Early March

Posted on March 9, 2016 by TJ

Last Tuesday EJ came home from work sick with the awful flu that has been going around. He was so sick that he didn’t go to work for the rest of the week. When he contacted his company to tell them that he was going back to his first job, they told him not to bothering coming back. It makes sense, really, since he had only worked there for three weeks–and he was sick for most of the third week.

So rather than give two weeks’ notice that he was leaving, which is customary, he was able to begin his old new job on Monday. Last year his first day with this company was on March 9th and this year his first day at the same company was March 7 so both his first days at this company was almost exactly one year apart–and both times he was sick. He said everyone told him that they were really glad to have him back. Even the “big bosses” came by to shake his hand and welcome him back.

Yesterday was actually EJ’s first anniversary of moving up north. He moved north the day before he started his new job, and he lived in a motel for about three months while I stayed behind to take care of things downstate. My anniversary day is not until June 1st–the day we closed on this house.

EJ kissed me while he was sick so it was inevitable that I would get sick as well. I think kissing is a habit (a good one) and we forget that the other person is sick until, “Dog-gone it, you KISSED ME! And you are SICK!” All weekend I stayed in bed, sometimes shivering with chills, sometimes drenched with sweat, and always aching and coughing and groaning. I was so sick that I didn’t eat for days; I wasn’t hungry. I am just now beginning to eat again. Fortunately, EJ was on the mend by then and he was able to take care of me. “On the mend” actually means feeling less bad.

With two people sick in the household, it isn’t surprising that JJ has gotten sick too. Fortunately, I am on the mend (feeling less bad) so I can take care of JJ. I feel really bad for JJ because although he could stay home from work and recuperate, he cannot stay home from school and he still has to study. He looks terrible and is doing a lot of groaning. We’ve had to scramble to make sure our medical insurance is reinstated so that JJ can go to the doctor and get an excuse for missing work. EJ called me after work today that everything was A-OK and JJ immediately called his doctor.

Yesterday was Michigan’s election primary. JJ felt too sick to vote, but EJ and I voted. It was kind of a weird experience because for the last 20 years we voted at the same place, and the same volunteers worked at the polls, and we encountered familiar faces waiting in line. Now, here we were doing the same familiar procedure but at a completely new place, with new faces, knowing no one. It felt sort of like when you visit your hometown after being away from it for years–both familiar and strange.

Yesterday I was finally able to do some light housekeeping. While I was vacuuming the carpet, the vacuum cleaner died. We have only had it for less than a year. I remember that we have had other vacuum cleaners suddenly quit working and it was a simple fix, but I couldn’t remember what the problem had been. Then today I figured out that dog hair and other debris had gotten packed in the hose. So I sat on the floor and using a bunch of tools, including a stretched out wire hanger, which worked inadequately, a pair of tongs which were too thick to be of any use, a fork which was too short, needle-nosed pliers which were also too short, and finally two shish-kabob skewers which worked the best, I patiently teased out the hair until with a great gulp of air, the vacuum was unclogged and began to work again. This is good because Danny sheds so much that I could make a whole new dog out of the hair that is comes out of him each time I brush him. I always throw out his piles of hair for the birds to line their nests with.

We have enjoyed watching the deer coming to our house to eat. They come in groups of two or four or six. Most of them are small yearlings and a couple of them are quite tiny, which means they were born later in the season last year. It’s very hard to take pictures or videos of them because they spook really easily and the slightest movement or noise causes them to vanish. But I was able to get a video of six of them before they leaped gracefully away.

The turkeys haven’t visited for a couple of weeks, but I looked out my window yesterday and the yard was teeming with them. They move around a lot so it’s hard to get an accurate count, but there was about 40 of them, give or take a few, which is twice as many as we’ve ever had before. They returned again today. They came two different times today. I think there were two different groups rather than one group returning.

The weather has been very warm–with several days the temperature up into the 60s. This morning it was very misty and I watch clouds of misty fog writhe around trees and slither across the driveway. It was gorgeous. I love that different types of weather changes the look of our Enchanted forest.

March 9, 2016 b 009 — The snow is almost gone now.

With such warm temps, a lot of the snow has melted and we can see the grass and bare driveway again. Although I will miss sledding down the hill, it will be nice not to have to go four-wheeling up our driveway or worry about getting stuck in the snow. Unless, of course, winter returns for a final punch or two. When JJ was a child, I used to tell him that Spring and Autumn were when Winter and Summer fought.

One thing I am not looking forward to–no, not at all–is a return of the spiders.