After yesterday’s difficult post, I needed a few dollops of lightness and joy. After I posted, I went back to the Skitter/rubber chicken post photos of a couple of days ago—for a quick laugh. Then I checked out some pix o’ Gracie. Gracie’s smile is a perfect antidote to writing difficult posts. Her smile is also a remedy to pandemic stir craziness. Tie o’ the Day is pleased to present a cornucopia of some of Grace Anne Blackwelder’s squinty, nose-crinkled smiles. She puts her whole face into her joy. I, of course, see the resemblance we share in that regard.
The Saturday before Pandemic Easter, I was feeling like we should at least be in the vicinity of children celebrating the holiday. I texted Suzanne’s niece, asking if she thought her boys would get a kick out of us doing a one-float, drive-by parade on Easter afternoon. She was certain they would. In fact, when I crawled out of bed Easter morning, I got a text from her before I had both eyes open. Her text said, “First words out of Liam’s mouth today, ‘I’m so excited for my parade today!'” The pressure was on!
Skitter wore her pink halter top and her patriotic Tie o’ the Day, as well as her trademark cowboy hat. I wore my Tyvek duds and a Bow Tie o’ the Day, so I could be the Pandemic Easter Bunny. I broke out a dozen packages of marshmallow Peeps I bought on clearance last Easter, which I’ve been saving—cuz last year a brilliant idea came over me to decorate a vehicle with said Peeps for Easter weekend, just for the heck of it.
Suzanne and I attached the Peeps to our parade “float” as well as we could. It turns out that the old Peeps had dried out too much, and fresh Peeps are too gooey to cut. We had to practically rip open the Peeps to make them stickable. This was my first try at Peep-ing a vehicle, and I will admit that by the time we could get the Peeps to stay stuck on the car, they didn’t even resemble the Peeps they really were. The multitude of colors was purty, though. We had a parade to produce, so we went with what we had.
It was beautiful, but cold outside, so we didn’t stay at the boys’ yard long. The boys seemed to enjoy our confusing tiny parade. They got an Easter basket from Skitter, and their parents got an Easter egg filled with toilet paper. We got to see their family, but without hugs. Mission accomplished, but without hugs.
I’ll certainly do more Peep experimenting between now and next year, so I can improve the final “parade float” look. I will make my idea work. I am proud to report that most of the dismembered Peeps stuck to the car all the way home on I-15. Some of the Peep parts even stuck through two different car washes.
I was scrolling through my Pandemic Easter parade photos, and it dawned on me: Skitter is obviously a look-alike, pose-alike descendant of the infamous Rubber Chicken comedy prop—right down to the wearing o’ neckwear and the splaying o’ the toes. (Pandemic parade post and more photos just ahead, I promise.)
When I’m out in the world doing a now-rare errand like buying groceries, I usually wear a Bow Tie o’ the Day from my wood bow ties collection. The wood creatures are much easier to disinfect when I get home than fabric bow ties.
I learned something at the store today. I learned that my Face ID on my phone doesn’t work when I’m wearing my pandemic mask. Duh! Luckily, I was able to remember the code to open my phone. I also learned my phone still responds to touch if I’m wearing latex gloves— if they’re properly warmed by my digits.
I am not a germaphobe. I am not frantic about COVID-19. However, I have noticed I handle the whole grocery shopping task differently right now. COVID-19 doesn’t scare me, mostly because I take it seriously. I guess I would say I am cautious. I wear latex gloves and my Suzanne-made mask while I’m in the grocery store. I wear long sleeves and pants. I carry a bigly tarp-fabric shopping bag over my shoulder to hold my items, so I don’t have to use a shopping cart. I make sure my bag doesn’t ever touch the floor. I use the self-checkout, so I’m in control of what touches what. When I leave the store, I keep my bag o’ food slung over my shoulder, and I put my used gloves in the garbage can outside the store. I then lift my vehicle’s hatch and slide the bag—without touching the bag’s handle—off my shoulder and into the car.
After I get home, I leave my shopping bag in the garage. It isn’t allowed in the house for the time being, even though I wipe it down with Clorox wipes. I then wipe down each grocery item individually before finally bringing the goods into the house. I also leave my coat, mask, and shoes in the garage. I have been known to change into clean clothes in the garage. I certainly do more laundry than I’ve done since Rowan was a child and lived at home.
The washing o’ the hands and the use of hand sanitizer occur all throughout this process, whenever possible. My detailed routine makes me feel comfortable in the pandemic. All in all, the new fuss doesn’t add much time to my errand, but it makes me feel just a tad better about this craziness.
If your cupboards are anything like mine, you probably already had enough food in your house to last for a month, long before the pandemic showed up. If I were unreasonably askeered and paranoid about COVID-19, I wouldn’t go grocery shopping at all cuz we could get by. I think my masky, glove-y caution is merely a healthy respect for how devastating COVID-19 has the potential to be—if even a few of us slack in our hand-washing and social-distancing. I’m being extra careful, but I’m not letting a stoopid virus stop me from living my life or from buying fresh bread.
I suppose you could say that donning my mask and latex gloves at DICK’S MARKET means I’m just dressing appropriately and fashionably for the current occasion—which is exactly what I try to do every day of my life. 🎩 🕶👔 👜
BTW Yes, I am wearing my hearing aid as an earring in this photo.
I was so pleasantly surprised to find these 3 photos from exactly 2 years ago pop up in my photo feed yesterday. Hearts Bow Tie o’ That Day is one of my faves, as are my colored glasses Cufflinks o’ That Day. And I’m confident seeing a double rainbow (or at least a picture thereof) is something we all could use right about now, so I offer these pix as confirmation that double rainbows can happen to us when they are needed.
Pandemics are—by definition—not hope-filled times, but they do eventually pass. There is an end to them. I’m not a believer in a grand Pot o’ Gold out there somewhere just waiting for me to find it. Nope. These days, I’d settle for an aimless drive in my beat-up truck and a bigly Pot o’ Normal.
I didn’t post this pic with a bunch of others I posted when I was wearing this Tie o’ the Day a few days back. My “mask” here is a couple of foil, novelty bow ties. When I ran across this snapshot this morning, I realized this is how I would look if I were The Joker.
While we’re on the subject of wearing masks to help protect ourselves and others from COVID-19…
Suzanne makes me fantastic capes, and I’m discovering that they are not just beautastical to gaze at. My glitter-fied Wintry Cape—and all my other Suzanne-made capes—can perform a public service, by acting as a protective mask for my face and most of my body. Wood Bow Tie o’ the Day’s magnetized hardware sufficiently hangs on for the ride. I’m all set. Until my next post.
Sometimes it feels like all this time spent hunkering down with each other at home during the pandemic is just one weeks’-long Family Home Evening. All we do is play, and snack, and sing, and talk about life’s teeny and bigly questions. It’s quite nice, for the most part.
In non-pandemic times, the bow tie population of The Tie Room sleeps twelve-to-a-drawer in our old card catalog. This picture shows BEFORE social distancing and AFTER social distancing. I’m proud Bow Ties o’ the Day understand the concept, and that they want to do their part in the worldwide fight against the spread of COVID-19.
