Baker's heartbeat

       The basket of masks is located near the back door.  You can't miss it!      I ran errands a couple of weeks ago and encountered confusing face mask-wearing signs at two businesses.     One, at Green Thumbers, a flower vendor, said that masks not necessary inside the store. The second, at the Menard's store in north Davenport, said that unvaccinated persons should wear masks, others need not.     I put on my mask when indoors at both places.     I don't know about you, but I'm still cautious when shopping indoors.       We Bakers have been fully vaccinated since May, and both of us are quite healthy, thankfully.  But this "in-between" time of wearing, not-wearing masks, is problematic.     A smart friend suggested I simply social distance from others, indoors. That's very difficult at a place such as HyVee, the grocery store. I wore a mask when shopping there on Monday because there's literally no way to keep a proper social distance. Some shoppe

      I was happy to have finished my first 5K!         That's the 1973 girl's track team at Tipton High School.  ( I'm 4th from right, second row ) Folks at the Gigi's Playhouse Superhero event in Bettendorf.  They were most supportive of runners and walkers!      The June sun was shining, a light wind kept the humidity at bay and I was among a few hundred men, women and children who today (Saturday, June 5) ran a competitive 5K race on the Duck Creek bike path at Veterans Memorial Park, Bettendorf.     This was a fitness challenge I set for myself last year. When that became impossible I made it a priority this year. Regular blog readers will know that some of my main interests include staying fit and gardening. Gardening ( gardensirencall.blogspot.com ) takes priority this time of year.     But a user-friendly 5K,  https://gigisplayhouse.org  was set for June 5 and that race fit the bill. In fact, the hundreds of folks who gathered for the organization's ninth an