It's just 7 on Sunday morning. Ray is at H&R Block, where he has been almost every morning for the last several weeks. He prepares taxes for people. He loves it and he takes it very seriously. He is not a morning person by nature, and yet he wakes up about 4 most mornings to get to the office while it is empty and safe. He has rheumatoid arthritis and takes a medicine that increases his risk. RA is an autoimmune disease, which means in some way his body is fighting itself. He takes a pill making it fight less, which also would make him fight less against other things, like COVID! So he works in the office until any of his coworkers show up, when he puts on his two masks, packs everything up and wipes everything down, and comes home. Most days, he spends 6 more hours, give or take, working from home. The system HRB has for people who want to work from home is cumbersome and glitchy, but it works. Most clients are not willing or able to approve their returns on line. So, one of the things he does in the early mornings is print out their forms and leave them at the front desk for them to sign and pay in person when he is not there. 

I linger in bed, sometimes dozing, or just luxuriating. Then I get up. The house is cold and slow to warm up these winter mornings. I pull on the clothes I wore yesterday and make my way downstairs past the dog on the landing. I make some tea and sit on the couch in the den, where it's warmest. Some mornings I look at my recipes to decide what to have for dinner. Sometimes I read my emails. 

When he gets home, we walk the dog and eat breakfast. Sundays are for pancakes and bacon. Today I have no sour milk or buttermilk, so decide to try using a specific recipe. After making pancakes every Sunday for about 40 years, I can whip up a batch from almost anything. I visited a college friend one weekend and she was very impressed that I could make pancakes with whatever they had around and no recipe. This time, though, I used buckwheat flour (only a little left now) and whole wheat flour, with 2% milk and an egg. Of course I added blueberries. I keep some in my freezer for emergencies, but usually have fresh on hand. They were delicious, as usual, and I ate too many (9!). with lovely maple syrup from a farm in upstate NY, near where my parents used to live. Every spring, my Dad calls them up and orders 2 half-gallons. We don't care if it costs more, it's a tradition. 

It's cold out, but above freezing, kind of damp and raw. There are still puddles and snow that hasn't melted, but greens are poking up from bulbs and birds are making noise. We go our basic minimum route, around 2 blocks, it takes about 15 minutes. We usually see a few other people, walking dogs or exercising. Not much activity today before 9. 

It's still cold in the house, so I go up and run my bath. It's a little more stressful than it should be, because the drain doesn't close completely until the 5th try. I'm pretty sure most people don't take a daily bath, so their drain plugs don't wear out as fast. If I'm in a hurry, I can run a bath while I'm getting out my clothes, brushing my teeth and generally getting ready for the day. Then I can wash and soak in about 5 minutes if need be. Some days I dawdle and daydream, enjoying the warmth. It's one of the few times during the day that nothing hurts. Most days I spend about 15 minutes, enough to wash and relax, but get out before my fingers are pruny (wrinkled). 

I might glance at the weather again to see what I should wear. Today? Not too cold, so I wear a mock turtleneck and some heavy jeans, saving the corduroys for colder days to come. Heavy socks, but not the heaviest smartwool.