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Post by dayhiker on Mar 21, 2020 18:45:59 GMT -8
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Mar 21, 2020 19:11:59 GMT -8
As it’s now officially northern hemisphere spring? (Chaco Canyon published a great Spring Equinox shot of the rising sun glaring through two aligned windows at Casa Rinconada.) /?d=n I know some building features are definitely deliberately aligned to astronomical phenomena, but this could as easily be like “ManhattanHenge”, just chance. , I don’t know if this is. ] Spring cleaning! Downsizing my exceptional electronics shipping cartons collection is waiting. My state restricts electronics disposal so that’s a separate issue for my dead vcrs etc. but the factory packaging I put away in case I needed a warranty repair and then forgot about can go. And my book collection can definitely benefit from a culling. Thiugh I’ll just be bagging the discards until my library is back open.
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 12,844
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Post by BigLoad on Mar 21, 2020 19:19:41 GMT -8
I'm glad to see that Ranger Cornucopia is still working. I think he's well past normal retirement age.
Starting yesterday, I'll be working from home, and I'm generally booked solid with meetings. If more time opens up, I'll be playing the piano more, listening to music, reading, dayhiking in the local woods, doing home repairs, and working on art projects.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Mar 21, 2020 19:25:51 GMT -8
My first Chaco visit was last fall. Remarkable place due a lot more time in the future. Made a bit more difficult as a rockfall hazard has caused a close off of the walk to side spur camp sites.
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Post by autumnmist on Mar 22, 2020 10:04:33 GMT -8
I'm actually looking forward to staying home and getting a lot accomplished. Besides the boring cleaning chores, there are books and magazines to read (my favorite in-house activity), quilts and other needlework projects to finish, texts to review (I've forgotten most of the math I learned and need to start over from the beginning, kind of like private schooling). I'm removing all the carpeting and eventually will refinish the hardwood floors. I might very easily find reasons to put this off though; it's a dusty project and hard on the back. I'm converting the dining room into a pantry and adding storage, clearing the basement of "stuff" (a project on which I've procrastinated for some time) and creating a pantry there as well. This is one project I'll probably manage to push into the procrastination category and put off as long as I can. I do have an old barrel though that I want to halve and convert to a planter. There used to be some extra wood, plus a garbage can sized container full of wood scraps I collected from a neighbor's discard pile when he built a garage. Nice chunks and blocks; I might even try to do some woodcarving or woodburning, using the tools and equipment I bought probably 3 decades ago. The garden begs me to heed its call: seeds to plant, a group of new beds, wattle fences to create and use as experiments for designs and supports, rock and brick collections to rearrange and use to create beds, and of course, lots and lots of volunteer trees which are going to become decorative fences. And there are always walks to take in the neighborhood and hopefully animals to greet, maintaining appropriate distance from their owners though. If we're free to drive, I'll head out to my favorite lake to walk, and watch the ducks, geese and swans. There are other close by areas suitable for walking w/o any other human contact. And woods to explore, when the wildflowers are in season. My father's house still needs attention, so I can work there, w/o concern for the virus, and hopefully move closer toward disposition. The one thing I wish I could do is sort items for donation, but the Salvation Army in this area is temporarily not accepting donations. I haven't checked with other charities but anticipate that their position would be the same. www.crainsdetroit.com/nonprofit/local-salvation-army-thrift-stores-temporarily-close-putting-over-1000-out-work Other than being restricted on driving, I'm actually looking forward to having some time when I can indulge in enjoyable past times.
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Post by k9education on Mar 22, 2020 10:17:06 GMT -8
(Edited by Mods. ) We have been struggling to get veterinary care for our dogs as the veterinary hospitals lock down and prohibit owners from actually conversing with the vet to tell them what's wrong or accompanying their pet for procedures in order to keep their stress levels down. We are down to our last case of water and on the rare occasion when we have found some for sale, we have been limited to 1 case, which isn't even enough for 24 hours. Dog food is getting hard to obtain also and there is talk of the pet supply stores closing entirely soon. We have enough for a month, but this nightmare is going to drag out for much, much longer than that. My wife and I are both looking at our employers potentially closing, which means 80% of our income is gone. The other 20% of our income comes from a used fitness equipment business I own and while there was a huge surge in business after the gym closures, the end result is that my inventory is almost wiped out and there's no stock coming in due to the current environment.
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whistlepunk
Trail Wise!
I was an award winning honor student once. I have no idea what happened...
Posts: 1,446
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Post by whistlepunk on Mar 22, 2020 10:35:04 GMT -8
Taking some free on-line courses from Coursera and EDX. Don't need nor want any official credit. Just taking them for fun and interest. There is something different about taking a course on the plays of Shakespeare from a UK university.
Getting caught up on some reading.
Upped my daily workouts.
Go over my gear getting ready for summer. Already cleaned out a storage shed and took a load of junk to the dump.
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Post by autumnmist on Mar 22, 2020 10:50:16 GMT -8
I wish I had some suggestions for vet care for those beautiful dogs you have; I don't have pets now b/c I am actually concerned that at my age, they would outlive me, and I wouldn't want to leave them stranded.
My family has also had pets over the years, and loved them. All of the pets with exceptions of one litter of cats were abandoned, and generally rescued by my sister. I can understand your concern.
Are the dogs ill, or is this routine care that you're seeking? Are you close to any larger cities that might have emergency care? We did find a night emergency service once when my sister's Chow was ill, and was subsequently diagnosed with cancer. That was a very unsettling and emotional experience for us.
I don't know if this would help, but my niece took her boys to libraries to read to therapy dogs. Apparently the dogs benefit from the relaxation, and interaction with children. It seems strange to suggest that reading to yours while petting them might help reduce their stress levels, but it might be worth a try.
From your description, your area seems to be quite rural, and that may be part of the difference. I live in SE Michigan, an overdeveloped area, with multiple cities, water, sewer and trash pickup all provided by cities or contractors. I don't know the experience of buying water by the case; that would be challenging, and unsettling for someone like me who's grown up either with well water (my father actually drilled the well himself), or with city water.
I have seen bottled water sold in office supply stores, if there are any near you that are still open. Are there any other options you have for getting water?
Can you collect rain water and filter it? Gardeners do this to water their gardens, so I don't know what options might be available to filter rain water for drinking. Can you order it online? Same questions for dog food.
If I weren't retired, I would probably be frantic w/o income coming in. I've been unemployed frequently when I worked and for a few years had to take temporary jobs. It wasn't the best experience, but it brought in money.
My father was a tool and die maker and was frequently laid off during model changeover. Perhaps I became used to it, but that's nothing compared to the crisis now. Dad was raised on a farm, and we all gardened throughout our life, so that helped with food costs. And my mother, sister and I sewed, and made some and eventually all of our own clothes. We lived in areas with water provided by the municipalities, which makes a huge difference between our and your circumstances.
(Edited by Mods. No apologies were in order. This situation may have several of us on edge. Try to relax folks. )
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davesenesac
Trail Wise!
Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
Posts: 1,708
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Post by davesenesac on Mar 22, 2020 11:28:14 GMT -8
<sarcasm>
Open the refrigerator every half hour, working through that case of beer.
Open the refrigerator at every commercial break while watching tv, reducing the contents you had filled up with a few days ago while panic buying.
Ditto into all your dried food kitchen cabinets.
Oops time to visit the bathroom again where before leaving you look in the mirror smiling.
Playing that favorite video game for half an hour, then opening the fridge again seeing if there is something else hiding in the back. Oh yes a cold piece fried chicken in a Ziplock bag! Dang whats that blue-green stuff?
Turning on your laptop and running through latest boring forum threads including the two about the coronavirus and then posting a sarcastic one-liner. Then looking at a news site and from news titles swearing at (insert political figure) before selecting an article about (insert celebrity name).
Picking up a book you bought last year but never read beyond the first chapter and after re-reading the first page fall asleep for an hour only to wake up more groggy and unmotivated.
Scan through the cable tv channels and then proclaiming the $99 telecom bill was a waste...yawn.
Ok, now am outside and walking around the block. Nice out here, but after a half mile, the sedentary lifestyle fitness kicks in and looks forward to reaching the front door, where one opens the fridge door again, winces, and makes plans to visit the local supermarket and liquor store to hike there, a very necessary shelter in place activity with exercise.
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balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,393
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Post by balzaccom on Mar 22, 2020 11:50:17 GMT -8
Check out the thread called "Tales from the Tentcamperon."
These are difficult times. Be kind to each other--and to yourself.
We've organized video chats to connect with our kids, who live in different parts of the world, and with friends as well. We're reading and writing (two more books in process) and occasionally ordering take out from local restaurants to help them weather the situation.
Yesterday I walked to our local grocery to buy a few things we needed (fresh fruit, mainly) and brought it home by backpack. It was only a couple of miles, but it did feel good to wear that pack and hike in the sunshine...
Hoping everyone here is finding ways to cope...
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Post by catonsvillebill on Mar 22, 2020 14:17:07 GMT -8
nationalmall.org/bloomcamThat link will take you to a live cam of the DC Tidal Basin. It was set up to discourage people from going in person the the Tidal Basin to check out the blooms. Cherry blossoms are a huge deal in the DC area. When they are at peak bloom hundreds of thousands go to see them. I work for Comcast & we are considered essential employees. ( I work in the warehouse supplying the technicians with equipment to service our customers.We got a form letter in our inbox from the company on Friday. If the state shuts down this area and asks people to stay at home we show that letter 7 our company photo ID to a police officer that pulls us over & we can continue to work.
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echo
Trail Wise!
Posts: 3,328
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Post by echo on Mar 22, 2020 15:37:13 GMT -8
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zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,869
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Post by zeke on Mar 22, 2020 15:51:48 GMT -8
Several of the National Parks are posting videos of things to do / things to learn. Amateur Archeology, Climb the Tetons, that sort of thing.
As for myself, I have been riding my bike in the morning, then coming home and jumping in my pool to cool off. Afternoons are spent sitting in the shade sipping cold beverages and playing online bridge. In the evenings, I try to catch up on the day's news, and get some much needed laughter by reading.
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swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 528
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Post by swiftdream on Mar 22, 2020 18:27:56 GMT -8
Pumping iron twice a week and hiking steep rocky terrain three times a week. Hours of literature has always been a daily rite in my life and was so in my career as an aerial mapping photographer to and from sites while flying. We have cooked and baked all our own meals for at least 15 years now and did most of them previously. Music is a part of the background most of the time at home.
So not a lot has changed for us and we are never bored. You cultivate who you are over the years.
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Post by marmotstew on Mar 22, 2020 19:33:38 GMT -8
Make bloody Mary’s in the morning? Take a nap. Martinis in the evening?
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