Pandemic 2020

April 9, 2020 – Pandemic

There is much to write about but not much writing in me. While others have been inspired to write poetry, to give of themselves and find great strength and new wisdom in this experience. I have none of that. I’m just mostly trying to be sane and get by. Maybe something will come later. For now, I’m just taking care of myself and Don and keeping my environment sort of clean. To be sure there has been plenty to keep my busy. We closed up our house in Texas, drove for 3 days and opened our house in Minnesota which does feel much safer. The drive north was nerve wracking for me anyway. We had to spend 2 nights in hotels. We mostly ate food that we brought with us. We had to stop for gas and use public restrooms. Went through a lot of Clorox Wipes and left most gas pumps cleaner than we found them. Then we drove through winter weather through half of Missouri, Iowa and Southern Minnesota. Made for a long day but we were bound and determined not to spend another night in a motel. Brother Dick traveled with us till Mason City. He was towing his little camper which didn’t want to trail well so we mostly drove around 62 MPH. We were towing a trailer too, so had to stop for gas about twice as often as we would have with just the car. We made it and it’s been almost a week and none of us are sick so it looks like we made it. 

April 17, 2020

Today, I combed my hair when I got dressed because the Culligan man came to service the water softener. I wonder how long it will take whenever this is all over for me to stop washing my hands like I’m preparing to perform surgery. My personal care has slacked off. There is no reason to wear a bra anymore and I occasionally remember to comb my hair. I no longer bother blowing it dry and try to bathe every other day whether I need it or not.  I really haven’t left this house since we got home except to go get the mail. Don, however, makes occasional trips to buy groceries or to purchase materials for the construction project we have going on in the basement to create a wood shop out of the dungeon area which is below our garage. We have daily contact with our children and grandchildren (which now number 3)

Jett - The big sister

 Andalusia Yseult Schlessman - April 7, 2020

Edith enjoying a spring day.

though we don’t get to see any of them since we are among the “old and vulnerable”. The weather is going to warm up today and soon I will venture out to walk in the park which is near my house.

The construction project is keeping us busy and providing us a productive workout opportunity which they say is important when you are stuck at home. It also gives us a chance to use our brains and solve problems which I guess is also good for us and hopefully when we are done, we will have a nice little shop to putter in. 

The only company we have are service guys. So far, we have had the cable guy who outfitted us with badly needed internet service and the Culligan man who looked at the used water softener we are purchasing and proclaimed it just fine. Next will be a refrigerator repairman because our refrigerator is not freezing our food. These guys, of course, all create risk for catching the virus. They make me nervous though Don assures me that I’m over reacting. I hope so.

News from Texas

I like to watch the CBS Series “God Friended Me” which airs on Sunday night. It kind of reminds me of “Touched by an Angel”. The reason I like it is because the millennials in the story are so refreshingly good and the cinematography makes New York City look pristine and beautiful. We have it recorded on our DVR so the other day we were watching the March 3 episode and it was jarring to realize that everything has changed and if it was produced today nothing would look like it did. Two young people were lined up with 20 others at a food truck all touching each other. The streets were crowded. The main characters meet up at a bar where they discuss their problems. It was kind of like watching a tv show after 9/11 in which the Twin Towers filled the skyline. Also there was an ad from Mike Bloomberg running for president. That was a long time ago… March 3.

On March 2, I came down with a respiratory virus…. Not covid-19. (BTW Microsoft Word does not know COVID-19 yet. It didn’t correct my spelling.) The only reason I know is that it wasn’t COVID 19 is because no one around me got sick and it was not a dry cough. I had been terribly busy all during February with Palmdale activities, going out to eat, volunteering at the library and porch parties with my small group of friends so I didn’t feel bad retreating into my house and staying away from people for a while. Who knew that it would become more or less permanent? Ray and Cyndi went back to Omaha and Lee and Max returned to Lake of the Ozarks and today Elmer and Penny set out for Alberta, Canada. Now it’s just my brother Dick and us. Soon most of the others will be heading north.

Like everyone else, our plans are out the window and we are not sure of our best course of action. We are taking it day by day. We don’t know when we will head north or even if we will be allowed at some point. Not sure where is the best place to be since there isn’t a record of the virus spreading around here yet.

Social distancing is HARD. Managing anxiety isn’t easy. Facebook is turning out to be a pretty neat way to be connected and share information, wisdom and humor. I love how that is working right now. Thank God for Facebook.

Winter 2020

So here is the thing. I haven’t written in a while. I don’t seem to have much to say. It’s not that there isn’t much to write about. This season I seem to be more into doing and less into talking. Talking seems to be something that is overdone anyway. I hear people, especially those in the news, saying things and I think, “What’s the point? Words seem to be quite meaningless since we can’t agree on reality. No matter how eloquent or impassioned a speech, what is the point?”  So, what is the point of writing. I have one very selfish reason for writing. It helps me remember where I’ve been, who I’ve spent time with, and what I did. When I post on my blog, I am forced to pick out pictures and so out of the thousands of pictures I’ve taken, a few will remain part of my story. When I hear that someone follows my blog, it makes me happy. I love that someone is enjoying what I’ve written so I try to make it interesting and add a little humor. That’s a good point. 

The White Board

This morning I went to yoga. Yes, we now have yoga at 8:00 AM twice a week. I never feel like going, don’t always enjoy it but of all the activities I’m involved in, I know that this is the best one for me. Kind of like eating kale, but I don’t do that unless someone sneaks it into food at potluck. One of my fellow yogis said to me, “You seem to do everything here. You are in every exercise there is.” There is some truth to that but some days I have to choose like between line dancing and golf. I even play shuffleboard this year and have had my name on the white board a couple times.

Besides those activities, Don and I also go 3 times a week for a half hour walking exercise class. So now when the doctor asks if I exercise at least a half an hour 5 days a week, I’m not lying when I say yes.

My brother Dick is now a Winter Texan and brought his own camper down. He is parked out by the front gate. His favorite activity is sitting at his picnic table reading mystery novels.

Dick's Scamp

He is working his way through the Palmdale library and getting a pretty good tan in the process. He brought his big Kitchen Aid mixer and keeps it at my house. If he had it in his camper, it would take up most of the space and besides, he doesn’t have an oven. So it stays here and he comes over sometimes to bake. Yesterday he made some dinner rolls to take to potluck. I love having him here.

Some of Dick's work

 

 

We have some new friends, Penny and Elmer from Alberta, Canada. Actually, they are from Alberta kind of like we were from South Dakota. Their son lives there so they are using him as their mail forwarding service though they say he is not very reliable. Penny and Elmer have joined our little group that gets together frequently to eat and drink on our screen porch around the Texas table. We enjoyed the Super Bowl together and have plans to do the Port of Brownsville tour and have a going away party for Ray and Cyndi. Big sad face. Ray and Cyndi have decided not to come back next year. It has gotten too difficult to manage in their camper so they sold it and are leaving before the first of March. We will miss them.

The best of Palmdale

Better than the best at the Kite Fest SPI

That brings me to one of the hardest things about living in a retirement community – losing people. Ray and Cyndi will settle in Florida sometime later this year. Maybe we will get to Florida sometime to see them but possibly not. We will for sure stay in touch. Palmdale won’t be the same for us without them as they came the same year we did and we have enjoyed many adventures with them. We have other friends who didn’t come back this year for the same reason. Living in a place like this requires some kind of emotional nimbleness. To form good friendships, celebrate the time together and be able to let them go and mourn the loss. All the while making new friends, not to replace old friends because they are not replaceable. So I guess it’s just kind of like life…only on steroids.

Kite Festival South Padre Island 02-02-2020

 
I went to Minnesota again this year. So far, I haven’t missed Edie’s birthday though technically this year I didn’t actually see her on her birthday. It was on a Tuesday and I was in Coon Rapids (35 miles away) and I could have borrowed a car but driving after dark on a freeway in January in Minnesota is way too intimidating for me.

A sample of our water colors

I had some alone time so I took it out

Jean, Elaine, Kay and me

I had all three of my sisters at my house in Coon Rapids for a few days and that was a lot of fun. We did a jigsaw puzzle, worked a crossword puzzle,

Kelly Jean

Unless I had visitors, I didn’t have a car. So I used Uber, the commuter train, light rail and bus to get around. That worked pretty well. My biggest problem is that the trains are set up for people who work for a living. There are 5 trains heading into the city before 8:00 AM so on Friday, Kelly was flying in from Pennsylvania in the morning and a big snow storm was forecast. I thought I’d better get to Greg’s house and be prepared to spend a couple of days. My Uber ride came early so I ended up on an earlier train and watched the sun come up as I went into the city getting to his house around 8:00 AM. That was a little early. Kelly arrived and we hung out for a while before going for lunch and as it turned out we were able to go back to Coon Rapids for a couple of days of the long weekend.We played some games and tried to walk in the new snow fall but the wind was biting cold and we stopped pretty quick. Greg had to work on Saturday so we had some groceries delivered and cooked him a pot roast when he came home. That was the third pot roast that I enjoyed while I was in Minnesota as we made one at Greg’s house the first weekend I was there. We went to a community theater to see “The Dot” on Sunday and Greg took his family home for a day of rest. Kelly and I stayed in Coon Rapids and made some fish chowder from some food I had left in the house. Enjoyed a lovely quiet evening.

The next morning we closed up the house and Ubered into the city where we had lunch with my brother Byron and niece Kelsey. I spent the night with Greg, Peggy and Edie. I gave Edie simple little sewing machine and she and I spent some time figuring out how to use it. Greg dropped me at the light rail the next morning. I caught an early flight, came back to warm sunshine and jumped on the Palmdale activity train. Overall, a very satisfying trip and having a house there is pure luxury.

My Beautiful Granddaughters Christmas 2019

April is the best...

I

Sparky is whole again thanks to Palmdale resident LC Boyer's 

handiwork

I realized that I skipped the month of April in my blog posts. Here are pictures to show that it really was a special month.