Errands

Running errands is so full of strife, isn’t it? This morning I had a dentist appointment and then I needed to get a few things at the grocery store. The dentist went well, there were very few people (1) in the waiting room, the receptionist was behind plexiglass, and the dentist and assistants were all wearing quite a lot of protective gear. The grocery store was fine…a few more people without masks than usual (WHY can’t the store just require them and make everybody safer? Oh, it’s because our stupid government has managed to politicize a public health pandemic and wants to kill tens or hundreds of thousands in the name of “freedom” and “personal responsibility” which means they don’t take any personal responsibility and as a result, we are mostly stuck at home unless we believe the virus is fake. But I digress.)

The one things at the store was I couldn’t get everything on my list because the produce section was in bad shape. Normally I would go to a different store afterwards and finish up, but instead I chose to improvise. It was not a problem, but for everybody who thinks our problems are behind us…everyday we do so many things differently because of the pandemic. It’s childish to think it’s behind us, which is what our governor here in Missouri is making us believe.

It’s hard NOT to digress, because the information from the government is so dangerous. And seeing other people is such a tricky thing, and I’ve found that many people we thought were being careful really aren’t, and that’s a tough thing too…when you think you’ve been clear on what you are comfortable doing and someone else agrees but then in the moment you have to keep being “the bad guy.” It’s tiring, and I know at this point we just have to make our own choices about what is safe, but it’s just tiring not having the government giving correct information and not having basic health precautions required.

SO! The good news.

I told you we planted a garden in the late spring, right? I planted a variety of seeds, and some seem to be growing well and others have not grown at all. We knew our “garden beans” (seem to be green beans but the seed packet said garden beans), beets, and swiss chard were doing well in our first plot. The second plot was planted a few weeks later with lima beans, basil, zucchini, and carrots. In that one there is no sign of the limas or basil, but the zucchini are growing like crazy and the carrots are there as well. (I’m concerned we will have an overabundance of zucchini—we have about 5 plants and I read online later than 1 is good enough and will produce 7 to 10 pounds of zucchini…). We also have raspberry bushes which produce each year but usually mostly get eaten by the birds.

We had gotten a few berries though, and I went out yesterday morning to check…all gone. But I noticed, hmm, the green bean plants are drooping quite a lot, why is that? And lo and behold, beans were ready!

This may not be that exciting to some of you, but I always pooh-poohed the idea of a garden in the past because it seemed too time consuming. This year I knew I had more time, and so far so good! I really haven’t put much effort into it after the initial planting which took a couple hours total. (That was also my plan: low maintenance, keep track of what works and doesn’t, so that looking to the future we can maintain the garden with low effort as I’ll likely be busier in future summers).

I went back later and also got a few swiss chard and beet leaves to eat, so we made a lovely dinner with some salmon from Imperfect Foods.

I’m hoping we will get more beans. The internet tells me more grow after you pick them. They were very tasty! And I’ll have to check into the beets soon, it’s hard to know how something is growing when it’s underground, any tips?

Tomorrow we are getting some lovely produce in our CSA box, so that will make up for the dearth of produce at the grocery store tomorrow. I’m trying to eat down a few things in our pantry with added fresh vegetables. We stocked up a few months ago (like most of you!) and now we want to cycle through some things so we don’t have too many things just sitting around forever.

Another really cool thing going on this week is I’m taking an online Suzuki Teacher Seminar (for violin teachers). We had one class yesterday morning and it was wonderful: inspiring and educational. Tomorrow is the next class and I am looking forward to it. I love that this is an opportunity we haven’t had in the past that has only happened because of the pandemic…I don’t like to be that person finding good things about the pandemic, because no matter what it would be better if it never happened or was properly dealt with, but it’s good to focus on the positive. I love learning more about teaching (I always have more to learn) and I already tried to apply a few of the things we talked about. I’m not a real Suzuki teacher, but I take a lot of the principles into my teaching.

I’m feeling finally like I’m relaxed again. I have been burned out for a long time and just pushing through. I don’t want to feel more relaxed now than in normal times, but yet I do. I worry that my students are growing less happy with online lessons and will want to have in person lessons before I’m comfortable with them: one of my schools in the fall is definitely online due to the small spaces, but I’m feeling a bit pressured (perhaps only in my head, as we were told it was a choice, but for reasons I am feeling pressured) to teach in person at the other school in the fall. I know ultimately it’s up to me, but as you know, sometimes the decisions we make lead to much less income, so that’s always part of the decision making process. So I’m relaxed, but I’m also still worrying Smile