Red Tulips. The Gardens Open tomorrow! 4/30/2020

May first is tomorrow and the slow opening of Utah is

going to start.  I guess because I have worked through this

pandemic I have not felt like things were as closed down as other

people.  I have missed going places like gardens, eating out,

going to the movie theater.

I'm not sure how the reopening will work because I don't think

that all people are going to want to follow the rules.

Working in a grocery store I see how people don't 

follow the suggested rules. 

Most customers do not walk the designated way, most customers

don't wear face masks.  So this opening should be interesting.

14 people have tested positive of the virus where my husband works.

He was very concerned last week while others were not, now I think

he has gotten used to it and those who were not concerned last week are on edge.

I think that is the big thing right now, everyone is on edge,

a little more stressed than normal. Maybe a lot more stressed than normal. 

I have just decided to trust in God.  Each morning I wake up that I am 

not sick from this virus I say thank you.  I focus on being positive and I focus

on keeping myself healthy.  I can only really control myself and how I react to

this, and I choose to be calm and positive.

As I have been going through my photos I have been thinking about my 

Photography.  What is the goal of my going out and taking photos. 

I realized that my goal is to capture photos that make good cards.

I want to  have the flower or subject of the photo positioned so 

that when print it out it looks nice as a card.

I think the above photo will make a really nice card.

I like this photo because you get to see the different petal

textures.   I'm not sure this would be the best printed out.  There is a 

scientist hidden inside of me.  I often think I missed my calling in life.

I love studying nature.   I love learning about the world around me.

Some of the photos I take are so that I can

have a record of the names of each tulip at the tulip festival.

I like how with some of the photos I have the flowers in the front and the

Rapunzel tower in the back.  I want to get a photo of 

Mr. James and I kissing in the Rapunzel tower.

I like how the flower bends over the name.

Spryng, spring it is still spring.  There is still so 

much beauty in this world.

I have been enjoying my two days off from work.

I am getting the house nicely cleaned.

Once I am done with this blog post I am

going down to print out cards.

I found a website that has a way for you 

to send letters to elderly people who are 

shut in due to the virus. 

I'm excited to make up some nice cards and

send them out to people.

I call them my sunshine cards.

Plus I have my people I write to monthly that

I need to get cards to.

I have actually been working in my own garden

the past two days.  There is some hope that

I might have a few flowers this year.

I've never been able to figure out the right amount of 

water to do for gardens out here in Utah.

And wandering around gardens that other people take care

of has become so much easier to do.

I also have to get myself organized for the month of may.

I have been doing really well with my monthly goals.

Each month I change them up a little.   I am almost to walking

3 miles a day.  That is my goal for the end of may.

One goal I need to work on is eating healthier.

The virus has caused me to head right for my favorite comfort food.

That would Swiss rolls, and Pepsi. 

I need to get back to eat more fruits and veggies.

I'm really pleased with the fact that despite this

strange world that we have been living in 

I have been able to find normal in my life.

I think perhaps it is because I went through a really hard time

five years ago, and in that struggle I had

to learn to deal with huge emotional strain.

I learned coping skills that I have now

been able to use in a new stressful situation.

I really like this tulip with the jagged edges.

I like the pattern on the leaves of this tulip.

This year when I finally get out for photography again,

I am going to do some photos from all different angles.

I think this may make a good photo card.

Did you think there could be so many red

tulips.

With so many different shapes and sizes.

I like these with the red and the white.

I'm not as big on landscape photography as I am with close up

photography.  Red flowers are hard to photograph,

sometimes they come out looking weird to me.

Well I have made it through 7 weeks of the coronavirus.

I really think I may have already come in contact with

someone who had it.  I really think my boss had it

before the world got shut down.  So perhaps I was a patient "Z"

someone who had it and showed no symptoms. 

If you would like a photo card leave a message with your address 

and I will send you one.

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and please wear the mask, it won't hurt you

and could keep someone from getting really ill.

G.G.

Synchronized Pelican Swimming... Or Synchronized Pelican feeding.... Enjoy 4/29/2020

                                        

I'm to my weekend!  Yeah!

Yesterday I got home with my groceries that will ensure I don't

have to go to the store until I work again, and once unloaded my

husband and I got in the car and drove to our favorite spot by Utah Lake.

We took a walk and found the Pelicans.

There is something that is just so amazing about these birds.

We enjoyed just standing on the edge of the lake

watching them swim about.

What I find interesting is that they will all have their 

heads up and then all of them put their

heads underwater at the same time.

I'm not sure if it helps them to catch the fish.

It's certainly fun to watch.

I'm so glad to have two days off,

I do feel like I should be wiping stuff down every hour

in my house, and want to put some directional arrows 

on the floor to direct the flow of traffic in my house.

\

I'm about to work on getting some house cleaning check lists

made so I know I've cleaned everything every hour,

but I'm sure this is a good thing to do. 

I'm actually looking forward to being in my garden.

I'm trying to decide if I should buy a cat stroller so I can

take my cat outside while I work.

G.G. 

Orange Tulips and Yellow and Orange Tulips, I don't know why, but I just liked looking at them... Enjoy. 4/25/2020

I'm still going through my flower photos, believe it or not

all of the photos in these blogs have come from only one 

year of photography.   So I have a long project ahead of me.

I am not sure how you pronounce the name of this flower, but

to me it reminds me of the word "Stress".  Stress comes in and out 

of my life in strange ways since the Covid-19 pandemic started. 

Some days I do really well and other days I feel I am about to crumble.

Thankfully this week when my husband was the one who was 

really stressed, I was in a more calm moment in my life.  

So I was able to help him.  We are both still working, his work now

continues to have people calling in due to symptoms of Covid-19.

  It is scary, and then

at some point you get used to it. 

There is always the worry that you or someone you know 

will get this and you wonder will you be the one that doesn't survive?

The old normal of a few months ago is so long gone.

The new normal, while very strange is something I am

finding I can adapt to.  I distance myself from others, I 

wear a face mask and gloves all day long.

I have found masks that fit well and I don't feel like I am suffocating all the time.

I change my gloves often, and when I take them off my hands are kind of sweaty.

I will keep them off for a bit and as soon as a customer with mail comes

I grab new gloves and begin the hours of gloved hands again. 

Being home is the most blissful place in my life.  No mask, No gloves.

I am working up to walking 3 miles on my treadmill. 

 I listen to gospel themed music while I walk on my tread mill.

At home I try to surround myself with anything to do with my Savior.

I am reading two different books about the Psalms. 

I listen to a conference talk every day, I read the come follow me lesson daily and

also listen to the Book of Mormon.  

I am thankful for technology, that I can play something on my phone

while walking.  I find that I can get to a point where I am in a flow moment, where 

my body is moving, my mind is quiet and the words are flowing into me in

a calming way.   All the world is gone its motion and words of peace.

There are days when I come home and I have no energy left, and

I binge watch old T.V. shows with my daughter.  Right now we are 

watching "The Mentalist."  I just love the Sherlock Holmes  way that 

Mr. Jane uses to figure out the crimes.  I love those quirky brilliant minds. 

They are pretty bloody shows, so after I have to read a light romance novel

so that I can sleep.

Finding balance in this new world of ever changing rules

is strange.  It's like playing a board game where you thought you knew the

rules but the other players have decided it would be more fun to change  them

at each turn.  Each day there is a new rule, if you miss a day of work you come

back and there lots are new rules.

You have to be willing to flow with the rule changes if you 

want to avoid stress.  You have to just say I will go with this new rule, I will

be at peace with it.  Those who have a hard time with change are struggling the most in my 

opinion.  I  have decided I will be calm and embrace each change with a 

positive attitude. 

At work, I take peoples temperatures all day long, I wipe down the counters,

pin pads, door handles, any touch point every hour,

I answer phone calls all day.  Sometimes I am the person who 

listens to the frustrated customer for a half hour and assures them that we are

trying our best, and all will be well.  I listen to co-workers and give compliments.

I also have to uplift my stressed out college student trying to navigate learning on line and

not having the ability to get quick answers from professors. 

" Just let me vent Mom, I just need to get this stress out of me."

I hear this a lot.  Just one more week and the schools will be done for summer.

I listen to the fears of my husband as he comes home and another coworker has

called in sick. I let it slip in my ears and then back out.

I smile and say this will pass.  I trust that Heavenly Father is watching over us.

And it will pass.  We are being changed by this. We are 

seeing ourselves in new lights, we are seeing how we cope,

how we handle hard situations, who we turn to and what we

turn away from.

I thought for sure by this date things would be done,

I thought things would be more normal by now.

I'm not sure when this will be done,

and I don't know what the new normal will be.

I don't think anyone has that answer.

I have decided to flow with it. 

To not try to regain the old normal, but 

to allow myself to be taken to the new normal.

With each day I look to see what am I learning,

how am I changing.  I always have believed

your trail is taken away faster if you learn the lesson.

What is the lesson? 

What are we learning?

My dear friends this blog is my journal, it's 

where I can leave my thoughts of all that is happening right now.

I hope you are safe, I hope you are being taken care of.

I pray daily that the end comes soon.

It's not even that I want to get out and walk among flowers as I want

the suffering of other to end.

I don't want huge suffering to come.

May we all survive this time and be better because of it.

Within all this I can tell you there is still joy, there is still laughter.

At work we do have moments where we are smiling, were we have laughter about

something.  At home we are enjoying each others company.

All week long this week I made these really nice meals and 

had them ready before my husband left for work and ended up 

most times eating them by myself. 

Yesterday I got home and told everyone that it was left over night,

eat what you want when you want.  I got my food ready, and my daughter and

husband decided to get their dinner ready, and we are all sitting and eating

and my son comes out and asks why we didn't invite him to dinner.

I began to laugh and said, I told everyone that it was left over night, eat when you want.

I have made you all meals all week long and no one has eaten, and 

now you want to all eat together.  We got a laugh out of it.

Then we sat and talked, shared stories, laughed and felt blessed.

I think our young adult children are learning more about my husband and I 

and things we did when we were young than they had in years past.

It is lovely that our little family is having time stuck together.

These little moments are precious.  Enjoy the rest of the photos.

How are you keeping sane in this strange world that

we have found ourselves in? 

What things are you doing to keep calm?

Do you work at home?

Are you still going out and working?

Did you think this would be over by now?

G.G.