We were scheduled to leave on a trip to the west coast this Sunday. It has, of course, been postponed, or possibly canceled. For months, we have planned and plotted our itinerary, picturing ourselves at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, followed by a few days in the French Quarter. Then on to San Antonio, where we would enjoy the Riverwalk and explore the Alamo.
We are, however, having a new kind of adventure: lockdown. Can we survive together for god knows how long in our condo together with no visitors or parties or trips to Buckalews or shopping expeditions? Will we hate each other by the end of one week or two? Or will we be like a sitcom couple, sweetly playing board games and sipping iced tea? A sort of 21st century Ozzie & Harriet? I could get Joe a cardigan. Or was that Mr. Rodgers?
In order to avoid becoming complete coach potatoes, I have set out a list of tasks to accomplish during our enforced togetherness. Admittedly, these tasks include many things that we have both avoided like the plague in the past, like clearing out the garage, but, perhaps foolheartedly, I am optimistic; looking forward to that wonderful sense of accomplishment I will feel when we actually have a tidy garage. I have resolved that this time will be different from when I broke my foot and instead of sorting through boxes of papers I binge watched Netflix. (When I broke my wrist I watched 8 years of Lost; pneumonia: 7 years of Pretty Little Liars) of course in those instances, I was truly incapacitated, although I have anal friends who would have managed to accomplish something during their invalid time.
We are in Day 3 of Lockdown. We have walked every day. I have sorted papers. We also have started happy hour early and are getting our money's worth from Netflix and HBO. I can only watch so many updates on the coronavirus without wanting to tear out my hair. We wish to remain calm; serenely awaiting our fate. Will we eventually get to California? Stay tuned. The blog is up!
We are, however, having a new kind of adventure: lockdown. Can we survive together for god knows how long in our condo together with no visitors or parties or trips to Buckalews or shopping expeditions? Will we hate each other by the end of one week or two? Or will we be like a sitcom couple, sweetly playing board games and sipping iced tea? A sort of 21st century Ozzie & Harriet? I could get Joe a cardigan. Or was that Mr. Rodgers?
In order to avoid becoming complete coach potatoes, I have set out a list of tasks to accomplish during our enforced togetherness. Admittedly, these tasks include many things that we have both avoided like the plague in the past, like clearing out the garage, but, perhaps foolheartedly, I am optimistic; looking forward to that wonderful sense of accomplishment I will feel when we actually have a tidy garage. I have resolved that this time will be different from when I broke my foot and instead of sorting through boxes of papers I binge watched Netflix. (When I broke my wrist I watched 8 years of Lost; pneumonia: 7 years of Pretty Little Liars) of course in those instances, I was truly incapacitated, although I have anal friends who would have managed to accomplish something during their invalid time.
We are in Day 3 of Lockdown. We have walked every day. I have sorted papers. We also have started happy hour early and are getting our money's worth from Netflix and HBO. I can only watch so many updates on the coronavirus without wanting to tear out my hair. We wish to remain calm; serenely awaiting our fate. Will we eventually get to California? Stay tuned. The blog is up!
APRIL 15 2020
Day 31 of Lockdown
We are still speaking and actually getting along pretty well. Our ambitious plans to accomplish all kinds of projects have not happened...yet. Still hoping we may work up the energy. Our excuse for not cleaning out the garage is that is too cold or too rainy or too windy, or all three. Spring on LBI is not nice weather wise, as it tends to be cold and very windy. We have, however, kept our pledge to walk every day, which has been helped by our decision to foster a small dog. Keke is an 8 year old little toy poodle who had been badly neglected and came into the shelter with matted, filthy fur, unspayed, several small tumors, a hernia and ear infections. Plus fleas. She also needs dental work, and actually has buck teeth. The shelter had her treated for the fleas, groomed, and took her to the vet, who treated the ear infections. The vet, however, cannot do surgery on her that is not emergency or essential until our crisis is over. Therefore, we can only foster, not adopt. When everything opens up, she will have her surgery and then we will permanently adopt her.
A word about her name: When I was a very small child, my grandmother had a little cairn named Cricket. They lived with us and I apparently could not quite manage "Cricket" so I said "Keke." I thought that since the first dog I lived with was called Keke, perhaps our final dog should have the same name. Keke is loving in spite of her history of neglect and follows me around. She is a lap dog, which is perfect for me. We felt a large dog would be too much for us, plus we do not have a fenced yard, or actually any yard at all. Keke is perfect!
Day 31 of Lockdown
We are still speaking and actually getting along pretty well. Our ambitious plans to accomplish all kinds of projects have not happened...yet. Still hoping we may work up the energy. Our excuse for not cleaning out the garage is that is too cold or too rainy or too windy, or all three. Spring on LBI is not nice weather wise, as it tends to be cold and very windy. We have, however, kept our pledge to walk every day, which has been helped by our decision to foster a small dog. Keke is an 8 year old little toy poodle who had been badly neglected and came into the shelter with matted, filthy fur, unspayed, several small tumors, a hernia and ear infections. Plus fleas. She also needs dental work, and actually has buck teeth. The shelter had her treated for the fleas, groomed, and took her to the vet, who treated the ear infections. The vet, however, cannot do surgery on her that is not emergency or essential until our crisis is over. Therefore, we can only foster, not adopt. When everything opens up, she will have her surgery and then we will permanently adopt her.
A word about her name: When I was a very small child, my grandmother had a little cairn named Cricket. They lived with us and I apparently could not quite manage "Cricket" so I said "Keke." I thought that since the first dog I lived with was called Keke, perhaps our final dog should have the same name. Keke is loving in spite of her history of neglect and follows me around. She is a lap dog, which is perfect for me. We felt a large dog would be too much for us, plus we do not have a fenced yard, or actually any yard at all. Keke is perfect!
Our granddaughter Meghan graduated from Rutgers, New Brunswick this year and her sister Lulu graduated from Collingswood. Due to Covid, there were no graduation ceremonies as in the past. Lulu and her class also had no prom and no class trip. Bobbi, who plays lacrosse for the College of N.J. had her season abruptly ended. Jamie and Nancy had a little party for the girls and we were able to attend as it was all outdoors.
In May, we all walked across the bridge from Manahawkin to LBI in support of BLM and to protest the death of George Floyd.
Keke Goes Camping
We are camped in our favorite Lancaster County campground, Millbridge, so named after the covered bridge which was here when we first started coming, but has now been disassembled and taken away. A week ago we decided to take a safe trip, not too far away and social distancing whilst at the campground. This, of course, is Keke's first camping trip and she hasn't quite decided whether she likes it or not. There are, of course, wonderful new smells and scents to follow, plus some strange new animals to bark at; especially the Pekin duck which hangs out here and paid us a visit!
Joe and I are wonderfully relaxed and just kicking back and enjoying being away from home for the first time in three plus months! Here are some pictures:
We are camped in our favorite Lancaster County campground, Millbridge, so named after the covered bridge which was here when we first started coming, but has now been disassembled and taken away. A week ago we decided to take a safe trip, not too far away and social distancing whilst at the campground. This, of course, is Keke's first camping trip and she hasn't quite decided whether she likes it or not. There are, of course, wonderful new smells and scents to follow, plus some strange new animals to bark at; especially the Pekin duck which hangs out here and paid us a visit!
Joe and I are wonderfully relaxed and just kicking back and enjoying being away from home for the first time in three plus months! Here are some pictures:
SUMMER IS GONE BUT AUTUMN IS GLORIOUS
The Falll weather has been wonderful. Today was a glad to be alive, to hell with the pandemic, let's go to the beach kind of day. Keke and I went after lunch and it was so great to walk barefoot on the sand and let Keke explore. I found lots of tiny shells for my narrow necked bottles and Keke found some interesting stuff to roll in. Fortunately nothing smelly or rotten! She also found a large dog to romp with. Keke has no fear of very large dogs and always greets them with enthusiasm.
Keke is still wearing a bandage from her surgery several weeks ago to remove a large tumor on her side. She pulled out her stitches and got an infection, so we have been running her to the Vet in Cherry Hill every few days. She now seems to be healing well and we are hopeful that this Saturday's visit will be our last for a while.
As we prepared to leave the beach, the mist started rolling in. We have had a lot of heavy fog lately, sometimes all day. But today, at least it waited until late afternoon.
Keke is still wearing a bandage from her surgery several weeks ago to remove a large tumor on her side. She pulled out her stitches and got an infection, so we have been running her to the Vet in Cherry Hill every few days. She now seems to be healing well and we are hopeful that this Saturday's visit will be our last for a while.
As we prepared to leave the beach, the mist started rolling in. We have had a lot of heavy fog lately, sometimes all day. But today, at least it waited until late afternoon.
KEKE GOES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE
Toward the end of August, Joe and I set out to visit my sister in the Catskills. Alice and Mario have a bungelow there in a peaceful meadow with other bungelows scattered around and a lot of acreage. There is even a pond. Alice and I hadn't seen each other in months, thanks to the pandemic, so it was great to have a visit. Keke enjoyed the open areas and was a good house guest. We try to visit every summer, but this time we took our little travel trailer, as we were heading for New Hampshire after our stay in Monticello.
After several restful days, we left for a campsite in New Hampshire near Dover, where Charlie is living and also near Newport, where Maggie and her husband live. Johnny is about to leave the Navy, but at the time was still in Hawaii and he and Maggie haven't seen each other since January, again due to the pandemic.
We arrived on Friday night and Saturday morning, Charlie picked us up, Keke too, and drove us to his house. It's a big old place with a nice sized yard, and Charlie shares it with a group of young people...everyone has their own room and they share bathrooms and kitchen. Maggie came over and we walked downtown to a cafe where we had a nice brunch. Outside, of course. Keke behaved fairly well, although there were some other dogs to bark at!
After lunch we walked back to Charlie's back yard and sat outside drinking wine. It was so nice to catch up with our grandchildren...we enjoyed it very much. At dinner time we went to Kittery Maine and had a great dinner on the waterfront, followed by a trip to a nearby beach where we could have a fire. The scene was so pretty at the beach, with little campfires all along the beach. Maggie brought along her dog, Nelson, so we had two puppies with us! I should also mention that our generous grandchildren paid for both lunch and dinner!
Sunday, Charlie had to work and of course, Maggie had her Church responsibilities. She is the choir director at Exeter Episcopal Church and although everything is still pretty much remote, it involves a lot of planning and preparation. Joe and I relaxed at the campsite all day, and then drove to Maggie's house, which we had not seen yet for a pizza dinner. We were hoping that Charlie would be able to join us, but he couldn't get away from work. He is a bartender at a local country club and weekends are pretty busy. We had a really good time and best of all, it was relaxing and fun!
Toward the end of August, Joe and I set out to visit my sister in the Catskills. Alice and Mario have a bungelow there in a peaceful meadow with other bungelows scattered around and a lot of acreage. There is even a pond. Alice and I hadn't seen each other in months, thanks to the pandemic, so it was great to have a visit. Keke enjoyed the open areas and was a good house guest. We try to visit every summer, but this time we took our little travel trailer, as we were heading for New Hampshire after our stay in Monticello.
After several restful days, we left for a campsite in New Hampshire near Dover, where Charlie is living and also near Newport, where Maggie and her husband live. Johnny is about to leave the Navy, but at the time was still in Hawaii and he and Maggie haven't seen each other since January, again due to the pandemic.
We arrived on Friday night and Saturday morning, Charlie picked us up, Keke too, and drove us to his house. It's a big old place with a nice sized yard, and Charlie shares it with a group of young people...everyone has their own room and they share bathrooms and kitchen. Maggie came over and we walked downtown to a cafe where we had a nice brunch. Outside, of course. Keke behaved fairly well, although there were some other dogs to bark at!
After lunch we walked back to Charlie's back yard and sat outside drinking wine. It was so nice to catch up with our grandchildren...we enjoyed it very much. At dinner time we went to Kittery Maine and had a great dinner on the waterfront, followed by a trip to a nearby beach where we could have a fire. The scene was so pretty at the beach, with little campfires all along the beach. Maggie brought along her dog, Nelson, so we had two puppies with us! I should also mention that our generous grandchildren paid for both lunch and dinner!
Sunday, Charlie had to work and of course, Maggie had her Church responsibilities. She is the choir director at Exeter Episcopal Church and although everything is still pretty much remote, it involves a lot of planning and preparation. Joe and I relaxed at the campsite all day, and then drove to Maggie's house, which we had not seen yet for a pizza dinner. We were hoping that Charlie would be able to join us, but he couldn't get away from work. He is a bartender at a local country club and weekends are pretty busy. We had a really good time and best of all, it was relaxing and fun!
,On Monday, we drove to Hollis, New Hampshire where my high school friend, Lori, lives. We had a great visit with Lori and her husband, Jack and enjoyed sitting by their beautiful pool. Keke got to explore the yard. We had a wonderful dinner and really caught up. We probably hadn't seen each other for a couple of years. We parked our trailer in their driveway, and Jack hooked up electric for us, so we could sleep there. The next morning we had a nice breakfast, said our goodbyes and headed home.
We drove all day and actually made it home late afternoon/early evening. We were exhausted, but happy that we had had such a successful trip, filled with seeing friends, grandchilden, and my sister and her husband. Pandemic be damned, it was time well spent.
We love to travel, but are always glad to return to our beautiful island.
We drove all day and actually made it home late afternoon/early evening. We were exhausted, but happy that we had had such a successful trip, filled with seeing friends, grandchilden, and my sister and her husband. Pandemic be damned, it was time well spent.
We love to travel, but are always glad to return to our beautiful island.
THE POCONOS IN AUTUMN/EARLY WINTER
We just returned from a three day camping trip at Otter Lake near Stroudsburg, Pa. It was very cold, but we did enjoy getting away from it all!
CHRISTMAS 2020
We spent Christmas and Thanksgiving alone for the first time ever. For Thanksgiving, we cooked a turkey and ate it for a week. Not wanting to repeat that experience, I made a lasagne for Christmas Dinner. It was very tasty and we had manageable left overs! We were very lucky that our children, masked and social distanced, visited us over the weekend before Christmas. It made things a little less lonely. We did enjoy the Christmas tree on the beach, put there by the Silver Sands Surf Club. It was decorated with shells, each one in memory of a loved one. We hung a sand dollar with "Buddy" and a heart inked on it. We had a little opening ceremony and it was well attended. On Christmas Day we had a Zoom cocktail party and I was thrilled that all grandkids and children were on it.
We spent Christmas and Thanksgiving alone for the first time ever. For Thanksgiving, we cooked a turkey and ate it for a week. Not wanting to repeat that experience, I made a lasagne for Christmas Dinner. It was very tasty and we had manageable left overs! We were very lucky that our children, masked and social distanced, visited us over the weekend before Christmas. It made things a little less lonely. We did enjoy the Christmas tree on the beach, put there by the Silver Sands Surf Club. It was decorated with shells, each one in memory of a loved one. We hung a sand dollar with "Buddy" and a heart inked on it. We had a little opening ceremony and it was well attended. On Christmas Day we had a Zoom cocktail party and I was thrilled that all grandkids and children were on it.
