Quiet time

It rained off and on through the night, but no thunder or high winds, so quite peaceful. I did wake up several times...of course, I was in bed about 8:30...Ray's friend sent me a photo of them at the reunion, looking happy. If it was me, I'd be up and out of there...and probably back to Beverly by now. 

Tamara and I watched a movie, letters to Juliet, quite corny but pleasurable. We had chicken stir-fry and rice. Always nice to have help--she made the rice and cut up the broccoli and chicken, so it didn't feel like much work at all. I don't always have as much energy as I would like by dinner time. Good thing I don't have to take care of small children at the same time any more! 

Sunday is pancake day, so I made the bacon and mixed up the batter for whole wheat blueberry pancakes, using some half and half that was past its prime. Delicious! Although I miss Ray, there is a joy to cooking for myself and eating when I feel like it. He has been dutifully eating all the old pancakes from the freezer, which I was saving for some kind of emergency, or maybe just because I hate to throw them out. He should finish them sometime this week. Truly a labor of love--and counterproductive if you are trying to lose weight! I am committed to never having any left over from now on, which causes its own problems. Now I am waiting for T to come and eat, which probably will happen around 10, so I can eat the leftovers. 

I get up and wash a few dishes every 30 minutes or so. I want to have a clean kitchen, but I am leery of my back hurting. Standing seems to be the worst for it. The last time it spasmed and I had to lie down was after prepping some green beans for the freezer--not that difficult, but apparently too much for my back. 

I had yoga on Friday and I think that is good for it, strengthening my core and other muscles, but I am often achy afterwards, so not sure. 

Tamara and I went kayaking yesterday for just a little while--45 minutes maybe? It was warm but overcast. There was some choppiness, but not a lot of wind. I always enjoy getting out there on the water, it's very relaxing to me. It's great to have her help with carrying the kayaks down to the water; I can't really do that by myself. And she helped me get out, maybe the hardest part. This is the second time I've crossed the channel. It wasn't very busy yesterday. As a kayaker, I wait on the shore side of the big red can buoy and make sure no vessels are coming from either direction (like crossing the street) before paddling hard to get all the way across. It was fine yesterday, there wasn't much traffic, and I think most skippers would do their best to avoid us, but I prefer not to make that difficult. On the other side of the channel, we can wend our way among the moored boats. I generally ignore the motorboats and admire the sailboats. "That one's too big," I'll say to Tamara. "I couldn't count on handing it myself. But it should be big enough that I can take a friend or two." I'm not likely to get a sailboat--too expensive, too much trouble, one more thing to worry about. But Tamara says, "if you had a boat, what would you name it?" "That's a fun thing to think about," I say. "Maybe something French." I pause, thinking, "or Peace. No," I say, "I would call it the Annie B, after my Mom." 

Saturday afternoon

    I have 35 minutes until the cake is done. How much can I write in 35 minutes? Tomorrow is my Dad's 94th birthday. His favorite birthday cake has nuts and candied fruit in it. I never liked it much, sometimes it's a little dry and crumbly. He doesn't eat nuts and professes not to like desserts or sweets. He did, however, suggest that I could make him a white cake without nuts. In my research I found that a truly white cake has a lot of egg whites in it. I object to wasting a bunch of egg yolks. If I were having a dinner party like we used to do, I would make zabaglione with the egg yolks--it's basically Marsala and egg yolks--and sugar--chilled in fancy glasses, very rich and elegant. One or two egg yolks you can throw in scrambled eggs or pancakes. But 12-14 egg whites is a lot. I found a recipe for daffodil cake (McCall's Best Daffodil Cake). This uses some of the egg yolks (5) for a yellow cake with a little lemon zest that is marbled with the white cake in a tube pan or a Bundt pan (not sure the difference at the moment). Other advantages--no greasing the pan, no frosting! Hopefully, it will be beautiful and delicious and could become a new tradition. In any case, it fills the bill. I had about 4 egg whites left from other recipes (they keep a long time and I usually make meringues with them every now and then). So I only put about 9 egg whites in, rather than 12-14. It beat up most impressively and will probably be great. I also only sifted the cake flour a couple times, instead of the 5 it called for. And used a lot less lemon zest. I'll report back. 

    Today is Michael's birthday. Michael is my son-in-law since almost a month ago. Michael and his son (and my daughter) will come for dinner tomorrow night. If it is as nice tomorrow as it is today, we will eat dinner outside. We might cook some of the food on the grill. The menu has to be pretty limited, since my Dad does not eat many things. We can have green beans or yellow squash. The yellow squash could be cooked on the grill, so that's kind of fun. I'm thinking pork roast or pork tenderloins, but I still need to buy them and then marinate or rub them. For carbs, no rice (who can't eat rice?). I would make potato salad, but that might be hard on his digestion. No milk product, so no mashed potatoes...macaroni would be okay, but not macaroni salad and no cheese...so just plain potatoes I guess. 

(Oh, Dad's back from his swim; he went to the beach and said it was warmer than he expected. It is a lovely time of year here, early Fall. The ocean is warmer than in the early summer and the air is still pleasant.)

My husband is attending his 50th high school reunion. I could have joined him, but committed to attending the Massachusetts state Democratic party caucus. It was all on line, but I didn't know that at first. Lots of heartfelt speeches and hope for the future. We'll see. I did have a little nap afterwards, but Dad was calling for me. I never nap, so can hardly blame him for waking me up. He wanted to know why he didn't get the voice messages that people had left him. He did have one important message from last Wednesday, which he was going to return right away, but I pointed out that the message said to call back Monday through Friday 7-7... Then I had to test his phone, which was working but the volume was turned all the way down. He didn't know how he could have done that, but I pointed out that the volume was on the side and it was pretty easy to do. He said he never knew the volume knobs were there, but I think he did once. I guess there's no reason to get him a new phone, it might be harder for him to learn to use it. I can barely figure this one out, it's so old. Needless to say, it's not a smart phone. 

Today is Paturday. or is it Patturday? Every other Saturday morning, I leave the house early and get to Michael's about 6. His son is an early riser (and so am I), but my daughter and her husband like to sleep in on a Saturday morning. My grandson (by marriage) and I often play games, like Monopoly or Uno. Today he was teaching me a game I was not really excited about (Isaac and the 4 souls?). It seemed a little creepy, something he likes and I don't. (Also Michael likes and my daughter doesn't.) But we had a mission today. There were 4 bags of assorted Legos in the garage--big black plastic trash bags. My daughter had gone by The Container Store yesterday and bought a piece of plastic furniture--9 rainbow-colored drawers. The boy and I spent about 2 hours sorting the Legos into the right drawers--and we only got through half of the first bag! The color with the most Legos? Gray. There was not a gray drawer, of course, but we repurposed the pink drawer, not having any pink Legos. Purple was used for brown, and teal for white--and black. Not my system, but it worked, In fact, I thought we should sort them by shape. But he was sure they had been sorted by color before. 

Aside from my biweekly gift of spending time with his son, and the dinner tomorrow night, a start on sorting the Legos will have to do. 

Nearly normal?

It is starting to feel again like COVID is not the only thing to worry about. This is good. It is certainly one of my major concerns, but climate change is another. We were at a memorial service yesterday evening. Lots of people we hadn't seen in ages, many dealing with their own issues (thinking of a friend whose young adult daughter has a virulent form of cancer and others with health issues), coming out to support Nat and his family. His wife Stephanie died after 8 years of Alzheimer's, which they couldn't help but talk about, at 74. Yup, I could be starting to have it right now. She was fired from her job and had to leave a nursing career that meant a lot to her, mainly because she couldn't learn a new computer system, which is the kind of thing that often first indicates Alzheimer's. Both her parents had it, so her younger sister was not completely surprised, but devastated. Two children adopted from Colombia. 

The son described what their family was like growing up: he got a goat from Heifer International for Christmas when he was 7. I could identify, although that has been more recent for us. Those values are our values. 

Anyway, going to a memorial service with friends and acquaintances and strangers felt normal and helped me sort of recalibrate to post-COVID (?) life. The service was outside under a big tent. People were masked except when sitting at their tables with other vaccinated people. Our table had the 3 of us and one other couple. It was a beautiful evening, sunny to start with, but not too hot. There were sandwiches and spreads afterward (no dessert). We walked around the grounds briefly. It was a place I had not been called Long Hill and I look forward to going again. https://thetrustees.org/place/long-hill/

It is a lovely time of year here and there is an annual event called Trails and Sails that showcases many of the local parks and cultural places with free activities, self-guided tours. We have participated 3 years, I think, and it gets us out into the community to discover new treasures of our part of the world. I am happy to go again and love having choices that I can change based on the weather (or the pandemic--lots of outdoor and self-paced activities). https://trailsandsails.org/events/

The sad thing about the change in seasons is that it appears to be too cool for swimming and kayaking now. We will see. There is a group that goes kayaking in wetsuits, but I am not ready to do that. It sounds unpleasant (and one more thing to pay for). Time to take the window AC units out and think about bringing in some firewood. Maybe set up another puzzle! 

One thing I have reinstituted (in my mind) is my intention to go away at least once a month. It is not always completely pleasant and stress-free, but does feel like it's important for my mental health, giving me new experiences to think about, and a change of scenery. One of the challenges is whether or not to invite my Dad, who often thinks he wants to go with us, but sometimes regrets it. His digestion has been good lately. I urged him to keep a journal, so he can look back at how long these good spells last, since he complains when he is having trouble and feels like it will last forever. Whether or not he has dementia or something else, time seems to be a little hard to keep track of. I can identify, to some extent. Of course, he was not interested in my advice, but sometimes I find if I repeat it enough times, he will decide it's a good idea. If we go without him, we will probably also go without Tamara. He would not want us to take the dog anywhere, since he provides company, but I do not want him to be responsible for walking him. And leaving him alone seems more and more like a bad idea. 

It is pleasantly cool this morning after a thunderstorm in the night. 

Almost Fall Again

It's not hot, I'll give it that. I do wish it weren't 100% humidity out. I like to open a few windows in the morning and let the ocean breeze blow through the house, wafting away the odors of people that accumulate overnight while it's closed up. It's a quiet Saturday, early but light out. If I stand in the dining room and look toward where the ocean is, I can't see it, just the white blankness that is fog. Even the birds are a little quieter, waiting to see if it's still there. I really like living near the ocean, but I would like it better if there were not so many houses nearby, between me and the sea, crowded up next to me. Of course, now, at 7:30, it's still quiet. I tend to take the ocean for granted, I don't visit it every day, or swim very often, but I love knowing it's there. Would I like being on an island, with no one else around? I've read books about that, but it seems lonely. Looking for the balance. I don't want to be any further from my daughter and her family, just all these other people. 

Beverly is delightful in so many ways. We are members of the Cabot Theater, 100 years old. They have restored it and updated it--new seats, new HVAC. It has been closed for most of the pandemic, with shows scheduled outdoors at a nearby historic farm. They have been showing a few movies, but last night was the first live show in about 18 months: Madeleine Peyroux (and Joan Osborne). Osborne is my great-grandfather's middle name, but I don't know why--no relatives apparent with that name. As members, we got free tickets and a reception. Ray bought me some bourbon at the cash bar, but there wasn't exactly what I wanted for a mixer--I settled on soda. In a plastic cup, with almost enough ice. There were thick slices of beef tenderloin on baguette, peapods with chicken salad, deviled eggs (Ray's favorite) and more baguette with figs and mascarpone--excellent! We had eaten a small dinner, asparagus frittata, knowing there would be food at the show. 

Madeleine Peyroux has an incredible voice and distinctive style. We first heard her in Athens and this is the second time in Beverly. She must be 50 or so, but she seems timeless to me. She was wearing shiny leggings--not leather, something slinkier--and an overblouse. Her hair was short, to her chin, and dark. She's heavier now, but stands tall. The band was wonderful, too: keyboard, drum, bass, occasional harmonica. They all had gray/white hair, so I suspect they have been with her awhile. She played guitar some and had a easy manner, making obvious jokes (this guitar was tuned when I bought it) and chatting. She didn't say the predictable things the opening act did--thank you for taking precautions, we need live music...but somehow gave off a positive "vibe." I think the only song she performed that I had heard before was her second encore. I admit I dozed a little. It was late for us, since we are often in bed by 9. We did manage to get home by 11, so not too bad. 

It felt pretty safe, no one sitting in front of us, an empty seat to my left, the wall to Ray's right. Everyone had to show proof of vaccination and ID. The man ahead of us had no wallet, not sure whether they let him in. Everyone was masked most of the time. The worst was the bathroom, cramped and crowded although every one was trying to not get too close. Here's hoping. 

We got back from our biannual family reunion about 3 weeks ago, this time in Maine. Tamara's friend Daniela flew back to Mexico the next week. Tamara was very unhappy. She was particularly angry because she had thought her friend was staying longer and, in fact, had bought tickets to a concert they were supposed to see together. The weather was changing and winter was (is) coming. I wanted to do something for me, too. Old age is also coming and I will not enjoy traveling as much soon. We had been to Acadia National Park, but it seemed the closest extraordinary place we could experience. It was still a ways away, and places to stay nearby were full and/or expensive. I found a couple places that were about halfway and determined we could drive there to spend the night and go the rest of the way the next day and then back to the rental and home the next day. Tamara and Ray and my Dad were on board. 

I asked Molli if she and Michael wanted to come. She said they had been planning to take Declan to Legoland, an amusement park about an hour north of NYC (and more than four hours from here). So I found some places to stay near there. The countryside was lovely. Tamara said she didn't think she wanted to go since there was nothing to do. This, to me, was the point, but she was entitled to her opinion. Then I found the Renaissance Faire nearby and she was very happy about that. Everybody was ready to commit, so I reserved a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home in Tuxedo Park, New York. 

We will skip over the part where Declan and Michael got COVID and I thought they would not be coming, but we couldn't get our money back. In the end, they were well enough to travel and cleared of quarantine. In fact, they were somewhat protected from catching it! Tamara took a day off from work, since I did not want us to drive in the dark and arrive late at night. Ray also told H&R Block he could not work that day. We arranged for a dog sitter (adding Osa, Molli's dog, at the last minute). We borrowed my Dad's car as being more comfortable than our Prius C. We were tempted to take the electric car and find somewhere to charge it where we ate lunch, but we decided that with my Dad, that might be too stressful. 

We didn't get going quite as early as we thought--we were aiming for 10 and left by 11:30, I think it was. Ray is very deliberate in how he does things, including wanting to bathe after packing the car and right before we leave. There was no real hurry, however, just the thought that we should get there early enough to avoid Friday rush hour traffic. We stopped for lunch at a Friendly's. We had brought sandwiches, except for my Dad, who ate half of mine, which was fine. Ray wanted a fish-a-ma-jig and we all had Fribbles (milkshakes). We went in to order and use the restroom. The milkshakes were ready in a reasonable time, but the fish sandwich (and fries) took almost an hour. Friendly's was never fast food...and probably understaffed like almost everywhere these days. We stood around in the parking lot. The weather was good. 

We stopped a second time to use the bathroom at a somewhat ratty gas station in New York. The sign on the bathroom door said Only for Customers--the code is on your receipt. I looked pleadingly toward the employee and he said, "it's open." I was very pleased, but a little nagging voice did say, "white privilege," or maybe old white lady privilege. After me, Tamara and my Dad went and finally Ray. I think he got coffee too, so then we felt we should buy some (expensive) gas. Dad's car is a hybrid, too, so it only took half a tank. 

We crossed the Hudson and were amazed at how beautiful the scenery was and how different from "home," which is now eastern Massachusetts. Long lines of low rounded mountains covered with trees. Following the GPS instructions on my phone, we found the house. It was beautiful. Very open, post and beam construction, with windows opening onto a landscaped rocky hillside with trees and flowers. The kitchen had tiled counters and all the amenities and there was a great big dining table, plus a comfy living room and even a game table. 

Interestingly enough, there was a car in the drive and I thought the owner must be around, but he wasn't. The instructions for getting in? The key is under the mat. He lives at the house, unlike some Air B&B's we have used, so his food was in the refrigerator and there were several locked closets and rooms. We managed to fit our perishables in and the rest of the food stayed on the counter. We weren't staying long or planning to do a lot of cooking. 

In fact, the first thing we did, after checking out the house and unpacking, was go out to dinner. We drove to Helm, on Lake Greenwood, through winding roads. I would say it was a local dive bar, based on some of the people we saw. But we were able to eat outside and the food was good. There was even a young woman named Chloe Bee, who sang familiar songs (pop standards? Billy Joel, Elton John, Carole King) seated behind an electric keyboard. She was great and we gave her $5. (piano man?). There weren't many masks in evidence, but we were outside and not close to anyone else. My Dad ordered a great big charcuterie board and Tamara poutine. Ray had steak frites. There was plenty of food and I didn't order anything (except a Sangria). We still have some of the cheese left over. Did we have dessert? I can't remember. An unexpectedly pleasant dinner. 

When we got back to the house, M&M&D had just arrived. They unpacked and got settled and we went to bed about 9. Their trip had gone well, too. In the morning, it was Patturday. This is a routine where I drive to Molli's house early on Saturday mornings every other week to play games with him and let M&M sleep in a little. In this case, I was already at the same house. Declan and I played several games that we had brought--he was drawn to things he hadn't played before like Yacht Race. His strategy--go over all the Sailor's Lucks. Mine? Use up my wind change cards undoing the things Sailor's Luck had caused, before the first buoy. I was a good bit ahead of him and he declined to finish the game. I don't usually insist that he finish. I think we played Parcheesi as well, and maybe Mille Bornes. 

My Dad got up and wanted coffee. I told him I did not know anything about the coffee situation. He needed a pot to boil an egg. He wanted to know if there was bread for toast. Soon Ray got up and he made some coffee, which turned out pretty badly. The owner had asked that we not use his food. This becomes a somewhat philosophical question. I am pretty sure it's okay to use some salt and pepper. The bananas left in the bowl? Maybe not, but Dad helped himself. Did I bring any yogurt? I did. He ate out of the container. Fortunately, I had eaten mine, but I did not take the remainder home with me.