WILDWOOD CREST – “Out and About” is not where I have been. I’m “In and Cloistered” sounds more descriptive of how I have spent my days since March 15, when quarantine began for certain.
Since then, I haven’t gone to the skin doctor, Bible study, to my surprise 75th birthday party, to the grocery store, to visit our children, to church, to the cleaners, to the paint store, to redeem a spa gift certificate, to shop, to the book club, and the list goes on.
I have painted a table red, a fence white, written letters, cleaned the pantry, read about a million books, talked to family and friends, started a sewing project, cleaned house and worked a lot.
All of those things but one took place within the walls of our house. Those walls are blue, white, yellow, sand, green and so on. I like most of those walls, but not enough to wish for more time inspecting them.
And so on March 27 I got behind the wheel of my trusty car and explored a little beyond my walking range.
Whoa, what did I find but things are humming out there. Motel owners are fixing up for the season, gardeners are cleaning up their yards, and construction workers are continuing their building. I saw home improvement projects, many dog walkers, bike riders, strollers, skate boarders and baby strollers.
On the other hand, I drove by many of our favorite restaurants with handwritten ‘closed’ signs. Most of them referred to the COVID-19 virus.
Churches had signs of reminders to pray for one another, as we can’t gather in a building; just a reminder to us believers that the church is not a building, but a place lodged within each of us.
My four-wheeled outing was called short by a leak in my sprinkler system, and I had to rush home to check it out. So, “Out and About” was curtailed, but to me, it spoke of two different messages: Those who are approaching the upcoming season with a ‘let’s get on with it,’ as are the motel owners and construction companies. They can’t NOT be ready! The other message was, we may not have a season and how do we prepare for that?
I don’t know where you and your family fall in these two categories but there was one certainty that intruded on both gloom and optimism and that was the splendor of spring in Cape May County. Has there ever been a better year for forsythia, daffodils, hyacinth, pear blossoms, and the tail end of winter camellia blooms, Japanese or tulip magnolias?
The show of beauty was overwhelming and it reminded me, these blossoms were tempered by the winter cold. Without the winter, would spring be so beautiful?
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
