Thanks for hosting Pip.
Greetings from Catoosa County, Georgia.
Genealogy: Haven’t accomplished anything for the past two weeks. Need to get back into the “groove”.
Weather: There’s been ample rain and the highs have been in the 60’s and 70’s; buds and blossoms are exploding. Soon we’ll quit feeding the birds (and foraging squirrels)……but they’ll have plenty of springtime delectables. (It will be sad to not have them visit our decks.)
Travel: I’ve had a cruise with 3 of my cousins planned since September 2019. So March 5th, I hit the road......even though I had hoped the Cruise Line would give my money back. Originally, I planned to fly to Ft. Lauderdale, but ended up driving instead to minimize exposure to viruses.
I boarded the Celebrity Silhouette on Friday, March 6th, for a 9 day cruise from Fort Lauderdale. They were only restricting passengers from the “hot spots” like China, Japan, Italy, Iran…. and a few others. (As we all know, many more “hot spots” surfaced right after our ship disembarked.) To board the ship, they took our temperature and asked about recent health and travel.
The short version of this cruise story, we met many interesting people and ate a lot of great food…. and explored 3 beautiful islands with great weather. However, there was the constant “behind the scenes” drama of the corona virus.
About 5:00pm the first night, we headed south from Ft. Lauderdale, towards the Dutch ABC islands near Venezuela. I woke up at 3:30am because the thrusters were at full power and it was pretty loud since we were forward on the 6th floor. I wondered why in the dickens the Captain would be using thrusters in the middle of the Atlantic. Then I sat upright when a fully illuminated cruise ship completely filled our stateroom double doors to the balcony….it seemed like 50 feet away. We jumped out of bed (I was rooming with my cousin Joan). But instead of a near collision at sea, we were in a narrow channel passing a ship that was heading to sea. The passengers were only told there was a medical emergency requiring us to dock at the Miami Port. Later we heard rumors from the crew and other passengers that there was a murder or suicide or accident; and a second passenger was injured trying to save the “deceased” who had fallen onto a life raft from a long distance above.
Saturday morning we left the Port of Miami and headed south again. That night, we once again turned around in the Atlantic at about 10:00pm, and headed north to the Port of Miami. Another medical emergency, but later rumors had little additional information. Naturally, we were expecting to be quarantined at any moment. However, on Sunday morning we left the waters near Florida and were able to complete the cruise, only missing a stop at the Cayman Islands. I assure you, we were diligent about washing hands.
Home: I returned home a few days after President Trump declared an emergency. So far, Catoosa County doesn’t have any reported cases of Covid-19. We made sure we had ample food and supplies in late February, so there’s been little need to shop except for perishables. The stores seem to have most items stocked; except for toilet paper and facial tissues. (An unexpected shortage.) The schools are closed for 3 weeks. We haven’t been eating out but will soon use of the incredibly great nearby BBQ drive thrus.
We’re basically going through our normal spring time routine of starting landscaping/gardening projects (trips to the store not required) and walking on the nature trails. Our nature trails are sparsely populated. My greatest sacrifice is not stopping to pet peoples' dogs.
People in this county are complying with the restrictions, realizing how fortunate we are during this pandemic. It's truly a time for generosity with neighbors and those less fortunate.
Looking forward to catching up on all your weekend posts.
