I  planted  my poem “Contact Tracing” on one of our favorite hiking trails this week. Paper, no plastic involved, so maybe the wind will blow it away, or better yet, the fox will get it. This was in response to an invitation from New Mexico poet Miriam Sagan and Bill Waters of Poetry in Public Places to participate in a Poetry Pop-up Party.

Contact Tracing

The hawk rides the thermals

above the sandy trail

where a horned toad bakes in the spring sunshine

under the blooming yucca cactus

across the trail from the red globe mallow in bloom.

A bit farther down, paw prints from the fox.

When your boot crunches on the trail

between the yucca and the globe mallow

next to the fox prints,

you have touched the hawk,

so soar and play in the high breeze

on this bright blue April day.

It was a sad day when MLB called off spring training this year. We had tickets for our annual pilgrimage to see two games the following week. It doesn’t seem like spring without our trip to sit in the stands and enjoy the warm spring air in Arizona. There is something about eating peanuts, drinking beverages of choice, and talking baseball with random people that helps me find my place in the American landscape. It is my chance to scout out this year’s Cubs and, like my uncle before me,  predict postseason glory. I love to listen to the Chicago accents from fans shouting advice to the dugout. I love the beer guys making the rounds and joking with the crowd. I love the sound when the bat connects with the ball for a big hit. This loss was only the beginning. No Opening Day at the end of March. No obsessing over the starting lineup and the rotation of pitchers. No afternoon baseball naps to the comforting sound of the murmur of the crowd. A glimmer of hope this week when I heard a news report that MLB is considering ways to televise games in spring training stadiums with no one in the stands. So far this season, I have to settle for watching baseball movies. Stupid virus.

My choice for my pandemic binge is cozy mysteries. They are my reading comfort food. I picked up my surprise pack of 4 cozies from my creative local indie bookstore, and I am set to delve into a series of dastardly deeds to be solved by quirky investigators in interesting places. Here we go. What are you going to binge read during the Shelter in Place? Do tell.