Ileana’s Musings During Corona Times

The forest is coming back to life

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2020

I’m going to start dating everything with B.C. (before Corona) and A.C. (after Corona) or, if I am in a day of reckoning economic mood, B.C. (before collapse), A.C. (after collapse). I know I’ve become a full-fledged American because I have gained humor during dire times when I should be crying. Why take everything so seriously, we must be self-deprecating once in a while.
My wardrobe has taken a turn for the worse but I seem to be blissfully happy about it. I didn’t just fall off the fashion train, I mix and match loud pajamas in mismatched colors, and warm and comfy sweaters with pants Mims bought me long ago in my favorite colors, loud pink and sea foam blue. They hang loosely so I can be comfortable. I am not trying to impress anybody except my waist.
I keep in my car two coats, a Nanook-of-the-north model with a hoodie against the wind called “the hawk” in black and one in red so all the critters can really see me wandering and run away, a wool blanket, three different umbrellas, plenty of empty coolers for food preservation, a walking stick, gloves, hat, forest map in case I get lost, which is often, pepper spray, my camera, Purell, water, face mask, sun glasses, readers, hand lotion, makeup bag I never use (the bears, deer, and foxes don’t care), and other survival items.
My car looks worse inside than a college kid’s vehicle, going home to do laundry. I would buy a new car but why ruin its beauty with all my junk?
I’ve become that person I used to make fun of in my twenties, with graceless stretch pants and seemingly color blind.
How many times have you opened the door to your house and looked outside at the empty street and neighborhood? Close the door, it's cold and drafty and the flies and mosquitoes are coming in!
Tomorrow we will spend the day in the basement. That way it will feel like we are visiting and dirtying up someone else's house. For ambiance, we will turn on the lamp that's never plugged in because nobody reads there – it’s too cold. We could open the door but the critters may crawl in and it's still pretty darn cold outside too. But the grass looks pretty and the snakes are alive too. Chip and Dale are busy digging up my flower beds, looking for acorns they’ve buried for the winter.
The house is clean like it’s never been before, and I even vacuumed the tiny space between the drier and washer with all the lint accumulated over the years. I could have made a really big dust bunny out of it but I'm not artistically inclined and not yet bored out of my mind.
We keep asking Alexa what the temperature is outside. “It does not matter, suckers, you are still stuck inside on China Corona virus lockdown.”
Gas is so much cheaper but there is no place to go because everything is closed and under police surveillance. The tiny river beach at the nearby vast park is surrounded by yellow tape like a crime scene. I am thinking about taking up yoga in the sand because the governor said that exercise places should remain open. Maybe I can also take up day fishing, it is still allowed but night fishing and boating are “verboten.” I don’t own a boat nor fish so I don’t know that the virus is catchier after sundown; you probably drink too much beer and get too close for pandemic safe “social distancing.” Our Democrat governor Northam did extend our lockdown until June 10 which seemed like an arbitrary date until I learned that June 9 is the Republican primary so we won’t be allowed to vote in person.
Let me open the door for the umpteenth time to see if the deer family or the fox have come by looking for food.