Coping with "Stay at Home"

The Pool Filled and Inviting--But Not Yet Ready
Elkridge, MD
April 3, 2020

 It is April. Spring has arrived! 

How am I coping with Maryland's "stay at home" order? I am working around the house and getting ahead on my Springtime projects.

I have fixed the tractor and mowed the lawn. Each day on our walk I marvel at the leaves on the trees as they open more and more and their shadows change from branches into a canopy.

Mulch in the Drive
Elkridge, MD
April 3, 2020

And my pool is open! It is too cold to swim and the chemicals are still being balanced--but it is open and I no longer have to look at the cover when I look into my backyard. Yes, I have to brush the newly installed plaster four times per day for the next two weeks, and then twice per day for the following two weeks, but then it will be May and the pool will be open for activity--if social distancing is lifted!

The mulch was delivered yesterday. Another outdoors project designed to help me celebrate Spring and cope with the "stay at home" order. And there are some stumps in the yard, remnants of the majestic ash trees that used to provide shade, that need grinding. Perhaps if the weather holds I will rent a stump grinder and enjoy working with heavy equipment for a day!

Finding things to do and taking advantage of the time  to accomplish things that I would otherwise have to cram into a busy schedule is an advantage of forced "stay at home."

I think I will be more than ready, however, when I am free to move about and my regularly over-scheduled life resumes. I am feeling a trip to Florida coming on! It will never replace my lost trip to Italy--but the change of scenery when this is all over will be great!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD