A day off...

How do you know?

Being retired doesn't mean you spend days doing nothing... rather, it means you don't have to let your occupation get in the way of getting things done.

I got out on my bicycle this morning; it was already warm and humid (82º and windy at 9:30am).  Easter morning.  No Easter baskets.  Joan asked if I was naughty - I had to explain to her that the Easter Bunny doesn't make naughty and nice lists, like Santa Claus.

I did get some sweet treats, though: Dan was gloating a bit on Facebook about the peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies he made.  And not sharing.  Joan made a batch for us...

Back to the bicycle ride: it was about 50/50 with people wearing masks.  That is a significant increase.  There was some discussion on one of our local groups on Facebook regarding this... apparently, some people think wearing a mask is somehow infringing on their personal freedoms.  They use the argument that our village is a "private" community because we aren't "government supported"... those same people have to wear masks when they leave our island.  It is a county emergency order.

My response to that (yesterday)...

"I guess I don't see the downside of being cautious. There are people from THE PUBLIC in our village all the time: construction workers, maintenance people, delivery people... and residents leave our village to shop... and then come back in. You may have noticed a Constable vehicle that drives through our village every now and then; yeah, we are a part of Cameron County. If you have a medical emergency, will you be happy to see a city or county EMT rolling in? There is a difference between IN your house and out on the street (in public). I wear a mask because I am respectful and concerned for my neighbors. It does not impinge on my freedom in any way. This has nothing to do with how you conduct yourself in your home.  If you go into HEB, you WILL have to wear a mask. HEB is privately owned - the public does not own that store. We can argue the point until everyone is exasperated... or we can show some respect for our neighbors. These are tough times - better that we work together for the mutual good and health of all of us."

As of now, there hasn't been any blowback from posting that.  But, this is Texas, and there is a strong leaning towards "personal freedoms" in this state.  A couple posts before mine were: "Are they going to tell us what to do in our own homes?  Tell us that we cannot share a bed with our spouse?"

That said, these are some difficult times.  Just don't put other people at risk.

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I got a note from Mark today: he and I talked on the phone yesterday, and he was telling me about a song he is working on.  After we talked, he put chords and a melody to the words, and sent that to me.  He described it as "coming out as a protest song."  Yeah, but there is a lot to protest about these days.  He sent me the first tracks of the song... it is good.  I did a couple tracks and sent them back to him.

As we are all mostly staying at home these days, we find creative outlets.  I worked on some song videos the last couple days, Joan worked on a quilt project (and baked us cookies), Dan has been baking and gloating on-line about it, Steph has been working on getting school meals to people in that neighborhood... and Rufus has been trying to relax...

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A couple Facetime visits today: first with Steph, then with Mark.  I have come to really appreciate that: it makes a difference being able to see the facial expressions and body language while visiting.