Social Distance/Pandemic 49

 November 14, Saturday

The pandemic has been taking an upswing, and the governor of NM ordered Shelter in Place again, for the next 2 weeks. Mostly, I'm sure, to discourage large Thanksgiving gatherings. I get that. I really do. I know there are people who will ignore the guidelines, but the hospitals are getting to the point of being overwhelmed.  

We had planned a get-together. Damon is almost done with his kitchen remodel, and wanted to christen it with a Thanksgiving get together. I was looking forward to it, as were others in our smallish group. I think it is going to have to be a raincheck at this point, however. We can celebrate everyone being able to stay healthy.

I personally have plans for sewing. There are Christmas gifts I want to work on and get into the mail. I might even get my Christmas cards ready to send out. (WHAT? So early??) I made a quick trip to Joann's before the shelter in place to pick up supplies for Ron a flannel nightshirt/warm lounge-y layer. I was definitely masked appropriately and socially distant from other customers.

The trip through Albertson's was more crowded, but I wanted to get a few things before the shelves were picked over too badly. Picked up Brats and sauerkraut while I was there, and put them in the crockpot with a couple of old apples that I peeled & sliced, half an onion, potatoes and carrots. YUM.

As usual, I've been taking my walks around the neighborhood, and looking for nature. I walked past a roadrunner sitting on a fence. I stopped and took a picture, trying not to scare it off, but I was within 8-10 feet of it just sitting there, giving me looks. The homeowner drove up while I was taking pictures and said it had been hanging out for a few days. He wondered if it was after his pecans. I wonder if it was after something that was after his pecans...

When a roadrunner isn't running...

Social Distance 48

 November 1, 2020  Sunday

This has been a week. After all my talk of still feeling the summer, even though nature has been showing me the signs of fall, we got snow on Tuesday. The earliest recorded snow in Las Cruces. And it wasn't just a flurry that didn't stick. It was inches. about 4 in some places, more in some others. I think we got 3-4. It snowed most of the day, even though the snow was melting, too...

Snow falling at 5 AM

So, you may ask, why was I up at 5 to see the snow? Well, it was the first time our new heater ran, and it blew out all the coatings and stuff, and set off all the fire alarms in the house. Those footprints were Ron's. He was in the car, ready to leave and I waved him down and made him come back in. We made sure there was no fire, and he took down the alarms and we opened doors for a little fresh air and let it vent, then warm up the house. Of course I did the last part after he left for work. Not the best way to wake up, actually, but I did enjoy the snow. No snow day for students or teachers, though, although there were power outages around town off and on. 

Snow in October!

In true New Mexico fashion, it was gone by Wednesday. Still, no doubt, winter just made a little preview in the last week of October.

One of the other amazing things I got to see this week, was the full moon rising behind the Organ Mountains. I noticed a glow behind a couple of peaks, and it was so beautiful and amazing, that I took pictures even though I knew my phone camera couldn't do it justice. Still, I couldn't NOT take them.

The glow

coming up over the Organs

Beautiful

There was a couple coming down the street as I was walking up it, and I called out to them to look, and they even said thanks for telling them, because they thought it was beautiful, too.

Then there was Halloween, that wasn't much of a Halloween, really. I mean I walked around the neighborhood, as the sun was going down, when the little kids should have been out and about, but they weren't. Neither were the older ones. I sure hope that the parties were small, and all that, because the numbers are threatening to overwhelm our healthcare here. El Paso has run out of hospital beds, and has some tents set up, and a temporary hospital set up in the Civics Center, downtown. Hospitals in the surrounding area can no longer send patients who need more care to the bigger hospitals/cities because there is no where to put them.