As infection numbers and deaths mount across this country, life continues mostly unchanged for us in the Big Woods.

Our first chick hatched today. She is cute. She is cuddly. I shall call her onyx. Or maybe just “ox,” as she has some lungs on her. She wants company!!! No social distancing for this one.

Normally I would be off to see my mom this time of year. I will delay the visit in order not to become a vector for the dread disease. It is a small change compared to the complications so many others face.

In need of some excitement, we decided it was time to fell the dying cottonwood. Michael ran the chainsaw. I ran the Suburban.

Timber! It didn’t hit the house or the power lines. It did land on a trailer, but with the part that was dead rather than deadly.

Michael gave his new chainsaw a workout as we needed to clear the driveway so Irene would not feel trapped. Nine days ago she still felt safe enough to be out and about.

We celebrated with a beer and a burger at the Wolf Creek bar. Two days later the governor closed all restaurants.

March 14th wasn’t the last time we went out, but it was the last time we did so recreationally.

We enjoy the view but miss having our daughter and her boyfriend over for Sunday dinners.

We work from home every single day. What I am learning is that we are not as socially distant as I always imagined. Farming requires a certain focus on the future. You hatch chicks and plant seeds, knowing the fruit of your labor will ripen later on. We exchange bread with neighbors, mail seeds to gardening buddies, send home made soap to heal cracked skin. Springtime is here, come corona virus or high water.