4th Try is a Charm - Coronavirus Times

Current day circumstances require that I plan for a trip to the local market.

There is no spontaneous "running up to the store" for milk.

And, these days, I never bring my purse with me -

just my credit card and driver's license, usually in my back pocket.

First try, they were closed.

It was a Friday, and I had forgotten that the family-owned,

Jewish market closes at 3:00, in observance of Shabbat.

Home, I went.

I tried again on Sunday.

I parked the car, and began to gather my stuff - empty milk bottles (to return),

mask, credit card . . . SHIT!

I FORGOT MY CREDIT CARD.

Home, I went, again.

Don't have it in me. Not today, I said to myself.

Try number three happened Monday.

I walked out of the house with my mask (empty milk bottles, still in the car),

made it halfway to the car before I realized I had left my credit card behind, AGAIN!

Fortunately, I remembered early, this time.

I retrieved my credit card, and drove to the market.

I parked the car, and began to gather my stuff - empty milk bottles (to return), credit card, mask . . . mask . . . mask . . . WHERE is my MASK??!!

SHIT! FUCK. REALLY??!!

After frantically searching around the car, between and underneath the seats, 

   I realized it REALLY wasn't there. And, I had a moment when I thought,

it won't kill me (or anyone else) to not wear my mask this one time.

Shame on me for thinking that.

Home, I went. Again.

I found my mask on the walkway, between the garage and the house,

rolled my eyes and scooped it up.

I am NOT dragging this out another day!

I went back to the market, again.

I parked the car, and began to gather my stuff - empty milk bottles (to return), mask,

credit card . . .

YES!!!

I can hear the voices of my "twenty-something" kids, but these days it is true -

I just don't get out enough.

4th try was a charm, though.

And, at least the drive to and from the market is a pleasurable one.

With Appreciation and Sympathy

Though the sound of the wind from inside the house made me hesitate,
   the morning was calling to us (me, and the dogs).
Winter's playground was looking for a friend.
The sun shined brightly above the snow;
   sparkles of light upon the star of the show.

The beautiful, white landscape, with its lines and its curves, edgeless and never-ending.

The wind, more energizing than biting,
   blowing ripples across the water in the nearby pond.
The day, with all of its brightness and beauty, making me feel alive
   in the way that one should feel alive - full of energy and awareness,
appreciation and presence. 

And, in another part of the world, the star is burning.
Not in the way that sparkles and shines in the warmth of the sunlight on a winter's day,
   but in the heat of a life-threatening battle - a flame-scorching, take-no-prisoners, relentless and destructive, heart-wrenching fire.

Oh, how I wish I could send our blanket of snow your way, to sooth and ease your burns.