Trish Hermanson's Blog: Croutons - Seasoned Bits of Life, page 10

What Are You Planting in the Age of Corona?

     Is coronavirus a convenient boomer doomer? Thats what I heard some students call it. Others claim its the boomer remover.     Im in that category of the more than a third of American adults that are most vulnerable. Were the group that experienced our springtime long ago. Then in the summer of our days, we planted careers and families. We harvested the yield from that work in our sun-drenched autumn. But now, are we nothing but frozen fields in winter, waiting to be plowed under by...

Sheltering with Newborn Eve

     With masks in place, Duane and I worked our way through airports that were like ghost towns and wiped down every surface we touched in planes. And despite some cancelled flights, we made it from Denver to Mobile, Alabama. Our quest: to meet Eve Juniper, our new granddaughter. Eves name means life, and juniper is a tree that flourishes in hard places while providing shelter for others.     
     Were finding life and shelter here while staying with Eves parents along with her brother...

Capture Photos for Posterity Now!

     Someday, the American Girl company may create a doll that is outfitted for this pandemic. But until then, our granddaughter Louise equipped her doll with a face mask and a laptop to complete her schoolwork at home.     
     Its a great idea to capture photos of our kids and grandkids in masks and doing homework online, because someday theyll be telling their kids and grandkids what it was like to survive this plague. Our descendants wont understand how it was patriotic to social...

Who Ya Gonna Fool on April 1?

     April Fools Day is upon us, and even in this serious Age of Coronavirus, Im on the alert for what might happen. In the past, Ive found my underwear drawer empty or pine cones in my bed.     Thats nothing compared to a BBC broadcast showing Swiss farmers harvesting fresh-grown spaghetti from trees. People called in asking where they could buy these plants.     
     Who can believe anything anymore? Cats playing piano - I believe that. A politician apologizing - I dont believe that....

What Are We Worth in the Age of Corona

    In this Age of Coronavirus, some are already calling for the most vulnerable to go back to work as a patriotic way to protect younger Americans while boosting the employment rate. So the question arises: what has priority, the health of individuals, or the health of the economy? Those in power face that frightening choice.     
     Dont those who call for an early release back to work realize this could spread the pandemic, thus increasing job losses?     
     And have they...

What Monet Taught Me about Coronavirus

     Denver is in lock-down now, and social distancing isn't helping to flatten my curve - Ive gained three pounds because Im eating more and exercising less. In my coop here, Im trying not to be Chicken Little yelling, The sky is falling. Even though it is.      
     When I stop flapping my wings long enough, I recall a painting by Impressionist artist Claude Monet I observed at an exhibit prior to this pestilence. Monet looked out his London hotel window toward a bridge shrouded by...

Turning Our Insecurities into Groceries

     Grocers - among our new national heroes! But still no toilet paper at this Costco I visited in the morning when it first opened. People were tossing paper towels into their carts. Do they plan to saw it up and use it for TP?     
     Who would have imagined that TP would become the new American collectible? Elsewhere in Denver, a cop broke up three women fighting over some precious rolls. But were all taking inventory because the average American uses 100 rolls per year.     
  ...

Stay Calm and Buy Toilet Paper (if you can)

     I checked at four stores for toilet paper and found nothing but empty shelves and folks with glazed eyes throwing anything they could into their carts to give them a sense of control during this coronavirus pandemic.     
     One man was stocking up on water in case the plumbing to his home failed. Have we all gone cuckoo?     
     Social distancing is good to flatten the curve of the spread of this pathogen, but weve got to flatten the curve of craziness, too. We need to stay...

Our Grandson Fought for His Breath

Our two-month-old grandson Benjamin fought a battle for breath and won.
This past week he was carried by ambulance to the intensive care unit at a Denver hospital for children, where he struggled after a life-threatening virus attacked his lungs, leaving him fevered, congested, and panting.
All he could do was cough and cry, his big blue eyes asking “why?” as he peered at us through an oxygen mask that covered half his face.
We were on alien terrain. Tubes, probes, whirring...

An Open Letter to the American Evangelical Church

American Evangelicals, what’s been won? Conservative court appointments and a spotlight on pro-life, for sure. If Jesus were to speak directly to the American church, he might give a shout out as he did to the Ephesian church for its hard work, perseverance, and intolerance of wickedness.
But then what would he say? I fear it’d be the same rebuke he shot back at the Ephesians. “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”
Have we? We were called to be the bride...