diligent

It was a gorgeous, warm day when I walked Samuel this morning and I had a perfectly crummy afternoon working on my form. See how well behaved and diligent I am, to spend such a lovely day filling out a boring, unpleasant form? 

My neighbor filled out this form herself so she was able to give me some answers and warnings. For example, if you don't know where relatives live, find out, even if you don't like them, because even though the form has an, "I don't know" option, they don't mean it. 

Where were your parents born? 
I watched the movie I made of my grandmother. My grandmother returned and stayed home to have my mother, and had her in a hospital. Then I discovered I had my parent's birthplaces in my genealogy program. 

But my grandmother did walk two miles to school every day and I bet they would have taken classes outdoors if there had been a pandemic. 

The mental health section was surprisingly sensitive:
Individuals experience a range of reactions to traumatic events. For example, the death of a loved one, divorce, major injury, service in a military combat environment, sexual assault, domestic violence, or other difficult work-related, family, personal, or medical issues may lead to grief, depression, or other responses. The government recognizes that mental health counseling and treatment may provide important support for those who have experienced such events, as well as for those with other mental health conditions. 
...Seeking or receiving mental health care for personal wellness and recovery may contribute favorably to decisions about your eligibility....


Note: If your judgment, reliability, or trustworthiness is not substantially adversely affected by a mental health or other condition, then you should answer "no" even if you have a mental health or other condition requiring treatment.



There is another section on foreign entanglements:
Do you have, or have you had, close and/or continuing contact with a foreign national within the last seven (7) years with whom you, or your spouse, or legally recognized civil union/domestic partner, or cohabitant are bound by affection, influence, common interests, and/or obligation? 

I decided that if I've never met you in person, don't know your real name, and don't have your phone number, then you don't count for this. Hope you don't mind. 


This morning there were yellow flowers everywhere, except where there were white, pink, and purple ones. Yellow and red buds. Trees beginning to blossom. Tadpoles. A turtle. Bicyclists. 


We watched two deer rush by, cross the path, and then go up the hill. I turned away from them to talk to Samuel when I heard them running back toward us. Of course then my camera was off and the lens cap on. I instead watched to see how close they would come. They maintained an acceptable social distance for safety. 


I picked this picture out of the others because it hints at rather than reveals - and has a catchlight in the eye.