This blossom is a real pistil.

Our Japanese magnolia, which originated in China but that is another story, is finally in full bloom. It blooms a bit later than the the more common, at least in our neighbourhood, pink magnolia.

I love the look of the blossoms but it is the pistil and stamens at the core of the flower that I find most interesting. I understand all magnolias hide treasures like this deep inside the flowers. They all don't look like this but they are all spectacular, especially in close-up photos.

Should puzzles be sanitized? It's a puzzle.

As self-isolation continues, folks in my neighbourhood are facing the challenge of finding interesting things to do. One answer has been jigsaw puzzles. To this end, folk have been passing puzzles from home to home, mom to daughter and friend to friend. But one question keeps me awake at night; can jigsaw puzzle cats carry the coronavirus?

We're told to keep six-feet or more apart. We're told to wear a mask to protect others from our possibly contaminated breathe. We're told to sanitize this and to sanitize that. Should puzzles be sanitized, and if so, how? It would take a long time to wipe a thousand individual puzzle pieces.

It is a puzzle.

Gardening while self-isolating

Our neighbours are putting this time of self-isolation to good use. They are all out working on their yards: fertilizing, weed-pulling, raking and planting.

I was surprised to learn that many of the garden centres are now open. Oh one must line up to get in and the number allowed into the store or the yard is carefully monitored. And there is little spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment purchasing. You must get, get what you came for and leave. If not the folks waiting to enter would wait a long, long time.

It is beginning to look that our urban lifestyle has been changed by this virus. Until there is a vaccine, we may not be living as we did just a few short months ago.

A silver lining

There have been some bad incidents it's true but for the most part the covid-19 pandemic seems to have brought out the best in people. Young couples with families assisting older seniors missing their grandchildren. Shoppers lining up politely and waiting patiently to enter the store and do their shopping. Strollers keeping their distance but still finding it possible to smile and shout a "hello" and "stay safe."

Signs thanking those who are on the frontline working are common. Seeing the good that the pandemic is drawing out of people seems to be a silver lining in this terrible, global disaster.

Our neighbours love Turtle Cookies as a thank you gift

Our neighbours worry about us. I rather wish they'd stop. I'm going stir crazy. We run low on milk and before I can make my escape, a neighbour stops by and asks if we need anything from the store. I haven't been free of the home since late last week. Aaauuuggghhh!

And paying them is difficult. We are not rich but we aren't poor either. Our grocery bill has headed so far south, it may not break into the three digit range. Ridiculous but so caring. It all leaves me smiling (through my clenched teeth).

My wife has worked out a way of saying thank you. She leaves a bag of Turtle Cookies on the porch. The neighbours leave us our groceries and take the Turtle Cookies in return. When done the baked cookies have a round gob of melted dark chocolate on the top of the shell and hidden inside is a square of chocolate and caramel broken off a Hershey's Caramilk bar.

Growing food closer to home

Our food supple chain is breaking down because of the ongoing pressure of covid-19. Before the coronavirus we bought strawberries from California or from Mexico and thought nothing of it. Now, I see those berries with a new and growing appreciation of the complex delivery system that put those berries on my table.

It is mid May and the berries shown have been available since late April in a specialty grocery store in my neighbourhood. What is unique about these berries? Note where these berries are grown: Canada. These are locally grown, greenhouse berries. Despite the snow on the ground, there are locally grown berries on the store shelves.

When I was a boy strawberries were available for about three, maybe four, weeks in late spring. And that was it. When those weeks were gone, strawberries were gone. Not so today. There are now varieties of strawberries called ever-bearing that produce three or more crops annually.  Locally grown field berries are now available from late spring until very early fall.

Thanks to hothouse berries, the growing season is expanding again. Soon, it should be possible to eat locally grown strawberries from April through to early November. And if folk can be persuaded to eat frozen berries at other times, imported fresh berries may become a fading memory or a very expensive, hard-to-find treat.

Mother's Day Meant Too Close for Comfort

It was Mother's Day but getting gifts for mom and grandma was tough. With the gardening centre closed, the two little girls had to settle for gift cards. A bit impersonal but it was the best they could do.

Kisses and hugs for grandma were out. Masks were in. Just getting close enough to hand grandma an envelope seemed wrong. Social distancing demands 2 full metres.

The visit  didn't last long -- if you can call what occurred a visit. How we recover from the tension and the fear of our Covid-19 response is an open question. The self-isolation may end, but Grandma will still worry about the young girls and the girls will still worry about grandma. When will hugs return?