I'm almost always the only one in the supermarket wearing a mask. My friend Rowan was astounded that I was still masking up. I've given up trying to explain that they should too.
Nearly finished planting my forest garden. It'll be done by spring.
Right there with you Joe. I am astonished by the "normalization" of Covid. How viscerally people insist that they have to live a "regular" life.
Mostly I have dealt with it by becoming reclusive. I rarely leave my apartment anymore.
This may sound extreme, but I have not had Covid even once.
I value my intellect. I worked hard at developing it. As I get older and see my peers begin to slowly lose their minds as age eats at us. I do NOT want to risk that fate unless I absolutely have to.
We are always the popper of balloons. Only 40% of SARS2 infections are symptomatic. Do you test regularly? Home tests are 50% accurate. Always have been. Better tests are known but cost more so….. You can confidently say you’ve never had a Symptomatic SARS2 infection. Our sibling didn’t test or wear a Respirator. One symptomatic SARS2 infection and his Parkinson’s disease (diagnosed AFTER 2020) gets worse he is now retiring at age 58. Our first symptomatic SARS2 infection in 2019 began disabling our BrainBody. The second symptomatic infection cost us our mobility and job. Our third symptomatic infection reveals osteoarthritis fibromyalgia loosey goosey joints that are breaking down. The most affected is our pars fracture in our spine. L5 completely separated from S1. The two building blocks of the vertebral column. Spondylolisthesis. Disability happens in moments. Seconds we can never take back.
Same here, never had it. Unfortunately I recently got diagnosed with mild dementia. We don't know what sort yet, waiting for an appointment. Plant scientific names going missing so far, and occasionally forgetting who a character in a book is. Not that bad yet.
I'm in Kent in the UK There are a couple of French sweet chestnuts, A couple of cherry plums, those four went in in 2009. It got left for a while, the deer demolished quite a bit, huge population here that could do with some thinning, they eat everything. This year 7 different mulberries, morus nigra, alba tatarica and some mixed varieties for the canopy, loquats, apricots (a bit risky, a bit on the cold side here), pineapple guava, medlars, chocolate vine as one of the climbers American groundnuts to add some nitrogen, figs, black cherries, a few things I'd have to look at the papers to remember. I'm also airlayering our orchard this winter, many different apples, plums, pears, quince both Japonica and the large tree version, I'm growing a load of soft fruit from cuttings and plan on planting a bunch of siberian olives for nitrogen kiwi from seed this year. Haven't got to the herb layer and root crop layer yet, want it to develop a bit first. That's about it for now, 20 years till it's all fruiting but it'll also provide plants for the local area that aren't usually available around here when things get harder.
Marvelous! I warn you away from Siberian olives. My parcel was completely taken over by invasive shrubs, with the olives a principal culprit. The birds loved the fruit and distribute it widely. They are very hard to root out.
In the last 20 years I have been planting something similar in Upstate New York. While at it, I’ve been trying to introduce some plants from more Southern growing zones. I have a successful Paw Paw patch, most prevalent in the lower Mississippi valley to as far north as Michigan, but not known to grow here . My pecan trees are coming along, but no nuts yet. I’m having mixed success with English walnuts and hazelnuts. The walnuts were actually damaged by heat and drought in 2023, but have revived.
Quince, apples, pears have been naturalized here, but all are susceptible to fire blight, a fungus found further south carried by pollinators to the blooms. The infection rapidly spreads in the vascular system killing specimens right down to the root. I’m trying to spray before the buds open, but otherwise I would use no such products.
Drupes are being affected by Morbilla, another fungus. For that I prune the affected wood.
I’m old enough, and thought I knew what I was doing, but the world now keeps giving me surprising lessons.
I’d love to grow a loquat, by the way. So far no success with figs. If the figs go, then on to loquats.
Keep at it. You don’t need all that Linnaeus classification anyway, just love what you do.
I had a medlar once. A beautiful bloom and the fruit are delicious, very jammy once they are allowed to blet.
There’s something called May haws in the Southern USA that makes a delicious jam, but there are hundreds of hawthorn species and many with usable fruit. I can’t decide which one you blet.
I had a property once and decided I had to prune the large hawthorn tree planted near the house. I was never so pierced with thorns as I was on that occasion, not just crowned with thorns, but wrapped entirely with them when I fell into it from the ladder. I’ve been reading Monte Don’s gardening book and he recommends hawthorns for hedges. I still have some trepidation, but if I also had an edible crop…?
I just watched an interview with Chris Hedges and Catherine Liu about Catherine's book, Virtue Hoarders. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuIb4j_hxSw). They don't talk about contagion precaution specifically, but about the complete failure of the professional managerial class to care about anything but their own instant gratification, and exiling anyone who does not fawn over them for being this way. Reason and discourse are over, except among a rare few of us. Thank you for creating this space.
I don't have any friends anymore. I have acquaintance's through my wife's friends. I only talk to my neighbors to say hi now and again from a distance. My best friends are right here on Substack and Medium.com. I wear a mask whenever I visit any public place, and would in peoples homes if I didn't care about getting the evil look from my wife. Who now admits that Covid is everywhere now. She was a believer in 2020 through 2021, then slacked off, we go sick, we picked up again and last year she admitted that a lot of her friends were sick. Now we mask and disinfect when coming home. There is no good answer to this. All we can do is take care of ourselves as best as we can and watch at the rest of the people around us fade away.
Exactly the same attitude most have toward the climate crisis. They may acknowledge that it's happening, but are not willing to change their behaviour or submit to the slightest inconvenience to mitigate it. Woe betide any political leader who dares to suggest that sacrifices must be made!
I am the only person I know who has not had Covid. It would likely kill me as I have cancer in my lungs. I have been masking in all public spaces since 2020.
I'm almost always the only one in the supermarket wearing a mask. My friend Rowan was astounded that I was still masking up. I've given up trying to explain that they should too.
Nearly finished planting my forest garden. It'll be done by spring.
Joe
Glad to hear you're still masking. We are becoming a rarity. Maybe throw some pictures of your forest garden up when you can, I'd love to see it.
When it's in leaf. At the moment it's just a bunch of bare saplings defended from the deer with chicken wire. I might write something when I'm done.
Right there with you Joe. I am astonished by the "normalization" of Covid. How viscerally people insist that they have to live a "regular" life.
Mostly I have dealt with it by becoming reclusive. I rarely leave my apartment anymore.
This may sound extreme, but I have not had Covid even once.
I value my intellect. I worked hard at developing it. As I get older and see my peers begin to slowly lose their minds as age eats at us. I do NOT want to risk that fate unless I absolutely have to.
Reclusive is the path I’m following. It’s not as hard or as lonely as people might think, especially if you enjoy your own company.
We are always the popper of balloons. Only 40% of SARS2 infections are symptomatic. Do you test regularly? Home tests are 50% accurate. Always have been. Better tests are known but cost more so….. You can confidently say you’ve never had a Symptomatic SARS2 infection. Our sibling didn’t test or wear a Respirator. One symptomatic SARS2 infection and his Parkinson’s disease (diagnosed AFTER 2020) gets worse he is now retiring at age 58. Our first symptomatic SARS2 infection in 2019 began disabling our BrainBody. The second symptomatic infection cost us our mobility and job. Our third symptomatic infection reveals osteoarthritis fibromyalgia loosey goosey joints that are breaking down. The most affected is our pars fracture in our spine. L5 completely separated from S1. The two building blocks of the vertebral column. Spondylolisthesis. Disability happens in moments. Seconds we can never take back.
Same here, never had it. Unfortunately I recently got diagnosed with mild dementia. We don't know what sort yet, waiting for an appointment. Plant scientific names going missing so far, and occasionally forgetting who a character in a book is. Not that bad yet.
I would love to hear what you are planting ( and where generally you might be planting).
I'm in Kent in the UK There are a couple of French sweet chestnuts, A couple of cherry plums, those four went in in 2009. It got left for a while, the deer demolished quite a bit, huge population here that could do with some thinning, they eat everything. This year 7 different mulberries, morus nigra, alba tatarica and some mixed varieties for the canopy, loquats, apricots (a bit risky, a bit on the cold side here), pineapple guava, medlars, chocolate vine as one of the climbers American groundnuts to add some nitrogen, figs, black cherries, a few things I'd have to look at the papers to remember. I'm also airlayering our orchard this winter, many different apples, plums, pears, quince both Japonica and the large tree version, I'm growing a load of soft fruit from cuttings and plan on planting a bunch of siberian olives for nitrogen kiwi from seed this year. Haven't got to the herb layer and root crop layer yet, want it to develop a bit first. That's about it for now, 20 years till it's all fruiting but it'll also provide plants for the local area that aren't usually available around here when things get harder.
Marvelous! I warn you away from Siberian olives. My parcel was completely taken over by invasive shrubs, with the olives a principal culprit. The birds loved the fruit and distribute it widely. They are very hard to root out.
In the last 20 years I have been planting something similar in Upstate New York. While at it, I’ve been trying to introduce some plants from more Southern growing zones. I have a successful Paw Paw patch, most prevalent in the lower Mississippi valley to as far north as Michigan, but not known to grow here . My pecan trees are coming along, but no nuts yet. I’m having mixed success with English walnuts and hazelnuts. The walnuts were actually damaged by heat and drought in 2023, but have revived.
Quince, apples, pears have been naturalized here, but all are susceptible to fire blight, a fungus found further south carried by pollinators to the blooms. The infection rapidly spreads in the vascular system killing specimens right down to the root. I’m trying to spray before the buds open, but otherwise I would use no such products.
Drupes are being affected by Morbilla, another fungus. For that I prune the affected wood.
I’m old enough, and thought I knew what I was doing, but the world now keeps giving me surprising lessons.
I’d love to grow a loquat, by the way. So far no success with figs. If the figs go, then on to loquats.
Keep at it. You don’t need all that Linnaeus classification anyway, just love what you do.
Pawpaws was one of the ones I couldn't remember. I said medlar, I meant the hawthorn relative you have to blet, the name escapes me.
I had a medlar once. A beautiful bloom and the fruit are delicious, very jammy once they are allowed to blet.
There’s something called May haws in the Southern USA that makes a delicious jam, but there are hundreds of hawthorn species and many with usable fruit. I can’t decide which one you blet.
I had a property once and decided I had to prune the large hawthorn tree planted near the house. I was never so pierced with thorns as I was on that occasion, not just crowned with thorns, but wrapped entirely with them when I fell into it from the ladder. I’ve been reading Monte Don’s gardening book and he recommends hawthorns for hedges. I still have some trepidation, but if I also had an edible crop…?
I just watched an interview with Chris Hedges and Catherine Liu about Catherine's book, Virtue Hoarders. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuIb4j_hxSw). They don't talk about contagion precaution specifically, but about the complete failure of the professional managerial class to care about anything but their own instant gratification, and exiling anyone who does not fawn over them for being this way. Reason and discourse are over, except among a rare few of us. Thank you for creating this space.
Thank you and I'm glad you're here.
I don't have any friends anymore. I have acquaintance's through my wife's friends. I only talk to my neighbors to say hi now and again from a distance. My best friends are right here on Substack and Medium.com. I wear a mask whenever I visit any public place, and would in peoples homes if I didn't care about getting the evil look from my wife. Who now admits that Covid is everywhere now. She was a believer in 2020 through 2021, then slacked off, we go sick, we picked up again and last year she admitted that a lot of her friends were sick. Now we mask and disinfect when coming home. There is no good answer to this. All we can do is take care of ourselves as best as we can and watch at the rest of the people around us fade away.
Yep
Exactly the same attitude most have toward the climate crisis. They may acknowledge that it's happening, but are not willing to change their behaviour or submit to the slightest inconvenience to mitigate it. Woe betide any political leader who dares to suggest that sacrifices must be made!
I am the only person I know who has not had Covid. It would likely kill me as I have cancer in my lungs. I have been masking in all public spaces since 2020.
Jem is a gem!
We agree. We are also Not Wrong.