Pretty Spring Day

Today was a pretty April day. I went walking around my neighborhood this afternoon. Quite a few people out walking.

The Star Magnolia on Elder Lane is blooming now.

Forsythia is showing its little yellow flowers.

All of my daffodils are open.

Ducks and geese amble around the pond.

My irises and lilies have put up sprouts. My quince bush has little green balls that will turn into coral flowers by the end of April.

While humanity is suffering and struggling, the natural world is experiencing spring. 

I had never noticed this little gnome at the base of a mailbox before today. 

My sister-in-law asked me to buy some things for her at the grocery store. Though Owens (Kroger) had some orange cones with yellow tape delineating a waiting line, they were doing no monitoring nor making people wait to enter. All the employees have masks; about 10% of the shoppers (mostly older people) wore masks. I mostly needed to shop the perimeter of the store, but I noticed the center aisles had dozens of people jammed up next to each other, none wearing masks.

A retired nurse at my church gave me a few surgical masks. I am wearing it now when I go out where I might be close to the general public. Now 2 ladies in my church have offered to make cloth masks for anybody in our church who wants them. Mostly I  think people are not being very careful about social distancing in the retail stores that are open. I have decided not to go into grocery stores during the month of April (and longer if the circumstances warrant it). I will be ordering online for pickup. I already registered with one store though I probably won't use the service until the week of April 13th. Several of my condo (Robin Hood) neighbors have already stopped going inside grocery stores; using Shipt or Instacart I think. I am still willing to pick up items from a local store.

I have some sneezing and a little chest tightness from my allergies and asthma. This happens every spring so I am not alarmed; but I am being careful not to go out much anymore.