Tag: COVID-19

These times can be filled with fear and questions. What if we all found a way to give each other a gift, a bit of grace? My thoughts on how masks can help us say we care. A Gift, a Mask, and a Bit of Grace
Lessons & Thoughts From the Farm

A Gift, a Mask, and a Bit of Grace

My Farmtastic Life3 Comments

I love a good gift. But more than getting a gift, I love to find the perfect gift for someone I care about. I like the whole darned process. From knowing things that are important to the recipient to thinking about how those factoids and trivia could translate into a creative and special gift to setting about searching high and low for that just right something. It’s all about finding a way to  bring them a touch of joy. 

Do I always get it right? Nope. Am I sometimes late getting the gift in the mail? Absolutely. But what has happened 100 percent of the time is that my friend, my colleague, my family knows that I care. That I am doing my best for them. That they matter to me.

So in this time where we have lost over 100,000 of our fellow Americans in a matter of months and are forecasted to lose many more, what is the gift we could give each other? What says, “Hey, I care about you.”

Might I suggest we all wear masks.

Now here’s the thing.  Are masks perfect? No.  Can masks be uncomfortable to wear? Yes. Do masks help? Absolutely.

And yes, I’ve seen people posting all over social media about their different theories on why masks aren’t necessary. And our federal government has certainly not helped when it comes to providing clarity.  

But here is what I would ask you. If you get seriously ill, who would you turn to for help?  Doctors. They spend years in school, more years in residency, and then devote their lives to the health and well-being of the human body.  COVID-19 is a virus. It attacks the human body. You see where I’m going with this, right? 

The vast majority of medical professionals are practically begging us to wear a mask when we go out in public. 

In a statement released on June 12,  from Dr. Susan R Bailey, President of the American Medical Association, she said, “Physicians, scientists and public health experts are learning more every day about COVID-19, but we already know what stops the spread of the virus—wearing a face mask, maintaining physical distancing, and washing your hands regularly for 20 seconds. Adhering to these simple steps is the most effective way to prevent deaths and safely allow re-opening to continue.”

So if someone you respect, someone you would go to in a time of need, someone who is on the front lines and, quite frankly, needs your help, is asking you for a favor, dare I say a gift, would you listen? Would you help? Would you search out that gift?

Of course you would.  That’s what being human is all about – connecting with each other. Caring for each other. Not lobbing ridiculous insults on social media or thinking that some random dude/dudette on the Internet has more science expertise than those who’ve dedicated their life to study and service. We can do better than that. I must believe that we are better than that. 

So, yes, I’m wearing a mask. I won’t always get it right. It won’t be perfect. But it will be full of heart and intention and come from a place of kindness and compassion.

If you’re still wondering if it is worth wearing a mask, I’d ask you this:

What do you risk if you wear a mask and it ends up being unnecessary?  A bit of discomfort on a hot day? Feeling a little silly at the grocery store? Using up some of your extra bits of fabric? 

Now, what do you risk if you don’t wear a mask and it ends up being very necessary? Inadvertently spreading the virus to someone whose body can’t fight it off for any number of reasons? Costing someone else their wife, their dad, their child?

Personally, I’ll gladly sign up for the first set of risks. But that second set of risks, I’d dearly love to avoid. For me, for you, for my family and friends. Maybe I’ll be wrong, but I can live with that, especially if it helps someone else actually live, like literally keep their heart beating in this world.

So might I suggest we all give each other the gift of wearing a mask, staying six feet apart, washing our hands like it’s going out of style, and staying home when we can. It just might be the perfect gift after all. And if you’re like me, giving a gift is nearly always better than getting one. 

P.S. I respect that we all have the freedom to make our individual choices. We all make oodles of choices every day to do the things that we think are right – we choose to tell the truth, we choose to love our families, we choose to go to work. Those choices say something about us. The choice to wear a mask simply says I care, I might not have all of the answers, but I want to help.  It does not say if you are a republican, a democrat, or an independent. It does not say if you do or don’t believe in God. So let’s all give each other a little grace. In grade school, we all learned what assuming does. Grace and peace my friends. Grace and peace. 

Featured image (mask making) © Prostock-studio – stock.adobe.com.  Standard license.

Look Up
Lessons & Thoughts From the Farm

Look Up

My Farmtastic Life2 Comments

This thing going on in our world can result in an emotional rollercoaster.  And this rollercoaster has room for all of us. No height requirement necessary.

For me, this week was tough. My emotions poured out of me in a million little ways. I teared up at the sound of a treasured song. I smiled at the many acts of kindness taking place in our small town. I was filled with gratitude that Cowboy and I both still have jobs, a home, and groceries for us and our zoo. I got stressed over a work project. I missed hugging my family members. I felt guilty for being in an okay place when I know folks who are not. I felt happy when I was able to share and to help others. I got lost in nature. Up and down, left and right, I rode this roller coaster in the front seat with my hands in the air screaming, laughing, and crying. 

Here’s the thing.  This pandemic has changed our world. It’s changed us.  Every single one of us. But we don’t yet fully know how much and to what extent. There has been loss for everyone –  freedoms to move about as we please, pay and jobs, a sense of security, and worst of all the loss of neighbors, friends, and loved ones.  And yet there has been so much goodness as unsung heroes have emerged to keep us all moving forward.  I’m looking at you healthcare workers, first responders, truck drivers, and grocery store workers.

It’s one big, beautiful terrifying messy life right now. 

And for so many of us, it’s also the time to celebrate Easter or Passover or simply the arrival of spring.  It looks different this year. There are no fields filled with laughing children chasing down Easter eggs. There are no churches brimming with Easter bonnets as parishioners sit shoulder to shoulder. There are no tables set for extended family gatherings centered around a favorite meal. 

I was telling a dear friend of mine that when I go for walks through our pastures, I often walk with my head down because I am staring at my feet.  I do this because I’m incredibly clumsy, so it’s purely for self preservation (of my knees and my dignity). And she said to me, “Don’t forget to look up.”

Look up my friends. Even in times of loss and sadness and confusion there are reasons for hope. There is love. There is kindness. There are doggy kisses and flowers blooming. There is prayer and meditation. There is goodness in this world. There is each of you.  

So in these trying times, when emotions have become theme park rides, and clumsy feet seek steady ground, may we all find a moment to look up.

Featured image (heart in hands) © simona – stock.adobe.com.  Standard license.

It’s Okay to Just Be
Lessons & Thoughts From the Farm

It’s Okay to Just Be

My Farmtastic Life6 Comments

As someone said to me this week, “I don’t want to see or hear the words unprecedented times or our new normal anymore.”  To be honest, they, like me were just mentally exhausted and rife with a bit of anxiety. And who could blame any of us right now?  These are different times for sure.

Now to be perfectly candid, I’m a born worrier. So even though there is a pandemic going on, this anxious brain is not new to me. In fact, my third-grade teacher pulled my parents aside to say she had never seen a child worry as much as I did.  So to be frank, it’s in my DNA, and I have my suspicions about where it came from, but that’s for another day. The point is, even when all is well in the world, I struggle to keep my overactive imagination in check. The what-ifs take over and I’m quickly swept up from the present and plopped right down into the imaginary future.  And while this sounds harmless enough, it means I am completely and utterly missing the present.

Here’s the deal, as much as the phrase unprecedented times makes me want to throw things, it’s where we are at.  It’s where we are all at. No one is exempt. And we all deal with our stress and our anxiety in our own ways, some admittedly better than others. 

Some people like to dig into the data and the stats and predict a potential outcome. Some like to retreat completely and escape into a good book or a movie.  Some like to make a Plan B, a Plan C, and a Plan D just in case. (Do I have any kindred spirits on this last one? It’s okay we know who we are.) Anyway, I could go on, but you get the gist. In particular, when times feel out of control, we are all craving some predictability, something we can count on, something we can control. But as another dear friend and colleague said to me, “Control is an illusion. We never had it in the first place.” (He’s far better at rolling with it than I am.)

So here we sit, all coping in a myriad of ways.  All learning new things about ourselves, our communities, and our society.  All in this thing together, no matter how it turns out. So we could stand to give each other a little grace as anxiety and worry are too close to the forefront for so many.

All of this got me to thinking about another anxious time in my life, which honestly seems silly right now, but in the off chance it’s helpful, here’s how it went.  As this past January was rolling around, the start of a fresh decade, I found myself getting lost and wound up about making a New Year’s resolution. Should I or shouldn’t I? Maybe just a theme or a word? Maybe a 20 for 20 list? I was riding in the truck with Cowboy one day vomiting all of these words and anxious thoughts to the calmest soul I know, when he looked at me and said, “I’ve got one for you. How about you just be. Just live your life and just be.”

I immediately had this sense of “duh, you are making this way too hard” wash over me. I smiled at him and said, “You’re right. You are absolutely right.”  I’m telling you the man doesn’t say much, but when he does it’s totally worth listening. 

So if you need someone to give you permission to just be, I’m offering these words up to you in the hopes they bring you comfort or maybe just a little relief in these anxious times. The beautiful thing about taking a moment to just be is that the past and the future aren’t part of the equation. Rather, it’s just the moment, the present.  So hug a dog, text a friend, take a walk, read a book, or say a prayer. Whatever works for you, but allow yourself time to just be.

Featured image (just be) © treenabeena – stock.adobe.com.  Standard license.

My Farmtastic Life - Grocery Shopping Has Never Been Sweeter Grocery Shopping Has Never Been Sweeter
Lessons & Thoughts From the Farm

Grocery Shopping Has Never Been Sweeter

My Farmtastic LifeLeave a comment

I’m a bit of a weirdo. I actually enjoy grocery shopping. I like to wander the aisles for recipe ideas, get drawn in by pretty packages, and fill my cart with new finds.  I am my father’s daughter when it comes to this. We are both store aisle wanderers.  

Cowboy, on the other hand, is all about efficiency and says it is decidedly cheaper and faster when he goes it alone. The man sticks to the list (can you imagine???), and well it’s hard to argue when someone volunteers to do a chore.

But grocery shopping has changed in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I’ve only left the farm twice in as many or more weeks. The first time, Cowboy and I went to get provisions to ensure our critters and parents were well fed.  I’m glad I wasn’t alone, because I was incredibly distracted by the surreal nature of it all. Shelves half stocked, favorite items nowhere to be found, and busy stockers putting things out as fast as they were flying off of the shelves.  

I walked through the big box store wide eyed and holding my breath.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t observe all of the social distancing rules, not because I wasn’t trying, but because I was simply in awe. In all of my forty plus years, I’ve been lucky enough to go to the grocery store and buy whatever I needed, and 99 percent of the time, whatever I wanted.  That this is a privilege is not lost on me.

The second trip out was to our small town grocer, and was planned for this weekend. To prep for the store, I sat at the kitchen table surrounded by my recipes  and cookbooks, and made a menu. I looked for things that could make use of what we already had in the freezer and could also be repurposed for multiple meals. Could a cooked ham on Sunday mean ham and potato soup or a ham salad later in the week? Most definitely.  I needed to use the resources we had wisely, not just for me but for everyone else, too.  We are all sharing these precious resources, and the old phrase, “waste not, want not” kept surfacing in my mind. 

Come Saturday morning, off to the store I went, just me, myself and the list. (Cowboy and I wanted to limit the number of people in the store for everyone’s health and safety.)  And while I was a bit more prepared for what I might see, I found myself with thoughts that had never occurred to me before: how quickly can I get in and out, do I wipe down all of the cart or just the handles, what path should I take through the store, should I start with things like eggs or canned goods, what time does the store open for the general public?

Wipe in hand, I diligently went up and down the aisles.  Stopping to allow someone to pass. Standing back and waiting my turn to choose veggies or go down a particular aisle.  Glancing and smiling at my fellow store goers as we all had tentative looks on our faces, unsure exactly how to behave in these unprecedented times, our deeply rooted southern hospitality at odds with this strange reality.  Making sure to adhere to store management requests to limit critical items like soups, breads, meats, dairy, and leaving those things that I did not need for others who may need them. I even chuckled to myself when a lone box of plant butter stood on the shelf that normally housed dozens of butter options. I guess even a pandemic can’t make some things palatable. 

I filled up my cart with more than enough to take care of my family for two plus weeks.  

I stood on the black X on the floor, six feet away from the next person in line, waiting to check out.  As I stood there, I was awash in sheer gratitude. Cowboy and I still have our jobs. We can still get what we need.  The farm critters,  our families and dear friends,  are all safe and well.

And then I got to the cashier. Behind newly installed plexiglass, we chatted away. He was friendly and jovial. He talked about his new baby on the way. About how many hours he’d been working, and what he’d do if he ended up as the only one in his household who could work. My emotions welled up, as I thanked him for all he was doing.  He shrugged it off as no big deal.

The grocery manager, who I’ve seen dozens of times often over the years, greeted me with a tired smile.  I asked how he was and he shared he’s worked 190 hours over the last two weeks. I have no idea how that feels. More thanks came tumbling out of me.

I paid, grateful to these workers who were doing so much for me, for my family.  I pushed my cart to the car, and the teenage bag-boy rushed over to help me load (social distance style, of course) and take the cart back in the store (because yes, we still do that in small towns).  He, too, was tired but smiling. Sharing how he had been given official papers that would allow him to go back and forth to work in the case that things continued to shut down even more. I could not utter enough thank yous.  Like the clerk, he shrugged it off, more worried about people being able to be tested and protecting his grandparents.

Humbled.  Simply humbled.

On the way home, I dropped off a few things on my parents’ porch.  I stood back as we blew air kisses and gave ourselves virtual hugs. And then I talked about the grocery workers, and I stood there and cried.  Tears streaming down my face as I was overcome with gratitude. For the people who are getting up every day and doing their jobs so that life can go on.  People who still have time to share a story, lend a hand, offer a smile. To every single one of them, thank you!

Grocery shopping has never been sweeter.

P.S. Thank yous matter.  When you have to venture out for necessities, please pass along oodles of gratitude.  Beautifully, gratitude and kindness are unlimited resources.

Featured image (grocery cart) © Have a nice day – stock.adobe.com.  Standard license.

Grizzly the Cat Watches Hallmark Yule Log Why We Love Hallmark
Farmtastic Faves · Lessons & Thoughts From the Farm

Why We Love Hallmark

My Farmtastic LifeLeave a comment

When I was growing up, Hallmark was the store where you bought the BEST cards, and like the old slogan said, you’d send a Hallmark card when you cared enough to send the very best.  When I would hand my mom, a woman who quite frankly prefers cards over gifts, an envelope with the tell-tale gold crown seal, she would smile and say, “Oh, it’s a Hallmark!”

Hallmark Ornament - Chocolate Moose
Chocolate Moose, a Hallmark ornament from 2007, and one of our farm faves. He gets a prime spot on the tree each year to show off his movable dangly legs.

After Cowboy and I got married, Hallmark became known in our house as the purveyor of our favorite Christmas ornaments.  He’d get the car, tractor, or airplane series, while I’d get the Winnie the Pooh or whimsical animal characters.  When our tree is covered in these memories and reminders of childhood, hobbies, and dreams, it is transformed into my absolute favorite Christmas tradition. Heck, we’ve gathered so many ornaments over the years they even have their own box for storage. (And no, that doesn’t mean we have enough. And yes, I still buy new ones every year.)

Today, Hallmark is best known for TV, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries specifically.  While they’re most famous for turning out oodles of Christmas movies, they also make movie magic with made-for-TV series, cozy mysteries, and other seasonal flicks.  And if you’ve watched even a couple of these movies, you inevitably know how they will turn out.  Happily!  There seems to be a delightful formula to it all:

  • Woman has important city life/job aspirations/family business. Bonus points for chef, writer, professor, flower shop owner, or decorator jobs.
  • Woman’s life gets interrupted by family or job opportunity/obligations/loss. Bonus points for family inns, bakeries, and tree farms.
  • Woman travels to scenic small town/village/farm to address said challenge.  Bonus points if the woman is already there and the opportunity comes to her.
  • Woman runs into old flame/new flame, and is rarely thrilled about it at the beginning. Bonus points if woman has existing flame she must extinguish.
  • Woman finds her true meaning by following her career passion and also learns to view the guy in a new light and they live happily ever after.  Bonus points if children, dogs, or cats come with the package.

I’m sure the writers would tell you that it’s definitely more complicated than that, and I have no doubt that it is. Heaven knows, no one has been able to replicate their special magic, and criticizing someone else’s art and creation is not my jam.  But why are we so drawn in when we know how it will end?  From the opening scenes of charming downtown shops, cityscapes, and country vistas, we are hooked. We know that two hours later, crisis will be averted, hearts will be happy, and the future will be bright.

That’s the magic.  In a world that can feel crazy, sometimes our hearts just want to escape to a place where things will be okay.  We’re living in a time that can feel especially vulnerable with quarantined family and friends, stores and restaurants closed, and fear and uncertainty easy to find in large doses. Sitting down with a cozy blanket, a cup of tea, and a Hallmark movie (or 12), could be just what your heart needs.

So hats off to Hallmark this weekend for re-running some of their best-loved Christmas movies, with their We Need a Little Christmas Movie Marathon.  Christmas is known as the season of giving, so during what are unprecedented times, let’s make sure that we fill our hearts up with love over fear, check on our neighbors (virtually of course, social distancing rules apply), share what we can, and remember that this too will pass.  And most importantly, when it does may we all be better for it. (Oh, and please wash your hands!)

P.S.  If you’re like me and love a good list checking app, Hallmark has you covered. Through the Hallmark app you can  make lists of what you want to see, get reminders for airings you don’t want to miss, and keep count of how many movies you’ve watched (which trust me, can quickly become A LOT.)

P.P.S. It’s hard to find a Hallmark store these days, but if you can find one, it’s absolutely worth it and you will be delighted. You simply can’t help but smile as you roam the aisles filled with heartfelt and funny cards, colorful home accessories, and unique treasures that make the perfect gifts.

P.P.P.S. This is not an advertisement and no money, gifts, or favors were exchanged in return for this post.