Life here in Tallahassee is moving into spring. The sun is rising a bit earlier, so that by 6:30 am the sky had drifted from black to indigo to slate gray with a hint of blue to the east. Pollen count is down, at least, and it was still a cool morning with a languid 50°F temperature, but the mosquitoes were out in force and that is the real test of spring.
I saw a couple of Canada Geese protecting a small group of goslings, the first I’ve seen this season. The male started hissing at us so Keely made light with her paws and got us away from there — she really hates those geese. It made me realize, though, that this year there have not been many around. Usually there are two large flocks of 20 or more geese who harass us in the winter/spring, but this year I’ve only seen a few small clusters of two or three. Did they all stay up north this year? With climate change anything is possible. I have also not seen too many duck broods either, despite another mild winter for us. Or they are getting ravaged by hungry foxes and cats.
Trying to outrun the mosquitoes made it a fast paced walk. At least I remembered my face mask this morning, as I forgot it yesterday during Keely’s afternoon walk. My allergies have improved a lot but we’re not out of the pollen storm yet. Given the weather I expect we won’t be until hurricane season starts in June, at which point we’ll have other problems. I am beginning to suspect this is, in fact, the new normal.
There were not too many people at the park, either. Saturday mornings are usually not busy anyway, but a lot of the elder walkers (elder to me, so you know they are old!) I often saw on the weekends are MIA. I hope they are just holing up due to covid19 and playing it safe.
Unlike so many others, which I say because traffic was steady on Monroe. As it was yesterday afternoon, too. I suspect a lot of people are using the excuse of going into work just to get out of the house, although it might be that many business owners are demanding staff show up. One law office I walk past has a sign saying it is open reduced hours, as if fewer hours protects against spreading contagion? I’m confused by that. The stay at home order is meant to keep people at home, not “only at work for three hours.”
Which is why Florida is going to suffer a lot from this pandemic. Maybe not in total number dead, although that will be steep, but in how the chaos of response means that the effects will linger.