Boxes

I was trying to create a mental image of what is happening in my little world.  The Corona pandemic has put us in boxes. Some are big boxes and some are tiny boxes.  The boxes I leap into have high walls even if they are larger than the box I just left.  No matter how high I leap to bravely land in the next box, I cannot see the horizon or even check out the box thoroughly before I land like the timid house mouse I have become.  I will not be able to see the horizon for a year or more.

Hubby and I ate out TWICE this week.  The first venue was a card table on a patio of the restaurant at least ten feet from any other table.  The second venue was a picnic table on the lawn of the restaurant also far from other tables and with canvas on the side to prevent those on either side from sending their breath our way.  Disposable menus, masked staff, and one-way doors in and out were the rule.  I felt reasonably safe.  I have reached the time in my life where I feel this venture is a bit necessary or I will accept being a hermit permanently.  We used alcohol gel on hands before touching utensils and glasses and then washed when we got home and tried not to touch our faces.  I did eat the french fries with a fork and then used my fingers toward the end.

I live in Trump country and most of the people I encounter think this is all too much carefulness (nonsense), which means I have to be even MORE careful.  I will NEVER understand how science became the enemy.

My daughter and her family drove down to the Carolinas to spend a week with friends and a week in a rental house on the beach last week.  She left the dog for us to watch.  Below nice and clean after I gave him a bath in the sink.

When daughter and family return on Sunday to get the dog I will be cautious about making the visit short and not inviting them inside for refreshment.  If they are OK in 14 days, I may drive up for a visit....maybe.  My daughter said she felt safer in a house that they rented...not sharing an elevator, not sharing a hallway, not needing a restaurant or sharing a swimming pool with anyone but the family they are close to.  She was in a much larger box for 10 days that I have encountered...but still a box!

Regarding Isaias., my daughter's vacation was denied only one day due to rain.  They were able to pool swim and beach walk and it has certainly been a wonderful trip for them.  Here in our area, we also had no trees down and missed the three tornadoes that were just miles away!  No flooding, but one leak in the roof above the upstairs bathroom!  Now not sure if that was wind-driven and not a problem or if we need to inspect the roof.

As an update from my last post, my friend from Scotland who IM's me weekly through FB revealed that he is indeed a "trans."  I thought our messages had been somewhat odd and while I playfully teased him about wearing red spangles, I am so glad I did not mess up and embarrass him or me by saying something stupid!  I asked a mutual friend and she told me he came out a little over a year ago.  I am sure he is terrified of his decision...especially in conservative Glasgow!  I then immediately Googled information on this, because I have not a clue how not to say something unknowingly mean or non-constructive.  I feel painfully for him as he is in his 40s and alone.  So hoping he lives a good and full life.

Planning on staying in the "home" box in the coming week, although I may go out food shopping.  I can order it in, but sometimes my list misses stuff as I start to cook---like my cornmeal.  Where in the heck did that go?

Hope all of my readers are finding their boxes well-cushioned and full of views of green grass and views of summer and a tiny window in the cardboard to see the future.

No One Gives Ideas on Handling the Somewhat Odd parts of Life

My husband seems to find an excuse to run an errand at least once a day.  Home confinement drives him crazy as he is a people person.  I am not.  I like people well enough, but unfortunately, I like them better across the Internet or through an email.  I think I fall short in the friendliness skill area.  I find I spend a bit more time on Facebook visiting others virtually as they handle the pandemic.

Friko asked if we could go out.  Our state is one that shut down early and has been able to maintain a flat line with few upticks.  Therefore, our stores are open, our restaurants are open as long as the food is served outside and tables are at half capacity, our doctors and dentists are accepting appointments if you are feeling it necessary.  Other retail outlets are also open.  We are required to wear masks in all indoor spaces and wear masks when we cannot distance outside.  We can now drive more than 100 miles from home and the few states to the north of us will let us in!!  I used hand sanitizer on myself and all over the car handles, etc. when I get home.

I still place the mail in a box by the door and then later spray with alcohol before I open it.  It may be a useless precaution, but we are dealing with life and death here.  I wipe down the wine bottles when I pull them out of the cooler for use and sometimes the boxes of food depending on how I feel.

We do not take trips yet, except that one to the historic city I wrote about earlier.  We got out in the canoe and the motor boat...but even those have been delayed due to the horrendous 90 degree days here.

I mentioned Facebook and wanted to write about two friends that seem to be messaging me quite often with rather long talks back and forth.  I am not really close to either of these people.  I met them at my son's wedding years ago and have not seen them personally since.  One is a former CIA person who now works for the emergency services in his state and the other is a young man who works on computer tech stuff near Glasgow, Scotland.  They both are in their early 40's and not married.  While we only talk about things like gardening or in the case of my Scottish friend, how he wants to dress up when he can finally get out and celebrate at a nearby bar... I do often wonder why they message an old lady like me.  They both have parents they are close to because I see the posts on FB.  They both have expressed a wish to find that "someone special" so maybe they are thinking I may know some single girls...which I actually do!  But cannot imagine how in this time and distance I could work out something.

Anyway, I cannot help but wonder if there was no pandemic, would I be juggling this unusual virtual friendship?  Life is funny and odd but, man, if I could hook these very nice men up, I would!!

Where Have I Been?

Where?  Here: fighting insomnia with a half pill of an over-the-counter sleep aid, dreaming deep complex dreams ( not necessarily bad dreams, just exhausting detailed events usually full of people I know), binge-watching my favorite British mysteries, and perhaps just procrastinating.

I have gotten housework done.  I probably do this because it takes my mind off of things.  Since we are home more, and hubby and I are together more, I find that hubby is slowly losing his short-term memory.  I may remind him 3 times a day, and unless it is something he wants to get done, it does not get done.  His mother started to lose her memory at his age, and that hangs over my head.  He has left the burner on twice this year!  He is aware of it and worried as he gulps down tons of flavinoids.  He is the one I always turned to for making plans and arranging trips. Good thing we do not have any trips in the future.  I am still trying to get him to cancel the hotel reservations in Hawaii that we made for our 50th anniversary.  We were going in December, even though our anniversary is actually this coming August.

My daughter is coming down the end of this week for us to babysit her dog while her family takes a vacation to the beach in South Carolina.  They have friends down that way.  We bought a timeshare there and they never want to use it, so now I have to figure out how to get rid of it.

I have an uptick in a chronic cough I have had for years.  This is not the time for that because of the pandemic.  I have no fever and do not feel exhaustion, so I just want this cough gone and in the past, the doctor has designated it is caused by post-nasal issues/allergies.  It will go away for months, but lately, it is hanging in there.  It will be hard to schedule a diagnostic appointment.

On another dark note, the south side of our brick home has a rather impressive crack in the brick going down 2.5 stories to the ground, and it now looks like we will have to install two of those helical piers to correct the foundation on that side.  4 to 5K!  Waiting for the engineer's estimate.  Hate to see the home I love aging.

A bad news/good news bit is that our neighbors who we like very much are moving to a larger community to the north.  The good news is that have a teak(!) gazebo that they gave to us and with our helper, we are converting it into an arbor for under the dogwood tree in the front yard.

Good news...there must be some...in no particular order...I will get to see the grand-children briefly when they come down in a few days.  

Good news...I have air conditioning in this hellish summer.

Good news...I am eating very healthy with all the fresh fruit and veggies from summer garden booths and our own garden.

Good news...I found a young gal to cut my hair out on my deck and she is pretty good.  We are slowly beginning to understand how to communicate how I like my hair.

Good news...I have a lot of e-books and regular books still waiting to be read.

Good news...I still have blogging and bloggers to "take me away."

Food and Flowers

In line with everything else that is unpredictable this year, our garden has been sporadic in its production. We got many sweet peas to eat, just not an abundance to freeze. (In actuality, when I freeze them, they do not taste nearly as good and we end up throwing the last few frozen bags out! )

 On the good side, there is not an abundance of Japanese Beetles dining on everything in sight. On the bad side, I have seen only 10% of my normal butterfly population at this time. Even the caterpillars are not eating away at my fennel as they usually do. 

 The heat and humidity are intolerable and thus you must garden before 8:00 AM or not at all. I did just 30 minutes of weeding and the sweat was leaking into my eyes!  Most of my flower beds have soaker hoses, so I do not have to stand outside holding a hose and trying to avoid wetting the foliage.

 Hubby got up early today and went fishing! He went alone as he was unable to get a friend to go along, and I worry about that a bit. The fish head will make great bait for crabs!  (Note he always wears a bandanna these days in case some emergency comes about and he has to talk to strangers.)

He also harvested the small number of blueberries that are just getting ripe yesterday and they will be dessert tonight. I will make a clafoutis for the first time.  We grew blueberries at the old house and they were so abundant we gave away pints.  Our shady and clay-like soil here at this house has made growing blueberries a big challenge and we are lucky to get just a few pints.

Today is a good day.  I am going to sleep through the bad days, I have decided.

Let Us Make It Better

Have a safe and meaningful Fourth of July to my American readers.  (Happy Independence Day to Canadians)  May we all learn to accept our differences, share our abundances, without shame take what is offered to us, and forgive those who trespass intentionally or accidentally.

Now is the time for a new and better day in America and you and I can and will make it happen.