I’ve been looking for the good stories to use on “Feel Good Friday” because Lord knows there are far too many of the tragic ones. One such story was about a little four-year-old Staten Island boy. Little CJ Tardy’s mom wanted to keep his time structured like his pre-school class days so she started out with the Pledge of Allegiance. Now he is doing a daily Zoom call with up to fifty participants from family and friends to first responders.

There are more American Flags on display. People are planting “victory” gardens. I’m seeing more people coming together and helping food banks and checking in on the elderly. There’s nothing like a national crisis to create unity…or at least a semblance thereof. 

We received a postcard in the mail a couple of weeks ago to request a mail in ballot for this year’s Primary Election. It came on the heels of the 2020 Census. Both are important. I know there are some who blow off both of them, but they are terribly important. The Census isn’t Uncle Sam gettin’ up in your bidness. It’s how the Government determines where the funding for individual programs is distributed…by population.

I took care of the Census online the end of March. Yesterday, I sat down with my ballot for the primary. I read down the list and was dismayed by how many names I didn’t even recognize, let alone know anything about. (One of the side effects of watching very little television.) I spent the next couple of hours with my smart phone in hand searching the names of each candidate and reading their bios and platforms so I could make an informed choice. 

This is the first time in my life that I have felt such urgency in voting. I have to admit, there were times in the past that I voted a straight ticket or I voted in the women candidates on principle. This years is different. There’s a lot riding on this. The people holding offices in this country will be facing circumstances the likes of which no one has seen since the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. They need to be prepared to govern in ways we haven’t even thought of yet. I felt the heavy mantle of responsibility in a way I’ve never felt before.

I was happy with my selections. As I was folding the ballot and placing it in the two separate envelopes, Mr. FixIt and I were watching Governor Jim Justice give the daily Covid briefing. He ran and was elected as a Democrat then changed his party to Republican a couple of years ago. He sounds like he just came down out of a holler with his accent and folky colloquialisms. And his ill fitting suits sag on his massive frame. His sallow skin and heavy lidded eyes make him look unwell. But I’ll tell you what…that man is rockin’ the management of this Covid Pandemic. And he loves the West Virginia people. 

After I voted, I grabbed my sneakers and hopped on the riding mower. I mowed the whole thing in less than three hours. When I parked the tractor in the building, I noticed a rod hanging down. I got down under the back to see what was wrong. Mr. FixIt found a metal bracket out in the field the last time we mowed and I suspected this rod had something to do with that. The internet can be a marvelous tool. Within 10 minutes, Mr. FixIt and I had the whole thing figured out and ordered a new part for the tractor.

There’s nothing prettier than an expanse of freshly mown field. I’ve talked with Mr. FixIt about cutting down on the mowing…maybe letting part of it grow back into pastureland. I was feeling guilty that I was depriving critters from habitat, and…while that may be true of the exact area of the field…we are quite literally surrounded by forest on all four sides. There are lots of meadows and pastures and fields and gardens. This expanse of green makes us both happy and as long as we can physically do it, we probably will.

When I was a doctor’s wife, and even when I was the princess I was with Mr. Virgo, we didn’t have the time nor the inclination to fix things. That’s what garages are for. Oh, early on I was quite the fixit guru, but as time went on, I let more and more of those handyman projects go to the professionals. I wish I would have been more frugal all those years and done more of the work myself. And it would have been left to me. Hubby #2 was too busy and, seriously, Mr. Virgo didn’t have a handy bone in his body. He was cute, though. 

I had a real sense of accomplishment when I was finished for the day. I relaxed in a bubble bath and let that good feeling of warm skin, sore muscles, and happy countenance wash over me in the reverie. I do love a good hard day’s work.

❤️

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,”

Colossians 3:23 ESV

#Work, #Mowing, #FarmLife, #Coronavirus