Bugging You From San Juan Island

I had a feeling today was going to be one of THOSE days, but really had no idea how bad it would get.   This time of year on the island, we’ve lost our sunshine and are headed into the Time of DARKNESS.  I have no idea who got away with marketing the “Sunny San Juan’s!” They advertise that HERE is the special place where you’ll have a whopping 247 Days of Sunshine, but that is just WRONG! 

This statistic has been creatively manipulated and someone got away counting an entire day of sunshine when the sun maybe, just MAYBE peeks out for a whole 5 minutes.  Yep, two bits of advice I received when I moved here was 1) if the sun is out at all anytime between October and April, go outside and, 2) get a raincoat.  

But I digress from the events of the day!  So, being under the umbrella of COVID, I hardly ever, go to town anymore.  There is the likelihood that I might venture out only once during the week for a grocery/mail run.  Well, that was today.  

I stopped first at the post office.  There was the now normal line winding down the hall.  I waited my turn patiently.  It’s an island and I’ve learned to be on island time.  There’s always someone who hasn’t yet learned this yet, and that was the guy in line ahead of me.  

He was complaining loudly.  He went into the office even though the sign clearly states “only THREE people at a time.”  Poor postal staff had to point this out.  His reaction?  Well, you might ask that.  He was even louder about having to WAIT and HE had MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO!  

“J” whispered to me when it was my turn at the counter, “Did you HEAR that guy?”   I nodded my head, commenting “there’s always one!”  Little did I know there was one more someone who would be breaking the RULES.  

My next stop was to grab a spider left for me at my husband’s office.  A pumpkin-colored Orb Weaver.  I love spiders!!!   After collecting my 8-legged friend, I made my next stop at the Market.  

At this point, I’m feeling a bit scattered.  I have my purse, keys in hand, my “list” of things I need to pick up for the next few nights of dinners, and I walk across the parking lot and into the store.  The next thing I hear is “MA’am, Ma’am!”  I looked towards the voice and all of a sudden the sound is ringing in my ears as I realize the “Ma’am” is meant for ME. 

 “You forgot your mask,” the store employee is saying as she walks in my direction!  I feel my face, groping for my mask, that I JUST HAD ON at the post office, which seemingly has disintegrated, leaving feeling the equivalent of walking into the store NAKED.  

I was MORTIFIED!!!  Thankfully she handed me a mask as I pretty much just stood there, unable to move.  “Don’t worry,” says another clerk.   “People all over the island are pretty much losing it.  You’re not the first!”  I feel marginally better, but not much.  

Somehow I managed to finish my shopping, check out, and make it back to my vehicle.  I called my daughter on the way home.  Hands free.  She tried to make me feel better and we had a good laugh about it.  

“It’s getting to everyone! ”she says.  Then, “I am starting to feel like there’s no point in figuring out what I want to do with my life, because I really wonder if we are going to have a LIFE after all of this.”  I want to tell her it will be fine, but even though we joke about it, there is really nothing funny about the state of the world…OUR world.  I find myself wanting to tell her to take up retail therapy to make herself feel better.  Exactly how much is the limit on that credit card? 

My daughter asked if I got my ballot at the post office.  Then, she laughed and told me her friend, who says he ISN’T voting because he hates both parties wrote in FIDEL CASTRO and dropped his ballot in the box.  Yes, I do believe folks are losing it!  Big time.  

Oh, and here are some photos of that lovely Orb Weaver I brought home (and released). This spider is Araneus diadematus, one commonly seen about in early fall. Now that I’m back in my “safe” zone, I can focus on Bugs that don’t require me to wear a mask!