Annie is back in Virginia

Today I met Annie by the bicycle racks near her dorm.  She asked me if I would store her bicycle while she returns to Virginia.  It didn't quite fit in the back of my car, but enough that the brief drive to my house was no problem.  This evening I called her and found that she had just landed.  I'm happy that she and her fiance Tim were able to make the trip before further difficulties in travel disrupted their plans.  I let the chickens out and refilled their feed bottle and then closed up their coop in the evening.  Other than those activities I have mostly napped and haunted the internet.  I watched the daily briefing from the White House and once again President Trump highlighted all the amazing progress that has been made in providing tests, sanitizers for masks, additional commitments of various businesses to helping the effort against the pandemic.  As usual the press mostly asked petty and persistent questions.  Trump defended his hopeful message while telling the very personal tale of the death of people in a hospital near his neighborhood.  I wonder if he was inspired by the video taken by a man who wept as he filmed bodies being loaded into a truck near a Brooklyn hospital.  I ate the remaining waffle brownie and some buttered popcorn. 

Fasting, Wedding and Brownie Waffles

I fasted until after 1 PM today after saying a prayer at 10 AM in concert with other members of the Church around the world.  Not long afterward I was scheduled to join the broadcast wedding of a nephew.  I enjoyed the sacrament with my son then I broke my fast with some waffle brownies I invented for the sake of switching up my diet.  Although I have a freezer full of beef steaks, they can become boring.  I made the brownies with primarily cream cheese, eggs and butter with enough chocolate and flour added to make them stiff.  I added baking powder and vanilla and sweetened the mixture with stevia.  I have a waffle iron that makes waffle bowls.  I decided to use it instead of the oven and they turned out well.  I completed my meal with some salmon.  My stomach seems to appreciate the food I ate.  I have been wary of carbohydrates but I find that a small amount of flour seems okay.  In the evening I was able to use the video conference software to visit with Lucinda's children. 

Beginning Fast

I am an experienced faster.  I have fasted since my youth on the first Sunday of each month except at General Conference time in which case I fast on the Sunday designated.  Tomorrow is the last Sunday of the month of March, 2020.  We have been asked to fast for those affected by Covid-19 and for the various countries caught the the plague.  At 10:30 AM we have been asked to pray as a focus of the fast.  I began the fast at about 12 noon but didn't finish eating and drinking until after 1 PM.  I ate leftovers from yesterday, some chunks of steak and some cheesecake with pineapple, strawberry dices and extra whipping cream.  It did not settle well and has made me feel out of sorts for most of the day.  I am anything but hungry.  I watched President Trump attend the embarkation of the hospital ship Comfort from the dock at Norfolk Naval base.  It was a very touching scene.  He was criticized by the press for flying a few hundred miles to speak.  Yet it brought attention to the effort made to make the ship ready for action in four hours instead of the month that had originally been scheduled.  We are a wicked nation.  Abortion is the chief sin of which we have borne the stain, but there are other clear abominations that have festered and grown.  I frankly think the burden of abortion and these other sins are worse than the virus.  This may well be a turning point for our country.  Our economy has been based on a flimsy structure with entertainment and diversion as its chief aim and product.  Only 'essential' industries are allowed in most area and cities and that means that only medicine and primary food sources remain open, along with the transport of food and medical supplies by truck, train and plane.  Those few people who did not shop for goods 'online' are being brought to do so by the closing of the many stores that carry non-essentials.  Today I took some masks and tissues to my granddaughter, Annie, who is heading back to Virginia by air with her fiance.  I hope that their decision doesn't put them in danger of infection.  I don't know if they will take advantage of the items I gave her, but I can only provide and advise, I cannot insist.  It has been  about 17 days since I began quarantine.  My granddaughters, Jacqueline, Diana and Leila decided to avoid my house for my sake. 

Travel Advise

Annie and Tim are flying back to Virginia on Monday.  I am planning to provide them with masks, not so much to keep the virus off their face as to keep them from touching their mouth and nose.  Both of them have glasses they can wear to protect their eyes.  I have been somewhat dilatory today.  I baked a cheese cake and broiled a steak but I still have half left of both which I assume I will eat tomorrow.  The fifty pounds of popcorn I bought for Richard is being well utilized.  It makes the house smell nice.  The grandchildren won't be coming up tomorrow.  They are concerned for my safety.  I will miss seeing their sweet bright faces.

Snow and Online Birthday Gathering

It snowed again overnight.  I made some cheesy bisquits with quite a bit of butter.  I ate salmon and some yogurt with crushed pineapple added, then I had a handful of buttered popcorn.  In the afternoon I joined an online birthday celebration for my neighbor Becky Williams.  I responded to an e-mail from Diana Graham and watched the daily update of the White House Covid-19 update. In evening I put a load of dark wash through the washer and finished up a page about acrylic paint for my online art lessons.

Sleeping Late

March 25, 2020.  I woke up when my grandchildren arrived for their bi-weekly tasks.  There are two reasons I continue their duties.  For one thing, I regard my employment of them as a way of helping support their family, particularly in this time of uncertainty.  The second reason is that although I can't get near them or hug them, even with social distancing in place I enjoy their presence.  About the only other things I've done today is let the chickens in and out of their coop and add some beef to my beef stroganoff from yesterday and share it with Richard.  Today I added a can of green beans but so far it doesn't seem to have done any damage to my digestion.

Testing the Battery

I went to the bank today.  I carried a bottle of hand sanitizer in my car and used it everytime I touched the canister that carries money and messages between the inside of the bank and my car.  The teller was wearing plastic gloves.  Fortunately they dispersed the money in an envelope.  I took the car out today to make sure the battery still held a charge.  It is a little over a year old and has been 'gently used' so there was no problem.  My fifty pound sack of popcorn from Amazon was delivered today and Richard stored it in assorted canisters.  I ordered some supplies from Walmart that will be delivered and bagged up the steaks I cut and froze last week.  After more than 40 hours of fasting my blood glucose was under 70 and my ketone level over 3.  I decided to make beef stroganoff with the steak I broiled.  I left a lot of it for tomorrow but so far I don't have the gastric distress that plagued me for several days. I enjoyed watching President Trump's townhall from the Rose Garden, particularly because the questions asked were from ordinary citizens who sincerely wanted an answer instead of coming from arrogant journalists who spend their time at press conferences trying to trap the president.  I also enjoyed watching his daily update.  The problem with America is not Trump's fault.  He is only trying to ride a bucking horse that has a spike under the saddle.  Our people seem to have forgotten normal skills and behaviors that protected people in the past from many of the ordeals of nature and economics.  Prudence is rare.  Most people live from paycheck to paycheck.  A lot of our economy rests on 'Fried Froth', entertainment and recreation of various kinds that bring people together in crowds.  These businesses have hit a wall with social isolation and quarantine.