I always give Eileen roses for our Anniversary. I make that dashing, bold, romantic trip to the supermarket and I get some roses in the flower section and pay my money! This is the 21st century, after all, the epoch of cheap convenience for everything. Right!?
O wait... actually, it's 2020. Heh heh, things are done a bit differently now...
Going to the store is more of a project, with masks, and social distancing, and all that. And who knows whether there will be any nice flowers? Really, "convenience" is more of a crap shoot in these days of the "phased reopening" of our state. And there are no guarantees about "cheap" either (unless you're getting gasoline!). Of course, these problems are minor, and in fact we've been too spoiled in the past. The larger rupture in the overall infrastructure of the economy, however, has done more serious damage to people's lives, in addition to the many painful, serious illnesses and deaths caused by virus itself.
In any case, I'm not going to stores or many other public places right now. I'm a high risk person in anybody's book. Even people who believe that coronavirus is overhyped fake news, or a scam to distract us while space aliens come to take over the world, would tell me that I should probably "lay low" right now.
Ironically, I have been out and about plenty all through the Spring. I live in an area where it's possible to walk (or climb or scramble) in many directions for miles without coming within six feet of any human being. Sure, there are people here and there, doing their own stuff, and you wave and they wave back from their garden or their tractor or even passing by on the road (we don't have sidewalks, and there's plenty of room on the road for people to pass by). This environment hasn't changed much. Meanwhile, I can get close to hills, streams, trees, flowers, and other beautiful things (that are "safe" according to the current focus of that term).
The range of my lifestyle was limited long before COVID-19. I learned years ago that adventures are waiting for me right outside my front door. Even if, because of my health condition, they are relatively short (and inordinately tiring) adventures.
Getting roses "in the wild" would have to be an adventure this year. There are rose bushes in the neighborhood. Most of the roses I saw were way past their bloom, but I found a few good ones (see above). And the old proverb is true: roses have thorns. Ouch!!
We also like to "go out for dinner" on our Anniversary. The restaurants in town are all available... for TAKEOUT or delivery. Part of the fun of a restaurant is the "ambiance" - but we were going to have to make our own ambiance. At least we could get some really good food, special food, cooked by someone else.
Like I said, we kept it simple.
It would have looked nicer in their lovely restaurant. But it still tasted great! And we still went "out" to eat, right out into the front yard, with a lovely tablecloth on the picnic table and our own regular (non-plastic) tableware and utensils (fun fact: Thai people don't eat with chopsticks; they use spoons and forks - and we use knives too because some of the meat chunks in these dishes are pretty big).
The evening air was cool. The mosquitos mostly stayed away. They haven't gotten too bad (yet). It was delightful!
We definitely made our own ambiance, and it was very comfortable and casual. We didn't have the fun of "dressing up" fancy. We could have worn formal attire for this "intimate garden dinner party," I suppose. We might have done something like that 20 years ago, and we will get a chance to dress our best in a couple of months, as "mother and father of the groom" at John Paul's wedding. (Oh wow, that's coming up really soon!)
But we kept the dress code really laid-back for our 24th Anniversary Picnic Dinner. Eileen still looked beautiful. She is such a beautiful lady. I am so blessed to have her as the companion of my life.
The only other "problem"😉 with "dinner out" in the front yard is that "uninvited guests" can easily appear. They're just curious. If you give them some food, they'll usually go away! Actually we only have one "kid" left who would do something like that...
Happy Anniversary number 24, my dear Eileen. I love you!
