Home Sheltered

I ventured to town today for the first time in two weeks.  I had some errands to run, including banking, and I did some shopping while out.  I expected to see a lot of masks, gloves, and social distancing, but for the most part people (including store employees) were acting pretty normal.  There were still some empty shelves in Farm & Fleet and Walmart, but I was able to get just about everything I needed.

Since all of our cell phones are tracked, there is a website that shows how much we have reduced our travel activity.  In Illinois, we have reduced activity by 53%.  It's kind of nice knowing there is nothing on the calendar and few places to go, and it almost causes you to forget what day it is.  Seems like this home sheltering stuff would be an introverts dream!

The only social contact for the most part in the last two weeks is with Son#1, D-I-L, and two grandsons.  The oldest grandson has discovered the haymow and that's what he wants to do every time he visits.  So I'm having lots of flashbacks to the days when my brother and I, and then my sons built hay forts, towers, and tunnels in the mow.  I forget how dusty, itchy, and how much work it is.

Our Dining/Living room has been church for the past couple of weeks.  They are experimenting with a video system for services that we are watching.  It still has some kinks in the system but it works.  I'm not sure it's a whole lot better than listening live on AC Central, but it does feel like a greater connection to church.

The old farmers wife lost her oldest Romersberger first cousin last week.  Because of the ten person limit on funerals, and no visitations, we had to listen online to the service.  It was a nice service, but I wish we could have been there in person.

Since our old minivan has 230,000 miles on it, we bought another one  a few weeks ago.  It's five years old, but in good condition and low miles, so it fits our transportation needs.  We will keep the old one as a backup vehicle.  Now we are an empty nester, two minivan family!
The farmyard is muddy and the fields are wet.  So far, spring is starting out a lot like last year.  Too much rain and not enough sun to allow us to get much preparations done.  Mostly, we are working on machinery.

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
Psalm 61:3