Everyone has their own definition of sanctuary. For Sandy & me, it’s fresh air, sunshine and the sound of waves at a beach. So much the better if these were all in Venice or Tuscany.
Today, however, all of our cherished sanctuaries are pretty limited since we are all surrounded by the Coronavirus***
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/2019-ncov-factsheet.pdf
Other than a grocery store once or maybe twice a week and a few family and friends ‘social distance’ and drive-by visits, Sandy and I took our first ride away from home the other day after close to 7 weeks. It was that time of year and nature was calling us out to Hidden Ridge Plants in Ridge, Long Island…our go to ‘phind’ nursery.
Hidden Ridge Plants…A Hidden Gem in Ridge, L.I., N.Y. Off The L.I.E. @ Exit 68
Upon arrival, we were greeted with the usual fine reception by Bill, the proprietor of this phabulous home of creative purposeful gardening ideas and unique plants.
While he’s showing us what’s new for the year, the conversation gravitates to the virus and lamenting to some degree what we are all going through. Most folks are wanting to get out and do things because it’s only natural and spending so much time at home is not so natural. In the course of this casual conversation between plants, herbs and the virus, Bill brought up the name Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian/author/pastor/martyr whose ideology he regards…and quoted him as follows: 
After a few seconds of careful thought, I said “Yeah”! We were there buying plants and herbs to plant in our garden at home and right away I’m thinking about how one can be much more appreciative of home as a sanctuary surrounded by nature…especially in this day of worldly “storms and stresses”.
So with that inspirational thought in mind, Sandy and I say Thank You Bill for your own introspective thoughts and feelings! Thoughts like this should inspire us all to not only enjoy the nature that surrounds us…but to look at your home in a brand new light!
Okay…
So looking back to about the second week in March, we started to become more focused on our need to be careful of the bite that the Coronavirus was starting to take out of us all.
Closer to the middle of March, shelter-in-place mandates (people should stay in their homes unless they need to leave for “essential” activities and work) were becoming the norm across the USA. Those essential workers included health care facilities, grocery stores and other food markets, banks, media services, hardware stores, laundromats and delivery services, among others. Needless to say as well, police and firefighters. Additionally, new social distancing requirements of staying six feet apart from each other were also enacted in most if not all states. This included family members who lived in different locations since there was no way to tell who may have the virus. The fallout of all this made it virtually impossible to visit the kids and grand-kids as we all normally would.
Born then was the “Drive-by”.
This new social media trend inspired people to come together during this coronavirus pandemic to celebrate birthdays which involves a parade of streaming cars driving past the person’s home and at the same time observing social distancing rules.
Another definition of happy:-)
If it wasn’t streaming cars for a birthday, it would in its simplest form a short visit to…or from… family or friends sitting in the driveway or backyard distanced apart.
A little sidebar: A potential side effect to the drastic increase in Americans who are socially isolating – whether voluntarily or under orders to do so – is loneliness and other possible health issues, Dogs, meanwhile, provide soft fur, wagging tails and potential health benefits. Emotionally and mentally this is a stressful time, and pets offer a really amazing way to alleviate some of that. They are always happy and just want attention and love. They’re calming! They don’t ask for much and you get a lot back in return. So folks…let me introduce you to Coby…the newest member of our family! One high pitched “Hi Coby” and you’ll officially experience the king of wagging tails 🙂
A point of information regarding pets and the coronavirus:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html
Where did those palm fronds come from? No it’s not Florida …It’s East Norwich, L.I. New York
An extension of our Sanctuary…”Sheddy”!
For us, looking forward to an early morning visit to the local garden nursery was a plan we could all take part in.
The Zoom Video Communications ‘app’ also became the mainstream way to provide a ‘videotelephony’ and online chat service through a cloud-based peer-to-peer software platform technically used for teleconferencing, telecommuting, distance education, and social relations.
So check this out…
Even with a limited supply of some foods and because a couple/few ingredients may be unavailable, we have plenty of time to get creative improvising. Funny thing is we discover different flavors and tastes that we may be able to perpetuate in the new world. Fortuitously, that’s a way chef’s create new dishes 🙂
Of course you can have the recipe!
So I think you have the food thing down pat…although more to come because now we have our first visitors to the house in two months. Yup, it’s May 4th, 2020 and we felt it was time to delight in a strict distancing visit from our friends Sharyn & Joel. Everything was done ‘by the book’ and since distancing was wholeheartedly observed, we were able to put our masks aside. Stimulating conversation and a home made meal made it a social success…so far!
Please stay tuned…more to come as we progress 🙂
Cleaning?
