Jaci Dawn

*I’ve always been drawn to May Day. When we were little, public schools had a big May Day celebration where one grade would dance around the May Pole and other grades would do something May-appropriate, like dance around a sombrero (Cinco de Mayo). I loved the May Pole part, especially: the bright colors and the folk dance as the kids (my peers) wove around to create a colorful weave on the pole. I don’t know when that ceased to happen, but I know why: it was deemed a pagan holiday and religious in nature, and since we could no longer celebrate anything remotely religious in public school anymore, the practice went by the wayside.

Picking May flowers from one’s garden and carefully placing a blossom on the neighbor’s doorstep before playing doorbell ditch also fell into disrepute. Virgins donning white dresses became as scarce as sightings of fairies in the backyard.

I suspect the pagan celebration is in my genetic memory somewhere, buried in centuries of Celtic/Nordic/Pict/Viking/Welsh family lines. My Christian faith is also deeply rooted in genetic memories, going back as far as the written history goes back.

*We went grocery shopping today. It was a very stressful experience. I wear a face mask. My husband does not, but he takes all the other precautions. So many other people do not – and do not honor the six foot distancing rule. We had to fight employees for space as well as other customers in the narrow aisles of our local Kroger’s.

There are still empty shelves, yet we continue to have a gross amount of choice in products to purchase. Toilet paper, tissue, paper towels, and disinfectants are still limited, as as certain fresh meat products. The only thing we needed was tissue as we are in the midst of prime allergy season for me.

*Internet has been slow all day. I tried to post on my art website and discovered it is “down”. I need to ditch the host anyway. That means phone calls (which I despise making) to two entities. Adding insult to injury, I tried to post my recent illustrations on my Facebook page. My post failed to load.

*We finally decided to purchase new window coverings for the living/dining room windows. The quote came in far below what we were expecting because they gave us a COVIC-19 discount of 30%. The blinds will be installed just before the first of June and summer weather.

*My hot body has turned into a turnip. I’ve never had a hot body, but now I have a quarantine body. No waist at all.

*My paintings! Goodness, after all that, I still want to share what I painted. I tried to picture the pandemic from two points of view, making fun of each other, but I probably failed because of my own predilection.

Wally is a Guard on duty during a quarantine protest. I copied the signs from actual signs used during just such a demonstration. They aren’t the brightest slogans and certainly do not make the argument to open up. I get that there a economic reasons, but crying about one’s haircut is not one. Or one’s lost golf season. These are basically signs asking other people to come to work to take care of the protestors who are missing their privileges.

Wally must feel the same because he is giving the universal Spotted Skunk tear gas warning. One step closer, and Wally lets it go.

Henrietta is how I imagine the “Open Up” crowd views those of us who are resisting. Henrietta is a natural loner. She’s obsessively cleaning.Bleach, baking soda, and white vinegar. Anything disinfectant, even though she lives alone and never goes out. She has everything delivered. She wears nitrile gloves (darn those claws that keep poking out). She tracks the virus and has a list of survival rules on the wall, next to her “Polar Bear of the Month” calendar.

Best of all, Henrietta has scored a World War 1 gas mask that she wears at all times (just in case the delivery guy knocks).

I love how I can’t paint a straight line (can’t draw one, either).

We are crossing into the second of May. I’ll have more thoughts later.