Links from the bunny trail

Happy pandemic Friday everyone!  I hope you're all safe and sound and sheltering in place.

If, like me, you're battling constant anxiety about the world crisis, or are alone and bored out of your mind, or really, in any situation whatsoever....you need penguins.  Always penguins.

This additional video of a proud but misguided penguin couple gave me giggle fits.





Dear Vickie Jo passed on this site with links to all kinds of children's-book-related sites that are now free, thanks to coronavirus.  They are sites that libraries and schools use and are normally very expensive--think $2000 yearly fee.  And now free!

Jeddy introduced me to the science videos of Mark Rober, which you can explore if you want to do at-home science experiments on a massive scale.  During our last Sunday brunch, in which we were all enjoying a particularly fluffy batch of biscuits, made from the homemade mix I keep in a large tub, we discussed how the biscuits are always best and fluffiest when the mix is freshly mixed up, presumably because it's aerated.  That's when Jeddy tried to convince me to rig up a "fluidized air bed" with PVC pipes to keep my biscuit mix optimally aerated at all times.  When I had no idea what he was talking about, he showed me this handy tutorial.




On a more serious note, we are all wondering the same thing:  what is going to happen next?  This interactive map displays graphs of when Covid cases are projected to peak in each state, and what effect different interventions will have on flattening the curve.  Sobering and dire for sure--and drives home the message to stay at home!  And don't breathe on the delivery people.

I'm absolutely guilty of binging on CNN these days.  Usually my kids tease me about having backlogged newspapers stacked up that I haven't read yet, but in the days of Covid I'm devouring the scary, sad news.  This article is a gentle warning about feeding our minds, with a lovely "wisdom pyramid."

Add this to your list of homeschooling or bettering-yourself-when-you're-bored resources:  the national Internet Archive is allowing free access to electronically borrow.... I think any book in the Library of Congress, which is ANY book.  I haven't actually signed up, but if this is what I think it is, it's a mind-boggling resource.

On a similar note, Standard EBooks is a permanent (non-Covid-related) collection of beautifully produced classics in free, electronic form.  It seems that you can download the entire books to your device, for free, anytime, to keep forever, with no account needed.

While you're bettering your literacy, maybe consider sewing masks for the many organizations that are accepting them.

And lastly, consider signing up to pray.  The Potter's School is an online academy that we use for some of Jeddy's school, and they serve students across many timezones around the world.  So they set up a calendar where anyone can sign up for a 15-minute slot to pray for the world during this Covid crisis.  The idea is that people around the world will be praying together, round the clock.

Happy Friday, everyone.  Please stay safe.

Links from the bunny trail

Apparently people are trying to learn how to cook now that we're all stuck at home, so here you go:  a potato salad recipe that I found, and prepared, for a social event that got cancelled.  But, silver lining, it's a yummy potato salad recipe.  So, you're welcome.

You DON'T need a Twitter account to view the Shedd Aquarium Twitter feed, where they are posting all the adorable animal videos!  Wellington the penguin is still field tripping around the aquarium, meeting the other animals.  There is also sea otter, turtle, and various-weird-underwater-critters content, as well as this gem:

What the world needs now is penguins going down stairs.   

Here are more visual hints to help us know how to stand far enough away from others.  I'm surprised they don't mention parking lot lines--which is similar to the width of a car, but sometimes a more useful visual cue if you're say, in line in a parking lot to get into a giant Costco that can only let ten people in at a time. 

Happy Friday, everyone.  Stay safe, stay home, and FaceTime your Grandma.

Like a lamb

March usually comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.

This March has come in like a ninja and out like a freaking Luftwaffe air strike.

The girls in their first (of probably many) virtual piano lesson (teacher in the screen on the far right--laptop professionally propped up on a stepstool on the arm of the sofa).

Thoughts I never had until a coronavirus pandemic took over the world

Does buying pickles count as a life-sustaining activity?

I wonder where I can find more penguin videos.

Why did you rip up that napkin??  Do you realize that was the last napkin we had in the house??!!

I hope my parents aren't being foolish and inviting all their friends over for a party.

*goes to grocery store*  Don't cough.  Don't sniff!  Do not touch face.  Don't make eye contact.  Oh wait, eye contact is ok.  Give a wide berth.  Try to look friendly while avoiding humans.  Don't sniff.  Try to look normal and healthy.  Don't touch your face! ...Please God, I don't want to go grocery shopping ever again.

If karma is real, someday there will be a virus that makes it so you can't stay home and you have to be out with all the people all the time to stay safe.  And then all the introverts who are a little inappropriately happy that everyone has to stay home now will feel the extroverts' pain.

The score

It only took a worldwide pandemic to clear up my schedule enough to take down the Christmas lights on the second day of spring.  Score one for me.

Coronavirus:  307,627.


Mindy:  1.

At least it's not a total washout.

Links from the bunny trail

Love this dramatic rendition of Grieg's Concerto in A minor.  I have childhood memories of my sister playing it on our piano, but she definitely didn't dress the part or enter the room like this lady.  She really could've upped her game.





How beautiful are these tiny embroidered landscapes?

These baby penguin comics are too cute. 

Great news item about wine miraculously coming from the water tap!  Thanks to Like Mother, Like Daughter for this one.

Have you been following Wellington and the other penguins touring the Shedd Aquarium during human quarantine? 

Happy Friday, everyone.  Maybe after you finish working from home you can enjoy a nice frosty quarantini. 

Stay safe!

Habits

Jeddy "getting use out of" his suit coat I bought him for a now-defunct event.

If we are creatures of habit, and act via habit some huge percentage of the time, it's no wonder these times are making us anxious and confused.  Suddenly I'm having to make decisions a million times a day about things I never, ever thought about before.

When I'm running in the park, and I pass someone going the other way on the track, should I hold my breath as we pass?  How many feet wide is this track anyway?


Should we go to Bible study?  Should we have that planned dinner with friends?  Should I go to the library per usual?  Should we continue our cleaning service?


"Wash your hands as often as possible":  should I be washing my hands right now?


Should I liberally use the last of our hand sanitizer, or should I save it for more dire need?


How much toilet paper is it prudent to use each time?


Should I let my kids go to the playground?


Should I start planting a victory garden?


Should I wipe down my phone with a Clorox wipe and risk killing it, or not wipe it down and risk killing someone else?


Should I love my neighbors by bringing them food or by staying away?


Should I politely meet the mail lady and deliverymen by taking the box directly from their hands or ignore them and let them leave it on the step?  And then can I touch the box?


Should I let my kids get the mail?


How many times a day can I check the news before it's obsessive-compulsive?


The questions go on and on and on, with no end in sight.