Taste Like Chicken Fri-YAY 3/6

Beautiful flowers, Linda! Is that part of taking care of you? That would make a pretty painting. You are so fortunate that you won't have to deal with a time change this weekend. As usual, I'm not looking forward to it. It's not as bad as it was in my working days, but I still don't like the shift in schedule for so little reason in this day and time.

Kathy, has your wind died down and your weather cooled a bit? I got a rather odd email message from the NC State Health Plan this afternoon about special health benefits related to Covid-19, and they only seem to be available to health plan members in Florida and Washington. I know there is a big mess in Washington, but I thought there were only a few cases in Florida. Any idea what's going on?

How did the impression go yesterday, Liz? I won't even ask about Covid-19 because I heard the number of cases in NY doubled yesterday. I heard from my friend who is still quarantined in China. I thin they have been on lockdown for a month and may have up to 8 more days, provided no new cases develop in that period of time.

Chele, in the last couple of days, we have been having white-bellied nuthatches at the feeder. They are quite cute, hopping around on the deck. Do you get those there? How are things with Zachary? Will you be visiting this coming weekend? I checked on the Covid-19 map a little while ago and it appears that Ohio still doesn't have any confirmed cases. I hope it stays that way.

Are things still windy there, Becky? How's the knee doing? Have you gotten some rain? It kind of looked that way on a weather map I saw. Are you getting prepped for next week? I saw in the NY Times that they canceled SXSW.

We had "snain" for a while this morning and temperatures have been dropping. Dale was planning to drive to Chattanooga tomorrow for a swim meet, but changed his mind when the weather map for the early morning was showing snow. They might get up to 5" in the mountains, but we shouldn't get that much. I'm tired and a bit sore after yesterday, but managed to do 3 loads of laundry and made a pot of savory oats. I'm fighting off the urge to snack this afternoon. Don't know where that came from. I have the hankering for something sweet, so it's fortunate that I don't keep cookies in the house.

Karen, thanks for the start. I just looked up the map from Johns Hopkins and I don't see any new cases in Florida. I can understand them making tests available in Washington, but I don't understand why they would be doing anything special for Florida. I'm really surprised they haven't had any cases in Orlando or the theme park area yet, but then again, we don't have testing kits. The weather has cooled a bit and it's not as windy, but it's sunny and still feels warm. The AC is still blasting away. Tomorrow will be our coolest day. I saw a very skinny heron of some sort yesterday, so it may have been a young one. There was just one lone snowy egret walking around the pond today. I've heard the hawk, but haven't seen him since I took the pictures. I've never seen the nuthatches here, but they are cute birds.

Linda, sorry for the early rising. You're lucky to not lose an hour this weekend. I hate it, even though it's not as bad when I don't have to get up for work. It's still a shift in my schedule. I agree with Karen that those flowers would make a nice painting.

Chele, that's funny on the fake Zachary news. I worked with a nice guy named Drew and my nephew is an Andrew. I was hoping they'd call him Drew over Andy, but they just stuck with Andrew. Sorry you didn't get to see the baby, but probably good to stay away with a cough and congestion. Hope you're feeling okay and it's just allergies. I wouldn't mind if it was a little cooler, but the warm temps may help keep cold and flu viruses down. I heard a lot of people coughing and sneezing this week.

Waving to Liz and Becky. Happy Friday!

Chele, yes I am sore but more tired than sore. But then most of the soreness may kick in tomorrow. We have pick up service at most of our grocery stores, but you're right that someone has to pack things up, so it may not be much help if they or someone in the store is infected. Talk about going from Z (Zachary) to A (Andrew)! Kathy mentioned Drew and I think I like that better than Andy. Don't blame you for not going to the hospital in person, even if you know it's probably just allergies.

It surprised me, too, Kathy, that FL was on the State Health Plan list because of so few cases there. As spring break comes and people start to throw caution to the wind, I think you're right about an increase in the number of cases. I read an article that the University of Washington has moved all their classes and exams to online, but they still have residence halls, cafeterias, libraries, and sporting events going on. So, how is that going to reduce exposure? If I was the parent of a student there, my child would be home!

Linda, I know the patient felt good to be able to get out of the house. I think there is a Raising Cane's in Knoxvile, but I've never been there. It's really close to UT's campus, so I guess it's a student hangout. How was the pizza? Between that and the chicken fingers, I wouldn't bother getting on the scale tomorrow because your sodium is going to be sky high. Enjoy the early night and I hope you will get a full night's sleep, unlike the last couple of nights.