By Regena Handy
Despite the current situation unfolding in our human lives, Spring arrived like normal. While the difficult times in which we are living makes it hard to focus on anything else, a quick look at the news from numerous sources reminds us how blessed we are in this part of our world.
Even though it is officially Spring and my outside thermometer reads 60 degrees, I am dressed otherwise. Having been hot-natured most of my life, I have become my mother who was always cold.
I am bundled up in winter clothes as I walk around our yard. Though the majority of daffodils have faded, other flowers are beginning to color the landscape — a few light purple tulips, white and grape purple hyacinth, yellow forsythia bushes, Redbud trees a magenta haze.
Birds are everywhere, fluttering about, chirping happily. They peck at the grass, stir around in last years’ flower beds, and steal food from the cat’s bowl on the porch.
Down the hill the peach trees are budding. Last year we had an abundant crop and my husband canned pickled peaches “like he remembered his Grandma making.” (They were delicious.) Perhaps we will be so fortunate again.
In the field which edges Conner’s Creek, a few hearty daffodils nod their heads at me. The grass is turning green and coming back to life, a sturdy variety that will become hay later on. Normally the fields will yield two cuttings. Since we don’t have livestock and no need for hay, we let it to local farmers in exchange of care for the land.
I mosey on down the hill, picking a path to the creek. Its course changes every season, often leaving an expanse of rocks and sand along the way. Animal tracks are imprinted in the soil. I recognize deer hoofs and splayed paws of raccoons. There are other markings that I cannot identify. Now and then I sight minnows and other tiny water creatures. The creek meanders on, pooling near the bank before swirling away.
All around me is stillness.
Every day since the start of the coronavirus crisis, I’ve pondered on our good fortune. Much of this country’s population as well as other hard hit nations do not have the options that I and many others have. Not our work options (we are retired), not garden space which we will take full advantage of this year, not open and wooded acreage where we can walk for miles and encounter no one, if we so desire.
Due to health issues that put me at a high risk, I am taking very seriously the precautionary measures put in place by officials. I don’t wish to become a burden for overworked and exhausted medical staff, all of whom are manning the front line while serving the rest of us. The same goes for many others — from police officers and EMS providers, store employees and truckers, food service staff — the list goes on and on, the people who are meeting the needs of others.
So I am staying at home. If I do venture out, it is to places where I will not encounter others. My husband, whose immune system is fortunately sturdier than mine, has graciously with care and awareness, made any necessary trips.
We all hope and pray this crisis will be much shorter than predicted and a lesser danger than believed. In the meantime, let’s take the ‘better safe than sorry’ route and stay cautious and vigilant.
