Since there hasn’t been any skating for a few months now, I’ve been keeping busy with biking and trying to get my yard and garden in shape. My goal was to get things planted and round one of weeding done before the tiny blood-sucking fiends (a.k.a. mosquitos) arrive.

Almost made it! It rained hard yesterday and this morning while I was finishing one section, I was surrounded by a swarm. I probably should have gone inside, but I was soooo close to finishing.

Now the yard looks great, but I did get a few bites around the ears. The little vampiric creatures were probably going for my neck but missed. Now I know why I miss skating so much. No bugs and no danger of malaria, West Nile virus, or any of those things that we used to worry about before we realized there were much bigger worries in our world.

So what else have I been doing? Well, waiting and worrying, like everyone else. I’ve been working quite a bit–started teaching online in March, and some of the summer will be spent preparing for fall (just in case). Online yoga classes with my sisters-in-law. Baking (bread dough is a wonderful way to knead out anxiety) and cooking (jambalaya, risotto, and other comfort foods). Sometime this weekend I’m going to try my hand at making ricotta cheese.

Luckily we have a porch that’s big enough for skating friends. None of us can skate at the moment, but we can talk and laugh and be together even when we’re six feet apart.

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I am gradually moving into summer mode, so hopefully that means I’ll have some more time for this blog. In the meantime, here’s some photos of the past couple of months.

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