Mother's Day and beyond

Although it seems the number of new cases and deaths from coronavirus still hasn't trended downward as much as it should as a result of people staying home, the numbers have gone down enough that a few things are beginning to open. Curbside service for shops, the beaches, the golf course, and trails are now open. The ability to walk, run, hike, bike, swim, and be outside in general has been the saving grace of this stay at home order. Our friends in Spain and Italy were much more restricted, and still seem to be.  For weeks they could only take out trash and walk their pets 80 meters. Maybe it wasn't even that far.  My friends' teen daughter was stopped one day while walking their dog, but fortunately was within the limits.  I would have been tempted to leash a child or steal a dog and declare it has a very small bladder, so that I could walk it 10 times a day. 

But those draconian efforts have drastically reduced their cases, while the new cases in America haven't been slowed as dramatically. Even so, I am relieved to see places opening for curbside service, although summer activities are being cancelled right and left. The kids' school has announced they are shortening the school year by 2 weeks (after already missing 2 weeks of school), and they are planning some component of in-person and online school in the fall. I've had several friends reach out with questions about home schooling because they are disappointed with what the school has offered, and it doesn't seem like school will be back in session full time in the fall. 

Part of me is frustrated the school is ending early - the kids have had less to do and have covered fewer concepts during this distance learning period, and they need something to keep them learning, especially since it looks like there won't be any summer group activities.  The other part of me feels like this confirms what I already thought about the long school year - they don't cover much more during the last two weeks anyway - end of year projects, parties, and review sessions take up the time.  There is some value to those activities. The projects are sometimes the best part of the year - especially in the lab sciences, when the teachers can finally break away from the AP curriculum once those tests are over. (They are being taken online this week and next. To discourage cheating, the College Board has shortened the tests to 50 minutes and made them all free response.  Will these tests sufficiently demonstrate that students have learned the equivalent material to what they would have learned in a college course? Is this because the College Board didn't want to refund money? Will colleges revise how they give credit for AP classes?) 

So now I'm planning to do some research on online courses for the summer or make up my own reading assignments to keep my two remaining high schoolers from zoning out on movies and video games all summer.  I'm still hopeful that the junior lifeguard program might take place during the second half of the summer, but I'm sure they will be inundated with applications. I'm also going to encourage my 15 year old to look for a job, maybe at the pizza place or bagging groceries at the commissary, but since he doesn't turn 16 until mid-July and competition will be stiff, I'm not hopeful he'll find one.

That's my project for next week.  In the meantime, I've found plenty of distractions to keep me from all the other projects I thought I might get done.  The distractions are pleasant projects in themselves:  my garden boxes are producing a few strawberries, cherry tomatoes, baby beet greens, and tiny broccoli florets. Mini- plants. Not enough fertilizer for bigger crops, I suspect.  We've cleaned up the garage and have added to the pile of giveaway stuff. I cleaned up some stacks of papers and a couple desk drawers and written a couple letters.

And we've taken some nice hikes - on Mother's Day we hiked a part of the Pacific Crest Trail that has a spur leading to a waterfall. I've never done this hike before because it usually gets a lot of crowds, and a National Forest Wilderness Pass is usually needed, but since the places that sell them are closed and the rangers aren't working, that requirement is waived for now.  Fortunately, it wasn't too crowded this past weekend, and the other hikers were polite about stepping off the path when someone passed.  We have had enough rain to ensure a good flow of water in the falls, as well as a proliferation of blooming wildflowers.  The hike itself is a bit exposed - it was beginning to get hot when we reached the falls, but the the kids had fun playing in the water and cooling off while enjoying a picnic before we hiked back to the car.  I love my Mother's Day hikes because they kids aren't allowed to complain. It's a beautiful thing.  I'd like to say we'll be back to do this trail again, but I keep hearing about other places I'd like to hike.  There are more hidden gems to discover. 

My orchid continues to delight. Is it weird to feel fond of a plant? It's like my little kitchen counter pet that I check on each day, but it thrives with neglect. I can't count how many orchids I have unintentionally drowned.  They haunt me

My Mother's Day Spa breakfast - avocado,cilantro lemon juice with soft cooked egg on English muffin, fresh squeezed OJ, and berries with Greek yogurt. And a full pot of coffee. 

Setting out on the trail

This trail runs under the highway, and traffic noise can be heard for the first quarter, but it's easy to ignore as the hike passes along a creek and heads up in the hills.

In another life I will have a camera that captures the vibrancy of these wildflowers growing out of the granite. Their rainbow hues were lovely - they made the miles pass quickly. 

The falls - not big but perfect for sliding down. There were several cascades.

 I was trying to capture a red dragonfly here.