Hey, how're you doing?  Yeah, me too.  This is hard.  It's going to be okay.

This morning Moon and I went for a walk down in town while Melissa got started on today's flower delivery orders.  Langley was nearly deserted, but I did see a few folks walking around.  The few folks I talked to (from a distance!) were in good spirits, but definitely in need of a chat.  This time of isolation has turned strangers into acquaintances and acquaintances into long lost friends.  It was nice to talk with people outside of my homestead family for a change, even if we had to shout to be heard over the wind.

This evening Governor Inslee issued an order for all citizens to stay home except for essential business.  It was a long expected order, but it still hits deep.  That's the purpose of such an order; to force the seriousness of the situation to sink into even the most free-wheeling of people. 

Inslee issued the order for the same reason we closed our retail storefront a week ago.  We have since been doing deliveries wile taking every precaution we can.  In addition to continual sanitizing of everything, Melissa and I have been spatially distanced from everyone outside of our family to keep our deliveries as safe as possible.  We are confident in our ability to continue to safely deliver our product to our customers under this new order. 

​We have to be careful.  Many of us need to stay home.  The only way to keep hundreds of our neighbors and many thousands of our fellow citizens from dying from this virus is to deny this bugger new hosts.  This means keeping a distance, and staying home as much as possible.  The better we do this, the quicker this crisis will be over.  We've taken major losses to our income.  Our employees have temporarily been laid off.  These sacrifices will be for naught if we don't all do our part.

And we will get through this.  I have faith that this too shall pass.  It will pass with the bare minimum of life lost because we are in this together.  Faith is often seceded to the exclusive domain of organized religion.  Faith is too big for such a narrow definition.  The seed is started and the farm bed prepared on the foundation of faith in the continuation of life.  I have faith that we will see this crisis to a swift end, and that we will support each other during and in the aftermath.  The sweet peas will grow and flower into a glorious summer.

Thank you to all who continue to support us in this crazy time!  Also thank you to everyone doing their best to stop the spread of the virus, and especially to all of the medical workers, grocery store employees, and delivery drivers.  I can't imagine what this time would be like without you.  Love to all!!  - Ben

There's work to be done! 

Farmer's minds are always in the future.  We have to focus on the present, sure, but we're also constantly planning the next several months ahead.  In a crisis such as this, I've found myself drowning in present time.

That strange feeling in the chest, shoulders and neck?  It's not the virus, it's the specter of it conjuring feelings of panic.  For me, for a few days there, it was giving me a kind of ADHD.  I found I couldn't focus on anything.  Work plans?!  Let's check the news!  What plans?  What was that?  It's 4 PM ALREADY!?!  I imagine many of you now working from home know what I'm talking about. 

Even in normal times, keeping focus while working at home can be difficult.  This week, checking something off my farm plan list is nearly impossible.  Even without the distraction, the crisis is generating a whole new list of urgent tasks.

Well, yesterday I actually got some farm work done!!  Two months from now I'm planting dahlia tubers in these beds that now have the winter cover crop on them.  This means NOW is the time to start prepping and turning in the cover crop so that it can mostly compost in time for planting.  The future and present are one.  

In this moment, our present time is meant to improve the future.  We're fighting a kind of war, all of us, to curb this virus; to save us from a summer of grief.  Some things don't have to be sacrificed though.  This is a time to get out into nature if you can.  Spend some time in the soil.  Listen to the birds and take in the new life that spring is ushering in around us.  Plant something beautiful for the future while transforming the present.

Well, that was weird. 

Door to door, I drove from Langley to Georgetown, including the ferry crossing, in only one hour.  It usually takes at least an hour and a half.  The ferry was half as full.  The ferry workers wore bright blue gloves, which I find a bit creepy (anyone who has seen Firefly understands).

The Space Needle was dark.  It had closed, so the top levels were totally black.  They also turned the exterior lights down, so that the normally vivid white exterior was difficult to make out.  If I hadn't been driving, I'd have a picture to share.  It was quite shocking.

John Richards of 90.3 KEXP played Hans Zimmer.

The waning half moon was rising just above the Cascades, and was a unique pumpkin orange.  Both Jupiter and Mars sat just above the crescent, together guiding me into the sleepy city.

I don't get off the island that often except for our weekly, 5 AM flower run in the off-season.  The Seattle Wholesale Growers Market Co-op supplies the Seattle metro area with seasonal, west-coast grown flowers from small, family farms throughout the year.  Whatever we can't supply from our farm or other Whidbey growers we source from farms located in California, Oregon and Washington. 

This is how we get our roses & other flower shop staples year round.  It's a fantastic place, full of vibrant color and bustling activity, especially in the wedding season.  It was pretty quiet today.  Pretty much every wedding has been canceled through the end of April.  The global floral industry is in free-fall.  The local floral industry is adapting, like us, to the new reality. 

My town is a ghost of it's former self.  The Covid-19 pandemic and the requisite response to it, in an effort to save perhaps hundreds of our neighbor's lives, has closed our flower shop and most other business in Langley.  The image above was from 5 PM on Tuesday, March 17th.  On a normal day at this time, even on a Tuesday, parking is scarce on 1st Street.  This was the last day our shop retail was fully open, as we are now open for deliveries and e-commerce only.  [Insert}{Shamelessplughere} While you're on the site, take a look at our offerings. {/Insert}{/Shamelessplughere}

While walking through town with our dog, Moon earlier in the day, it was just as deserted.  Vacant, yet gorgeous.  Spring has not been canceled in Langley, and although I didn't see any grey whales today, they were just off shore yesterday.  The juxtaposition of beautiful gardens, mountain & water views, and the quaint village atmosphere with the chaotic serenity of a pandemic was jarring.  My little town...My poor little, fragile village seemed in a coma.  The Star Store grocery the only hub of nervous activity; a delicate dance of a dozen people keeping 6 ft away in a small town grocery.  I held back tears seeing Langley in such a state.  Those tears spilled out in the embrace of my wife back in the shop.  It's okay to cry in such times.  It felt good to cry.  I'd been holding it in for days, so if you're like me you have my permission to let it out too.  You'll feel better.  Remember, we'll get through this if we stick together, and just imagine the celebration we'll have when it's all over.

We're still here...Love from a distance.  We're offering free delivery to South Whidbey.  We can deliver anything in the shop, including full service floral.  Our gift certificates are available to buy beauty for the future. 

Love to all,

​Ben.