The un-fun of normal, the wait

Mama and I are back into the un-fun of normal. Not that it is unenjoyable, but it not nearly so fun as when we were sharing all our normal activities with the grandkids. Mama commented yesterday that the baby goats the kids regularly handled are much more tame than those that were not handled daily. Even though the kids had to work at catching the baby goats, once they ere caught, they settled down quickly and enjoyed being in the arms of their young handlers. That will have lasting effects on our herd. Meanwhile, the crazy pig we have, Rosa, is in no hurry to calm down. She is now at the point that she will watch the chickens because she knows each evening, Mama will give out her daily treats of scraps from the house. She is generally watching the back door of the house as we come out for the evening feeding, grunting and squealing in anticipation of that evening’s offerings. She will allow us to put those food items in her feed pan without too much panic, but she will not allow us to touch her in any way. Every now and then, when she is in the mood, she will approach me or Mama and bite at our boots – just in case there is something tasty there. But she will not let us get near enough to touch her – yet. Eventually that will come.

Last night Rosa got overripe bananas, strawberry tops, donuts, bagels, cookies and some noodle scraps. She very busily searched out the items that were her favorites – usually the noodles. Then she worked her way through the rest of the scraps, pushing out of the feed dish what she was not interested in at the moment, and concentrating her effort on whatever caught her interest. Eventually, she eats everything, but Mama hates to see the food rolled into the dirt. She has her own system for consuming those treats. Mama and I have not figured that system out yet, but we have discovered that she is not fond of bread items. Cooked potatoes are her all-time favorite scraps followed by any fruit and most vegetables. We will soon enough discover her particular scrap desires and focus on those. Everything else will go to the chickens, the dogs, or the trash. But the trash is still our last resort.

Mama and I are awaiting the results of the Mortenson’s COVID tests. Perhaps not as anxiously as Nate and Cori, but we are interested in those results as they relate to our approach to social interactions over the next few day. A positive result would be disappointing and distracting, but we would have to be honest with my work, our church family and those with whom we interact during our normal schedules. Of course, we are praying for a negative result for everyone tested, but we are leaving that up to the Lord. There is no way we can affect the outcome. We can only respond properly to those outcomes. Either way, our lives will go on. Others will be far more impacted than Mama and I will by a positive result.

Erin and her family are still in the throws of COVID or some other related sickness. Mama talked to her yesterday and her greatest need is for Mateo, their infant son, to sleep long enough for her to get some rest. Mama offered to take him for a night to allow her that respite, but she has not taken Mama up on the offer. It still stands. The family has been out of church for three weeks now. Various of the family members are taking turns battling the symptoms of the virus. Nothing life-threatening, but definitely unpleasant for all of them. It is kind of ironic because Sam, the father of the family, was very fearful of the virus when all this started. Now his family has suffered from the virus for several weeks. It is always curious to me to see who a particular illness attacks. It is not random, but the mechanisms are unknown to us. Please continue to pray for them, especially Erin as the mama of the family. The brunt of the illness falls mostly on her to deal with.

Mama felt badly Tuesday night and yesterday, but that has largely passed. There can be some speculation of COVID, but we cannot know of a certainty for now. That information is forthcoming. My only thought is if that is as bad as we get from the virus we are most assuredly blessed. I realize the symptoms can be bad, and although not nearly as fatal as once believed, it is none-the-less a bad bud. Mama and I have been in good health throughout the fearmongering. As are most all of the people we know. I could wish for better health, but we have been relatively free of symptoms of infections common at this time of the year – allergies, sinus infections, yearly respiratory issues, common colds and the flu.

For that we can be truly thankful.