791st Friday Blog Roundup

Josh did our bi-weekly grocery store run this week, and he picked me up a basil plant as a treat. We named it Eadwynn, and placed it on the kitchen table by the window. And then the fretting began.

Is this the best place for her? And how often should I water her? And how do I harvest her leaves without killing her? I turned to the good people of Facebook who attempted to gently coach me through new plant ownership. But I am emotionally carrying a lot of plant killing baggage. I am not known for keeping plants alive.

I have grown unnaturally attached to Eadwynn. She like… my best friend now.

AMS, who no longer blogs but is responsible for the clickable map on the blogroll, has been walking me through how to be a good Plant Mother. Like getting her a bigger pot. And nurturing and harvesting her to keep her happy. I just want her to like living here. I want her to hang out with me and be my best plant friend.

I’m so glad you’re here, Eadwynn.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Another Weird Anniversary” (Infertile Phoenix)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Kveller has a wonderful essay about Covid-19 impacting family building. She writes about her infertility: “But now, after weeks of lockdown in the U.S. (and throughout most of the world), Covid-19 has become a magnifying glass on any issues with which someone might have been struggling before … Before Covid, infertility was a struggle that plagued me and my husband, Tzvi. Now, we feel even more uncertain than ever about whether we’ll ever be parents.” I think many will find something familiar in her words.

Lavender Luz has a guest post about adoptees and the pandemic. She explains how adoptees may be processing current events, and what they need to hear to feel reassured. She writes about the fears that kids may be feeling. I love love love what she says about emotions needing to move: “Right now I’m full of emotions — frustration, sadness, alarm, lack of control. Emotions need to move. This is not specific to adoptees, nor to children, nor to this pandemic … In a time of crisis, our basket of emotions can overflow pretty quickly if not regularly emptied. To empty my basket, I need a lot of sad books and movies.” Yes to the good cries that empty our baskets.

Project Progeny has dusted off her blog and writes about the sounds of the pandemic. “Every afternoon we hear sirens from police cars to initiate curfew. For a long time it was at 1:00 p.m., now it’s 5:30, and then the eerie silence begins. Eerie, but beautiful too. We hear birds, and wind, the quiet sounds of a neighborhood – voices, household sounds, even roosters.” The sights—yes—but I hadn’t thought about how the sounds have changed.

Lastly, Anabegins has a post that echos what is happening right now inside my head and home. She writes, “Taking it day by day helps. Just doing the next thing I have in my planner … If I think too far in advance it all falls apart. What is the rest of the year going to look like—if you asked me 2 months ago, I’d have given you a very detailed play by play of our family’s entire plan.” Same.

The roundup to the Roundup: Welcome to the family, Eadwynn. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between April 17 – April 24) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.