeGees…, just staying alive.