Corona-Coaster

This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for people impacted by the far-reaching ripple effect of the coronavirus. By yesterday morning, all major sports leagues had suspended, canceled, or delayed their seasons.

In Wisconsin, with game one of the girls state basketball tournament tipping off, they called off the rest of the tournament plus the boys tournament, which still had sectionals to go through this weekend before state. (Including my Luck Cardinals hoping to beat Chippewa this year for a ticket to state.)

I feel so bad for the kids – especially seniors – who've worked so hard for this crowning achievement in their high school careers. There are dozens of them right now pushing people to sign online petitions to the WIAA to allow them to play – even to empty arenas. Just let them play, they say.

I feel bad. But I know it's hard for the decision-makers to know where to draw the line.

In our house, we were happy to hear  today that high school springs sports haven't been canceled. Yet. It will be up to conferences and districts to decide. Royals baseball practice was to be in full swing Monday. That was the high point of the roller coaster, then... Our governor closed all Wisconsin schools until at least April 6. So... no school, no practice.

A fitting reaction from Coach Austin and his fellow baseball and spring sport coaches everywhere!

In the scheme of things – people sick and dying – it seems minor. But dang, it's the little things that are big positives now. And when those get taken away... coaches' wives get crabby. I mean, we literally have almost 90 evenings free if we want them, while our hubbies are at practices and games. Yes, we go to games to support them and the kids. But those practice nights for the weeks NORMALLY leading up to the first game are golden. Sigh...

But enough about me.

Those poor seniors of spring sports are also getting burned. Hopefully they'll at least get a delayed, though shortened, season. For the love coaches' wives – and coaches and players, of course – please make that happen, powers that be!

AAUGH!

Our Moss-fortune

Don't be alarmed. This is not another close-up of the coronavirus. It's just moss. And a lot of it! Let's just take our minds off of the chaos that is everyday life now, and think cool, soft, green thoughts...

It was our fortune to walk through Whatcom Falls Park last weekend in Bellingham. A pretty 240-acre park with waterfalls and lots of trees and lots of moss. I sort of became obsessed with it from the moment we crossed this WPA-era stone bridge.

It looked like a seen from a movie about Savannah or somewhere in the south where Spanish moss runs amuck.

It also just looked historical, if there is such a thing. Just added a texture of aging to the 80-year-old bridge.

And when I looked around, it was everywhere. On the trees, on the big rocks by the waterfalls.

In the "chute" that directs more water out to Bellingham Bay.

Of course, every few years out there is the year of moss because of record rainfalls. So it makes sense in place that rained 3 out of our 5 days would have moisture to fuel the growth of this greenery.

When it was wrapped completely around limb to limb on trees, it reminded me of a Dr. Seuss book and the funky, drape-y trees.

Oh yes, I was looking at every angle!

See how it just hangs around. I wouldn't want it tickling the back of my neck, but it's cool to look at!

This looks more like a snake pit! Seriously, those crazy roots.

And roots that aren't even under ground. Who knows what they're connected to?

There. Did I distract you for a minute? Hope you didn't have any moss-givings about reading this blog. I promise I am not talking about that other subject again today!

You're moss-t welcome.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

Oh oh, dancing with myself
Oh oh, dancing with myself
Well, there's nothing to lose
And there's nothing to prove
When I'm dancing with myself
Oh oh oh-oh...

– Dancing with Myself (Billy Idol)

When the NCAA announced today that "March Madness" games would go on but without fans in the stands, I was thinking it's going to be more like March Mildness. Here all these young men and women finally make it to the Big Dance and there's no one watching. And no one to dance with.

All their fans have to dance with themselves at home – preferably in small, hand-washing, non-germ sharing groups.

How mad.

I don't know what to think of this coronavirus anymore. And does an opinion matter? Hopefully, we're getting facts. Solid, health and science-based facts. Not just opinions.

But people still have to take those facts and likely come to an agreement with other people on big decisions like barring fans from tournament games, suspending NBA games, moving MLB games, discontinuing non-essential travel (anywhere), having employees work from home, teaching college classes online only.

It's all happening. Right. Now.

I hope we're all on the same page and not going into a panic mode, but rather thinking that if we can delay the spread by keeping people away from each other (reasonably), we have a chance to help more people effectively – and not overwhelm hospitals and infrastructure. Seriously, there are only so many nurses, doctors, hospital beds, and pieces of equipment to help people that may eventually get virus-related pneumonia.

While hubby and I feel fine, we don't know what could develop. And hopefully won't. We're not going to put ourselves in large-crowd situations for the next 10 days anyway. Especially places with old or unhealthy people with potentially vulnerable immune systems.

So that knocks church and bowling league off our lists. We're kind of serious there.

Meanwhile, our college boy still has classes and won't know until next Tuesday, March 17 (at the latest) if their spring break (March 21-29) will be extended or what. His internship this semester is in the study abroad office, which, as you can imagine, has been hit by this issue. UW-Platteville has suspended all outgoing and incoming sponsored international trips through at least May 31. And university officials are continuing to monitor the students and faculty who remain on overseas trips. Thank goodness Carter got in his semester abroad last year!

And thank God I have a job that allows me to work from home in unique situations like this! Important people like doctors, pilots, cops, truck drivers and retail cashiers can't phone it in!

Just praying my family and friends get through this thing OK. Pretty much all we can do.

And wash our hands.

Washington's a Wrap

It was tough to officially end our vacation at 2 a.m. when we got home, but we managed to sneak in a little more fun on our last day.

We checked out of our hotel in Bellingham after breakfast yesterday.

That created a bit of a moral dilemma. I mean the street value of one roll of this in Seattle could've extended our vacay another day! No worries. We left it there.

(But a side note: Hubby went to Walmart in Rapids tonight to get some groceries and TP, and there was only one package left. Everyone everywhere is stocking up... I guess in case they get stuck at home for 2 weeks and go through 2 rolls a day??)

After checkout and some sightseeing, we made our way down to Seattle for a lunch date. Yup, we got some bonus fun with two of Carter's classmates, who we know quite well – and are friends with their parents.

Nathaniel is in the Navy and stationed out in Seattle and his wife Olivia was just visiting for the weekend – she arrived on Thursday as well (early flight) but was taking the same flight back to Minneapolis with us late Monday afternoon! How cool to see them, catch up, and take pictures to share with Carter and their parents (along with virtual hugs home).

The four of us had a nice lunch at Alstadt, a German bar in downtown Seattle. "Vee have vays of fighting zee virus!"

When we got to the airport later, it really was the first time we saw a lot of people wearing masks. The thing is, you don't know if they're wearing them because they have the coronavirus and don't want to spread it, or it they're trying to protect themselves and cross their fingers they don't get it. And there were all styles of masks. Some were almost industrial-type and others silky and fashionable.

Needless to say, I wasn't completely surprised to get a call from my boss that I should work from home for a few days upon my return. That was fine with me. Getting home at 2 a.m., I was taking the morning off anyway. I had my laptop so I could work from home the rest of the day. While we were careful and washed our hands often, etc., I would not want to be the one starting the virus at a place with more than 2,500 employees on site. Nope.

Better safe than sorry. Sure hope our vacation stays wrapped up on a positive note. It was such a treat to see the kids and such a beautiful area of the country. Try to get out there sometime if you can.

Well, maybe wait a few months.

Harbor Views

Our last day in Bellingham was beautiful! No rain, but just enough puffy clouds to obscure Mount Baker from view. Grr.

Still, our harbor views around Bellingham Bay were gorgeous! Enjoy...

Artsy shot of raindrops on Daffodils at the harbor. Love seeing spring flowers!

Nice day for a ride for a few lucky ones!

She sells sea shells...

Hello, Canada! No passport required when you're "just looking. "

So many shades of blue! Life's a beach when you're on vacay!

We'll miss our fabulous hosts! Thanks for great time, kids! See you again soon, we hope!

We're flying out tomorrow so we'll see how our bodies adjust to what seems like 3 hours' time difference (thanks to Daylight Saving Time).

One hundred percent worth it!

Number One is Twenty-Nine

We're feeling blessed to be able to spend son number one's 29th birthday with him. In person!

Thankfully they have Walmarts out here,  too, so we could snag an ice cream cake and candles for him! They rest of the day was just enjoying time with him, Emily and our grandpup Rey. Lots and lots of time outdoors.  We're all going to sleep well tonight!

A few highlights from around Bellingham,  including Teddy Bear Cove in the Chuckanut neighborhood (just wanted to type that!) And a dog park by the beach. Yes. The Pacific Ocean!

Father-son picture. Just a bit chilly when we started out!

All three "kids."

Playing some serious fetch!

Good girl!

So sweet together!

Beautiful walk in Whatcom Falls Park.

C is for Casey (and Clay and Carter, too)!

Oh, Bellingham. Purple looks good on you!

I know it was great (even warmer) weather back home today. But seeing flowers in bloom trumps that for me! And we'll see what wonders tomorrow brings.

Don't forget to spring your clocks forward tonight. And make a wish if you turned 29 today, too!

Soggy in Seattle

Move over, Sleepless in Seattle.  There's now a sequel: Soggy in Seattle,  starring Mr. and Mrs. Austin.

We waited until the rain turned into a light drizzle before venturing out about town this morning. We knew right away from the steady precip that we were gonna skip the Space Needle. Not worth the money to not see anything!

We walked down to the Olympic Sculpture Park and saw some neat things there.

And some unusual things like Japanese cherry blossoms.

And eyes on a naked man in a fountain.  You know,  just artsy stuff.

We could see the harbor and all that activity,  so I liked that.

Introduced hubby to Pike Public Market. Too rainy to lollygag outside. But we got to browse all the indoor vendors...

Including the fish-throwing guys. That's always entertaining. 

Walked by Amazon headquarters. See how they keep their employees in quarantine like the Bubble Boy on Seinfeld. These honestly are Amazon corporate offices in The Spheres. But all employees have been ordered to work at home through end of month. Honestly, after 5 miles of walking around, we only saw 3 people wearing "anti-germ" masks.

On way out of town, we found our way up to Kerry Park, where you can see the whole city below. Again, not the best day for scenery either.

Still pretty sights, though!

Thankfully there's a Starbucks around every other corner for warmth!

On way up to Bellingham, we detoured over to Mukilteo so I could see the lighthouse there.

It was quaint! (And closed to visitors.)

Saw plenty of gulls making themselves at home along the beach!

Got to Bellingham in late afternoon, checked into our hotel, then met Emily and Casey downtown after work.

Soooo great to see them for the first time since July!! Had a great dinner at Bantam 64, and tomorrow will be doing some sightseeing, time to see our grandpup Rey, and some 29th birthday celebration fun.

Crossing fingers for some sun, and no soggy bottom fun!