A few days to relax

 My brother is going camping in a week and has invited me to join him.  I decided to drive out to the state park next Saturday and spend a few days.  I invited my sister and her husband to visit some evening.  I cleared my schedule.  I am taking the pop-up tent trailer.  I texted my brother about helping with set up.  I can't back the trailer up and don't want to run over anything.  Since I am leaving from work, I need to find a place to park the car and trailer. At the park, I hope to go out in my brother's boat, ride my bike and gather information and dates of camping trips taken in my lifetime.  I'm hoping my brother has photos of my children camping with their cousins.  I would like to figure out years our friends from Missouri camped with us.  Once the research is done, I want to make a book of all my camping adventures.  I began camping when I was 10 months old.  I hope my husband and the animals do okay while I am gone.  I need to stop this worrying about everything.

Relaxation

Last weekend my husband, adult children and their spouses or partners, grandchildren and granddogs met at a state park on the west side of the state, on Lake Michigan.  Unlike the holidays, we relaxed at the beach, grilled burgers and brats and sat around the fire.  The weather was perfect...it rained maybe three drops.  My husband, son, daughter and her husband played a round of golf.  It was a nice reprieve from the covid, politics and riots.  I feel peaceful and ready to attempt a healthier lifestyle.

Yesterday

I had a tough day yesterday!  Someone had left two boxes of vases by the front of the store.  I emptied the boxes.  One was wet from rain, so I decided to throw the box on the trash.  As I walked toward the dumpster   a heavy duty wrecker came beating toward me.  The driver saw me and steered away and my heart pumped away.  I came back into the store and my phone rang.  My brother called to tell me that our aunt, Dad's sister, passed away the night before.  I didn't know that a couple weeks ago she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  She was funny and loving and I miss her.  I drove to the farm for a riding lesson.  The horse dragged me into a stall to turn around
Greenie that I am I thought she wanted to eat but she wanted to be in the aisle facing the other way.  I practiced 2 point and trotting over ground poles.  It was a circus.  Rider and stallion practicing reining, 2 other students and horses having a lesson.  Bit unnerving for my instructor and me.  I told my teacher that I had some time off and would enjoy camping with the horses at a nearby equestrian camp.  She laughed and said it sounded like a lot of work.  My friend took a photo of my horse and me, but unfortunately I pressed a combination of buttons which cleared the phone to factory specifications.  I spent last night and today resetting the phone and saving photos.  As far as the virus....I had thought our state was safe, but after 34 people tested positive after having a drink in a bar. I know that I need to remain vigilant.

Happy Father's Day

Neither my husband's father nor my father is alive.  Yet we have happy memories in our hearts of  camping trips, holiday activities and special talks.  Tomorrow we celebrate.  We celebrate all those who are acting as a father.  My family  is gathering to share a meal and give my husband a surprise or two.  We will give our son-in-law a card and gift too.  In this year of the virus, my family is looking forward to Dad's Day.  We are looking forward to sharing a meal and making happy memories to replace the sad memories of the virus.  And I will be remembering those families who are grieving the loss of a father or who cannot be together.

Making appointments

As the state opens, my husband and I are trying to catch up with appointments.  Both dogs need their nails clipped, and the mini dachsund needs grooming.  Both my husband and I need our hair cut.  I missed my eye appointment a year ago and had a long visit with my optometrist.  All is well except my astigmatism requires new glasses.  My husband and daughter's dental appointments and my physical were canceled.  The dental appointments were rescheduled but since my physical was canceled three times, I opted for referrals for my yearly mammogram and my once-every-three year dexa scan for osteopenia.  Pop bottles need to be returned and we need a few groceries.  Riding lessons have started.  We are all in a similar situation.  I try to remain positive and cheerful an

Doing the best I can

I went grocery shopping the other day, and as I pushed my cart up to the next marked square in the check out line, the woman in front of me said "6 feet!"  From then on I made sure I was way back from her.  Perhaps it took all her courage to go to the grocery store and she was feeling deep fear.  So if I could help her by staying far away, I would do it.  I've noticed that very few people want to chat.  They seem deep inside their heads.  Today I walked the dogs and actually was able to say hello to a couple and acknowledge the beautiful day.  My husband has been sad and I recognize that he has his reasons to be down.  He has had a wracking cough for 16 days.  He has been confined to the house.  I can tidy the house, make dinner, chat with him, but I can't turn back the clock to pre COVID days.  I am trying to be non judgmental.   Few people have been through a pandemic before and we are all doing the best we can.

My timeline

Certainly as I celebrated Christmas with my family, I wasn't thinking COVID-19.  We were redecorating the house.  We had carpenters, painters and carpet installers.  I was hoping that the work would be finished by Christmas, but it wasn't.  With all that was happening at home,  I missed any announcement about the mysterious pneumonia that was killing people in China.  However I was somewhat familiar with coronavirus when I read about the death of Dr. Li Wenliang on February 7.  I remember offering a prayer for three stranded cruise ships in early February.  For a year, my sister, niece, daughter and I had planned to attend the Philadelphia flower show in late February and early March.  The first positive New York case was discovered that weekend.  I returned home and the governor closed bars, restaurants and casinos and later issued a shelter in place order.  So now with lots of time on my hands, I read every scientific article to try to make sense of this disease.   What is coronavirus?  How does it affect the human body?  Where did the virus originate?  When will the virus disappear?  Will we develop herd immunity?  I read an excellent article in The Atlantic authored by Ed Yong about how the pandemic will end.  The story is evolving.