Diaries

So, who's started a coronavirus diary?

Not me, except if you count a couple of disconnected weekly letters.  David says he's been writing letters to Grandma and Pop, with the message that "I wish you were here (to see the children and grandchildren," and "I'm kind of glad you aren't here (to deal with the virus and how we're handling this, or not handling it)."  I think David says he mails them to Carnegie Lake, with no return address.

Here's a few things we've noticed that are different in our household.  The dishwasher fills up faster.  Because we're eating every meal at home, perhaps?  We have been sharing meals with Tim – sometimes he cooks, sometimes Mary.  But never me.  

We're spending more time on phone calls, or Zoom calls.  When we're on a Zoom call, the conversation invariably turns to what tv we're watching, and we spend a few minutes talking politics.  Not sure that it helps either the broader situation or our blood pressure.  We did have a few laughs about Clorox and Lysol, even though it really shouldn't have been funny.

We find we have to get out of the house for exercise, even when it rains.  Result – we've come back to the house drenched a couple of times, but happier than if we stayed home.  We get a lot more emails to join webinars and things, except on weekends when the emails trickle down.  Finally, people up here seem to be so eager to get out that it when it's been nice out, life seems almost reminiscent of the good old days – the parking lot at the boat ramp is full; the streets are full, usually with loud motorcycles; everybody's out walking.  

One more thing.  Even though we have nothing really to do, we still manage to run out of time at the end of each day.  How does that happen?  We have too many projects going at once.  Mary, for example, has been cleaning out the basement and drawers.  In the process, she has come across old pins, jewelry and small knick-knacks.  She found one pin and was about to throw it out.  We got out our magnifying glasses and saw in very tiny letters Panama and Coast Guard.  I seem to remember Pop saying he ended up in Panama with the Coast Guard.  David said he thought Gramps was in Panama during World War I.  Photos of the pin and Pop in the Coast Guard included here.

On to the category of Zooms.  We've had a couple of family Zooms.  Annie and Sankar work from home, with computers set up in different parts of the living space.  Their farmers market has opened back up with distancing requirements, and they too are doing daily walks.  Margaret and Andrew are fully occupied even though neither of them are working.  Well, being a new parent is work, and hopefully there are moments of joy thrown in.  Simon is eating well, and growing.  He has funny facial expressions.  All is well down in Brasilia, with Joe and Leonor and Thomas sitting the virus out in their home, far from the worst affected areas in that country.  We've figured out how to share a book with Thomas over Zoom, and at least we enjoy them.

Out in Dundee, Lur's father has landed in the hospital a couple of times after passing out.  They're not sure what's going on but the doctors have found a growth on his kidneys.  Lur's been staying with her mother, but with no one allowed in the hospital, it's hard for them to be in touch with doctors.

Down in Daytona, things are quiet.  John and Marilyn say that things are gradually opening up, including the swimming pool at their community center.  They've been playing cards and recommended a movie "Bad Education," which we watched and agreed with their recommendation.

The weather has turned above zero, so we're outside, getting ready.  A truck dumped mulch on our driveway, we have a few daffodils and the forsythia are blooming.  I've even mowed the lawn once.  That's progress.

Stay safe everyone, and healthy, and if you don't want to write a living through coronavirus diary but just want to record something for your great-grandchildren, just send an e-mail to popsweeklyletter.bubba@blogger.com.  It'll show up automatically on this website.

Love from up here.