2020 has been quite the trying year for our Small Blue Dot so far. During December of last year, there was word of a new virus spreading through China. At the end of February, the first death related to the virus was reported in the Pacific Northwest of our country. On March 23, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order to Stay Home Stay Safe. In our state, nonessential travel is prohibited. We are not to leave our homes except as necessary “for health and safety reasons, to get groceries and supplies, for certain outdoor activities, and to care for others”. Today that order was extended to April 30th.

The Other Half and I are fortunate our jobs allow us to continue working. We are both able to telecommute, so for the most part our income is uninterrupted. However, there are many who will be facing an unplanned and sudden loss of income. It’s a real test of our species’s ability to support one another.

Nature Still Progresses

As we walked through the Lot this early evening after work, the Other Half and I noticed the continuing progress of the plants. During a time the world’s societies seem frozen in place, nature is still on the move. It’s a humbling reminder the human species is not the center of the universe as we often believe ourselves to be.

In the south bed, these frilly daffodils are blooming. The tulips are on the way, the foliage already out of the ground.

We left the confines of the Lot to take a stroll down to the park to see what else was blooming. On the way, we found these peonies against a south-facing brick foundation. They are well ahead of the peonies on the Lot, which do not receive as much sun this time of year.

In the park we found more daffodils in bloom. This west-facing bed also had some peonies breaking ground.

Just opening are the forsythia shrubs. We clipped a few small branches to bring back and place in a vase at home.

And finally, the magnolia trees are also just starting to open.