I was grateful this morning to accidentally disturb a preying mantis while I watered the garden pots and beds. She got washed into the dirt so I had to rinse her off and she climbed up my arm. She wanted to keep climbing but finally I was able to dislodge her onto an eggplant leaf. I’m so happy whenever I see one of these marvelous predators in the garden. I pray for more of them to control the grasshopper plague.

This afternoon I baked high altitude carrot cupcakes to take to a patio dinner up the road that’s been trying to happen for months. Finally all conditions aligned for six of us to lay relatively low for a few days (harder for some than for me) and each covid test for reassurance before gathering. Most of us share our test photos by text before gathering, a friendly reassurance that evolved over the past couple of years, though there was one inexplicable holdout to the ritual. I practiced some mindful forbearance, appreciating moral support, and was grateful that I was able to manage my feelings and still enjoy the evening.

I’m grateful for the ongoing but relatively sparse Covid awareness that continues in the public health research community, and really appreciated the big picture as discussed in this interview with ‘Your Local Epidemiologist’ Katelyn Jetelina, in part examining the idea of Covid revisionism. There’s a collective, voluntary forgetfulness about just how awful 2020 was for the world, and the US is not prepared at an infrastructure level to address the next pandemic. It was nice to discuss this, as well as the first-ever python parasite found in a human’s brain, the threat of deadly fungal pathogens, this year’s odd garden experiences, and various other life anecdotes, as well as to just enjoy the simple, delicious food and familial companionship. Plus, the little dogs had a ball. And, I was grateful to come back to my quiet home.