A Very Pleasant Surprise

I know what Bruce would tell me right about now if he were home. "Just don't listen." To which I would counter, "that is impossible for me!" The condo next door was sold and the renovations began this morning. For the nearly two years we've lived here, it has been quiet, hearing our upstairs rarely, and certainly not next door. It began this morning at 9, two bathrooms being demolished. Yikes! I'm am constantly amazed that Bruce can tune noise out. Perhaps some of it will rub off on me?

On the last day of April, in the time of the Corona pandemic, it is raining, something to be very grateful for as we've been in such a drought. The first few days of the week, the weather was beautiful, warm, but not too warm, prompting me to go on a little mission to Leu Gardens. In the early days of learning photography I went there countless times to photograph whatever I could find that caught my fancy so I know that place like the back of my hand. Early this week I learned that they were not only open, but that Mayor Dyer declared it to be free. Or, at least that is what the head of the place told me. Not that I knew he was such, but seeing a super interesting and unknown plant, I asked the closest person I could find, who was wearing a mask when he came closer.

Amazing, right? This is a Mexican milkweed, planted adjacent to the butterfly garden. But of course.

It almost felt illicit to be strolling the grounds with hardly anyone there when I arrived a little after opening. Of those there, everyone was super respectful about keeping their distance. One of the most exciting things to happen was this:  as I was standing beside a plant, camera in hand, I noticed a woman coming toward me that I was sure was my friend, Bev. She read my expression as horror that a woman was coming close! Only in the time of Corona my friends. We had a long chat, catching up and hearing each other's stories in this crazy time. Most of the folks I see regularly I'm good without hugging, but I sure wish I could have hugged Bev.

As you can see, it is easy to keep a safe distance. Taking my time, I explored not nearly enough before it was time to leave. Rarely have I seen the gardens looking so good.

All of it was wonderful,  however, the orchids, tucked into the crook of some of the trees, really stole the show.

Oh my, the color of the one below!! Captivating.

The one place where it was harder to stay apart was the butterfly garden area which was sad because there were so many butterflies to watch. There was a man with a lens about a foot long that hogged the space, much to my chagrin!

 Lucky for me, when I went into the nearby vegetable garden, not only was it empty but a Monarch was quite cooperative, enjoying the nectar of a lovely Gerbera daisy for a long while.

Count me surprised when I walked through the visitor center to leave, lo and behold, there was a new Dorothy Gillespie installation. If you missed my last post, that won't mean a thing. If you are one the wonderful people who I am humbled to have read my blog regularly, you will remember Bruce standing beside one of her sculptures at the Orange County building last week.

Speaking of Orange County, the governor is allowing some businesses to reopen, beginning Monday, however, how much of that order will translate to our county, I'm not so sure. Still no hair salons, which is a shame. Even when they finally do open, having my hair colored and cut probably still won't happen for a while because it takes hours and even though my level of worry is low, it seems prudent for me to wait a while longer. Seriously, everyone is going through the same thing, so in that overused phrase, "it is what it is!"

We are doing our part to keep the economy moving, what with my new phone, allegedly arriving today, and Bruce is having a trailer hitch put on the Subaru for a new bike rack that will better suit our needs. In an excellent move on my part, I went to Publix today, finding most of what I wanted. Plus, that kept me away from the construction noise, so there's that.

Bruce is getting many folks vote for "neighbor of the month" on our street. Not only did he wash the Packard that was completely covered in yellow oak pollen,

He washed a neighbor's car that has been an eyesore for what some folks have told us, nearly three years! First the Packard because we use the parking space of the folks who own it while they are away for most of the year in North Carolina. Hesitant, in order not to offend the man, Bruce knocked on his door, asking if he could wash his car. When the man asked, "how much?", Bruce told him there is no cost.  How dirty was the car? Dirtier than any I've ever seen.

The entire car looked similar with some places even worse!

He washed parts of it, not once, not twice not....five times!!! trying to get the grime off. Car washing is actually not allowed in the parking lot, but folks turned a blind eye to that because they were so delighted. I can't tell you the number of people who have stopped him, thanking him for doing so. The owner is 90+ years old and in no shape to do it himself. That man of mine is something else!

We are having some birdies!! Life imitating art, or should I say, the other way around?

There's more I'll wait to share in an upcoming post. Tomorrow is our dear Jonathan's birthday and he is inching closer to 40 all of the time. He, like Bill and David, will remember this particular birthday for a long time to come. The number of cases of Covid-19 in some parts of the country are very puzzling to me. You would have thought, what with our huge number of international tourists, and domestic, for that matter, that we would have been overwhelmed, but it seemingly is not the case. As I type, there are 1,268 deaths in Florida with 33,690 reported cases. Texas, where Jonathan and Alissa live, has only 759 deaths, and about 600 less reported cases. I wonder why that is when Texas is way more populous? And why does Massachusetts have so many? There seems to be no rhyme or reason, but I suspect in the future there will be studies galore on every aspect of this pandemic. For now there are more questions than answers or that's how it appears to me.

A couple of things worth noting....

* The newspaper reported that in some parts of the country, stores are out of sympathy cards. :(

* Some staffing companies were offering nurses up to $10,000 a week if they would come to New     York and work. I wonder how that made the regular staff feel?

* There is a lot of generosity happening for those less fortunate. Hurray for that!

* I must admit, I felt a bit guilty when buying the last bag of flour on the shelf.

Finally, I managed to get some decent photographs of the new Wood Duck family while they were on coming on shore. Not all of them mind you,

this little one was the renegade, preferring the water.

It won't be long now that there will be no more new duckling births. Sure hope it won't be too long now before we are not talking about death on a daily basis.

your friend,

Gail