Flower Friday : : Aloe

I woke up at 7:30am and contemplated a Zoom Pilates class at 8. I talked myself out of it since I had yet to complete the registration process, but the real reason was that a class in the same room with other people is one thing. A class on my computer was definitely another at 8am. To be honest, the real draw of the class is the lively gatherings over coffee afterward.  Without that, I just couldn't be bothered. Besides I hadn't requested an invitation or whatever else I needed to do. I'll have to ask Will and/or Peter who are completing their school year (and in Will's case his undergraduate degree) via Zoom. If I decide to do the class in my pajamas can anybody see me? 

My plans for creative activities...a new knitting project with yarn ordered from the local store and picked up at the curb, more painting, a proper diary of this strange experience...began to dissolve almost as soon as I made myself a cup of coffee and picked up the newspaper. 

The Governor  has ordered the entire population of California to stay at home. He outlined plans for finding housing, hotel rooms, even trailers  for the unhoused. He is ordering the National Guard to distribute food and supplies. He is trying to address the critical shortage of testing kits, respirators, masks and other items necessary to keep frontline health workers healthy and on the job. He's pretty impressive. he is also an ambitious politician. But compared to the alternative....
 
The entertainment section is full of suggestions for making popcorn and binge watching movies of different genres, entertaining kids out of school with guided tours of various zoos and museums and an eight hour long replay of Ken Burns' Baseball  for those who are missing sports. Entertainers are stepping up to give impromptu internet concerts. What I would like to see is a list of books or even an online book club. I remember when Opra made those, and by extension private book clubs popular. 

The food section is full of recipes for comfort food and cooking for kids. We have opted  instead for a shrimp salad from the restaurant a mile away which is offering three different choices twice a week, prepaid by phone order and delivered to the front door. 

We managed walk through the neighborhood, and a hilly neighborhood at that, so we did get some exercise. The neighborhood was deserted save for dog walkers all walking the approved six feet apart (not the dogs). Then I braved the complexities of hand sanitizing and door handle washing to go to the pharmacy and pick up my prescription which finally surfaced. They were busy but calm and I was in and out in three minutes. She put my prescriptions in a bag and I washed off the bottles with a Clorox wipe before putting them in the cupboard, torn between feeling like a crazy woman and playing it safe.

I have been attempting to get a picture of Olivier, the hummingbird who comes many times a day to the grevillea bush under the kitchen window, but he always outsmarts me and zips off the minute I lift my camera. Today I was in back kneeling down to take a picture of aloe in a pot when the fellow in the picture photobombed my shot. It hovered there, probing a flower with its sharp beak while I clicked away, then flew straight into my face, only changing course at the last second before collision. He can only be called Rufus. Hope he's not a she...