Judy. And how’s your boat doing? We are still sailing along, by now in the Athens house we told you about. It’s in a lovely neighborhood, not far from our daughter Leslie’s home. On one of our walks, we head her way and detour around another neighborhood to get in three miles—and wave to them as we pass. It’s so hard not to go hug them, but we hang on. Grandson Caed constantly reminds us, “Six feet, guys!” as we stand in the yard and chat at a distance. I don’t think he knows how far six feet is, as we’re much farther apart than that.
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| Our welcome sign! |
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| Our Home Away |
We still see son Stefan’s kids through video calls—where would we all be without those? I take a Bible study through Skype, yoga class through Zoom, talk to Leslie and family through Face Time, and Stefan and family through Hang Outs. And on Friday I’ll be on a panel of actors to talk to a middle school drama class through Google Meeting. Can’t we all agree on one? Still, I’m glad to have connection. On Easter the whole family “gathered” and talked for a couple of hours.
I don’t have to tell you about the huge changes happening. Our grandson Parker would have graduated on May 23. “School” will end on May 1, and he’ll get his diploma, but without proms or walking across the stage. It bothers him much less than other students; still, it hurts me to see them miss this. His band, Fishbug, released their first album “Inchworm”, and had planned a release party. Instead, they announced it on Facebook.
Our flights to London on May 24 were cancelled, not surprisingly, so our Europe trip with Leslie and her boys is off. We don’t know beyond that, or even where we’ll be in six weeks when our rental here is up. By the way, kudos to British Air for handling our refund so quickly and easily, and raspberries to United for charging us to put our “miles” back into our account.
My dental surgery had to be postponed because they can’t get a supply of gloves and masks, or feel wrong ordering them when so many hospitals need them more. Fortunately, it’s not an emergency.
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| Puzzle King! |
Friends, as always, have been wonderful, lending us their car, giving us paper products, or donating jigsaw puzzles. Our brother-in-love Leo is using his 3-D printer to make face masks, so we're covered when we are around people. While a lot of social media makes me crazy, I love the “View from my Window” on Facebook—photos sent in from folks all around the world, often adding, “When this is over, I hope you’ll visit me!” You know I’ll take them up on that.
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| A serious face mask! |
It’s odd to find myself stir-crazy when this is pretty much the lifestyle we’re used to. Maybe it’s the underlying fear that Covid-19 will be around longer and peak in the fall. I find myself periodically having nightmares or difficulty sleeping, despite the fact that I’m not normally aware of the stress.
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| A good place for yoga or study--our sunroom |
I still study Spanish, and, having finished the Intro to TESOL course, have begun Yale’s Science of Well-Being course, which is fascinating. A couple of times a week I check up on friends, and am delighted to tell you that my two friends who were ill with Covid-19 are recovering nicely, though very slowly. I’m finding knitting projects to do with the stash and leftover yarn I have. I’m grateful for all of these things, and for Ted, who’s the best quarantine mate I could have.
We are blessed.
