Life in the time of the coronavirus

I was supposed to be in Phoenix, Arizona last week for the Desert Botanical Garden's big plant sale—think thousands upon thousands of plants to choose from! The day before my flight, however, I decided not to go because the reported number of coronavirus cases was growing exponentially and the risk of getting infected at the airport, on the plane, in the hotel, or elsewhere in public seemed too great. In hindsight, that proved to be the right decision because the Desert Botanical Garden ended up canceling the plant sale and California governor Gavin Newsom ordered all residents to shelter in place.

Before we were able to hunker down in Davis, my wife and I made a quick down-and-back trip to Southern California to pick up daughter #2 from college. All her spring quarter classes were moved online, and students were encouraged to leave the dorms.

The freeways were eerily empty. Mostly trucks—actually, a lot of trucks!

And social distancing messages all along the freeways:

We made it to Irvine in a record 7 hours. Traffic was light even on the notorious 405, the “busiest and most congested freeway in the United States.” Usually we go to great lengths to either hit the 405 early in the morning or avoid it altogether, but this time it was smooth sailing both coming and going.

During our brief overnight stay in Irvine, there was no time for anything plant-related but I did take this photo of an Agave americana while picking up takeout—proof that there are agaves wherever you go:

Back at home, I've been extremely busy with work. Since our clients are in the software industry, there's been a mad scramble to get out COVID-19 messages to customers, reassuring them of continued service, etc. And on the weekend, there's nothing better to take my mind off the gloom and doom than a bad movie: 

Ultimately, though, the one thing that keeps me sane is the garden. Nothing bad is happening there. Quite the opposite: Unexpected sightings of beauty, like these flowers on a Thelocactus rinconensis var. lophothele, bring joy when I least expect it.

The biggest thing that happened over the last two weeks, however, is the addition of a new family member. Meet Tofu!

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