COVID, Floods, Slugs, and Other Joys

It’s been three months since my last status report, and I feel it’s time for another one. Things definitely haven’t played out as I anticipated them to. For one, I hoped I’d finally get enough free time to make significant headway on all of my pony and non-pony projects. Well, nope.

While I don’t like to admit it, the coronacrisis brought with it a wave of lethargy that killed my will do to anything. Once that one wore off, I still couldn’t enjoy much freedom, given I was called as a stand-in into a bunch of virtual classes (including History, for some reason. I still don’t know what were they expecting me to do there... ) and some open science projects. Still managed to work on my Czech handbook of biology during this time and even got the beta version out to the students before their finals, but that’s just a minor success.

On the bright side, the COVID-19 situation has been looking up in the last few weeks, the teachers mostly got their classes under control, the safety measures are being lifted, face masks are now mandatory only inside buildings and in public transport, and the epidemic seems to pose a serious threat only in the capital city and one coal mine close to Polish borders. Also, summer is coming and unless the second wave of coronavirus hits, everything should be fine. I got back to working on my stories and art, and, even while the progress is slow, I’ll hopefully report back in a few weeks with something new for y’all. (Also, I‘ll take this opportunity to publicly apologise to OConnerGT-R, who agreed to beta-read the upcoming Two Ponies, Four Names, a Daring Do and Tempest Shadow story, and still hasn’t received it after a few months. I’d promise to deliver it soon as possible, but turns out I’m really bad at this whole promising thing Still, I’ll try to get it out as soon as I can. Once more, sorry for the wait!)

However, even before the coronacrisis (or its most acute phase, anyway) could come to an end, a new problem appeared. We were battling a drought spell for a few months, when the weather suddenly flipped, and it started to rain. Even as I’m typing this, there’s a storm raging outside. Quite unsurprisingly, with the soil being almost baked dry, most of the water went straight in the rivers, and floods followed. Now these are nowhere close to the massive floods my country suffered in 2002 and 2013, but it still caused quite a bunch of troubles. I live in mountains, so I’m mostly safe, but a part of my family live in the lowlands by a large river, so I spent the last few days taking care of their kids and pets and helping prepare sacks of sand for barricading the door, should the water rise higher. Aaand besides the floods, the heavy rain also messed up my insect ground traps, so I found the conservation liquid inside diluted and the traps overflowing with drowned slugs. Yummy.

Still, seeing what’s going on in other countries, I don’t think it’s right to complaint about my petty issues. Hopefully we’ll all make it through this chaotic year and come out somewhat better—wiser, better prepared for another pandemic, more tolerant and not judging people by the luminal pH of their melanosomes alone. Stay safe, everyone, and, even if it’s sometimes neigh impossible, try to always look on the bright side of life.

Signing off and going to get rid of another slug-soup,
~Ever

Comments

[Bronycommander]

We can only hope and prey for the best

[MLPSolarDash1907]

I hope everyone you know and love continue to stay safe and you as well. Good luck out there.

[OConnerGT-R]

publicly apologise to OConnerGT-R,

Apology accepted. I assumed something came up on your end but never got around to asking about it. Take your time and when it gets done it gets done. I also really like the name you used for the story.

Well, nope.

That about sums up my endeavors as well.

I hope you and your family stay safe during these rather interesting times.

[EverfreePony]

5287754
Thank you Good luck to you and your loved ones as well!

[EverfreePony]

5287941
Thank you, both for the kind words and for understanding I considered sending you a PM, but that felt kind of empty and I kept hoping that I’ll finish it soon-ish.

I also really like the name you used for the story.

It was one of those rare moments when a molecule of inspiration hit me. And following the great Roald Dahl’s advice, I always make sure that I carry either a notepad or my phone to jot these ideas down before they vanish.

You stay safe as well, and may no more troubles stand in your way

[MLPSolarDash1907]

5287966
You're welcome. :) We're fine right now and I hope and pray it stays that way.