And then along came Covid..

About mid-March, as we all know all too well, Covid 19 arrived as a pandemic turning our world a little upside down.  I went from working 3 days at home and 2 days in the office to working full time from home.  We had to do something new called "social distance" which meant not being less than 6 feet from another human. We started wearing home-made face masks and were to "shelter in place".  All the non-essential businesses were closed.  Groceries were available but some things were in short supply if you could get them at all.  Oddly, toilet paper became a hot commodity. 

Like so many others, I broke out the sewing machine and started making masks.  My first attempt, above, wasn't too attractive.  I've gotten better!

Our governor cracked down on closing up everything pretty fast but it didn't stave off the virus.  Detroit was hit hard. Thousands were diagnosed and thousands died.  On March 19, 2020 there were 171 diagnosed cases in Michigan.  By April 12, less than a full month later, there were 24,028 cases.  Another month later and it was 49,582 and 4,787 had died.

While I was still working, I no longer had commute time 2 days a week and there wasn't much to do with all the stores and entertainment closed...but I could still hike. So I did. It was a nice way to usher in spring in the midst of the raging virus.

I worked on finding new hiking trails and undiscovered paths since everyone and their brothers were out hiking/walking/biking as well.  Some of the bike paths at Kensington turned into something akin to rush hour traffic congestion!

But I was sneaky.  I know about horse trails...and many don't think hikers are allowed on them but I knew this not to be true.  And they are some of the best trails around!

I'd occasionally see a horse and revel in the smell and chat up the riders as I hiked.  But more often than not, I was alone on the trails absorbing the fresh spring air.

And when it was too cold or too rainy to hike, I organized.  My pantry has never looked so good!  Every closet in the house got a good cleaning and make-over!