January

 It has been cold and blustery here.  Snow, ice, below freezing temperatures.  January in the northeast.

I like to spend this time of year perusing seed catalogs.  The variety of flowers and vegetables is overwhelming, and I have long given up on trying too many new things.  Now I stick to a few standard veggies - tomatoes, green beans, a couple of peppers and zucchini and herbs - basil, rosemary, sage and some catnip for the fur babies.  I generally save my favorite tomato seeds from year to year but will buy a new seed variety now and then.  But I like to look at the catalogs.  It helps brighten up these dark cold days. Oh the possibilities. 

I also harvest flower seeds every year for replanting my 25 deck flower boxes.  I have just begun 4 flats of petunias.

There is something very calming and hopeful about playing in dirt in January and anticipating those first baby green shoots springing from the soil.  All the worries of today falls away when a seed sprouts and reminds me that hope springs eternal.

It’s January.  The days are cold but the light is already getting longer.  And I am thinking about  gardens.  

My grandma used to plant

tomato seedlings in tin cans

from tomato sauce & puree &

crushed tomatoes she got from

the Italian restaurant by her

house, but she always soaked

the labels off first. I don't want

them to be anxious about the

future, she said. It's not healthy.

 

• Brian Andreas

Covid Blues

My niece finally got to have her wedding (canceled from last year) on New Year’s Eve.  The rescheduling was bittersweet as her father died this past summer and everything felt more somber than a wedding should feel.  Nonetheless, my sister was adamant that there be a celebration and a stunningly beautiful reception was planned at a venue overlooking the skyline of Manhattan.  

But as the time approached, so did the growing numbers of Covid infections.  Two weeks before the wedding 10 people had already canceled, including my one daughter and my sister was getting more and more depressed.   One week before the wedding the bride’s niece came down with Covid, and then the groom’s elderly parents called to say they could not risk the flight from the Midwest.  There were a lot of tears.

I hermetically sealed myself off from people knowing that there was no way I couldn’t be there for my niece and sister.  I didn’t go grocery shopping, I canceled a blood donation and dentist appointment, and I forewent all my regular gyms visits.  I lived in my little bubble.

Sixty people eventually braved the NYC covid cesspool to attend and the event was beautiful.  There was much drinking and dancing and love.  And now, 2 weeks after the party, no one has reported getting Covid from what was a potential super spreader event. That seemed like a miracle.

Fast forward two days after the wedding when Martha scheduled a basketball practice only to find out later that half her team had the infection.  Two days later she was coughing and sniffling.  And although we tried to isolate ourselves from each other, we live in a small house, I too got it. 

Martha’s symptoms completely resolved in five days.  I am now on day 8 and still not feeling up to par.  It all started mild enough - coughing, runny nose, scratchy throat - but then I started having night sweats that literally drenched my t-shirt and bedding.   I am still congested and fatigued.  Taking the dog for a short walk leaves me breathless.  Yes, I am feeling sorry for myself.

It’s been almost 2 years of mask wearing, hand washing, and social distancing and I haven’t been sick once in all that time.  I suppose I had taken all that health for granted.  I have now become a whiny child complaining about having to blow my nose and being taken down by the cooties of a bunch of junior high gym rats.  

 

Geez, I have really become pathetic. 

Still, I am hopeful that I am coming to the end of it.  I want to have a negative test to feel I can safely be with my 4 week old grandson but will wait a few more days before taking one.  And I am supposed to be flying to Florida in 10 days to visit my other grandson.   Fingers crossed.