Month: April 2020

My sister-in-law just texted us a video of all of us together at their parents’ house in Florida a year ago. I had whipped up a powerful batch (or two) of margaritas to go with the fish tacos. Longtime close friends of ours, who live in our neighborhood, were also vacationing in the area and came over for dinner. A dance party broke out later in the evening, and some ended up in the pool, three generations represented. That was about two months before these same friends of ours found out their son had leukemia and 11 months before the pandemic hit us. What would I have done if someone had told me these things were going to happen? Dive into the pool and hold my breath underwater for as long as I could?

A year has passed, and their son is holding strong, and I believe he will win this fight. We haven’t yet hit the peak of the coronavirus, but we will hit it and inch our way down the other side. We will rejoin one another in classrooms, parks, beaches, museums, living rooms, and dancefloors. It just feels like I’m holding my breath sometimes.

When do I wear my mask? I know I definitely need to wear it in the grocery store, and I wore it in Lowe’s when we had to make a pitstop on the way back from our camping trip the other day, but I haven’t been wearing it when I go for walks or for a run. It has not escaped my attention, however, that more and more people are wearing them outside when they’re easily 10 feet away anyone else. On my run along the Potomac this morning, about a quarter of bicyclists who passed by were wearing masks. I have yet to see runners wearing them, probably because it would get hot and uncomfortable pretty quickly. If I do put on the mask while running, am I saying to the world, “Don’t worry, I won’t cough or sneeze in your air,” or am I saying, “I’m protecting myself from you coughing and sneezing in my air”? I guess it’s both.

Yesterday, the kids and I took a walk down to Pentagon City to drop a package at UPS and get beverages from Commonwealth Joe. We had masks and gloves at the ready. Edwin put on his mask and gloves right as we hit the sidewalk, but then changed his mind and didn’t put them on again until we reached a more heavily populated area. I put on my mask and gloves to enter the UPS store, but nobody else had a mask on. I kept it on, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit like an alarmist. I pulled the mask down off my face when I got outside, and we continued the three more blocks to the coffeeshop. The kids waited on the corner, masked and gloved, while I entered the coffeeshop suited up. There were three employees, and I was the only customer. Guess who was the only one wearing a mask? Again, I felt weird (almost rude, which I know is ridiculous), so I slid it down. Just then, four other customers entered the shop. The mask went back up. This is a very complicated relationship.

Easter will be a bit different this year. We’re placing an order with a few vendors for an Easter morning pick-up at Westover Farmers Market. I’ve placed two orders so far: Atwater’s and Spring Valley Farm and Orchard. Atwater’s will be playing the part of the Easter Bunny this year; instead of chocolate eggs and jelly beans, the kids will find coconut macaroons, ginger cookies, and raspberry thumbprints in their Easter baskets (I’d say that’s a definite upgrade, myself). I am not at all interested in donning a mask and gloves and seeking out cheap candy that I really don’t want them to have, anyway.

Since we can’t arrive earlier than 9:00 at the Sunday market, we’ll have to tell the kids to wait to come downstairs until we get back. I don’t think that will be a problem for them and their teenage sleeping habits. Gone are the days of waking up at the crack of dawn to see where a human-sized, jacket-wearing, pantless rabbit has hidden their eggs and what he has left in their baskets. We will still hide some eggs, of course. They know all the hiding spots by now, but they still take great pleasure in knocking each other down in hot pursuit of a pastel-colored egg.

Just a quick post while I still have one bar. We set up camp today in an idyllic little spot by a stream in George Washington National Forest and then climbed Big Schloss. It’s been a gorgeous day and the perfect getaway. It almost feels like a regular spring break!

My friend and neighbor, Natasha, whom I mentioned in a previous post (Tessie’s person), brought joy to the neighborhood today with her chamber group. They have been playing music together for 30 years. It’s a classical chamber group, which consists of a cellist (Natasha), two violinists, and violist.

We neighbors set up our chairs at acceptable distances from one another, close enough to chat between pieces, but far enough to feel safe from stray coughs or sneezes (none of which I heard). One family spread out on their lawn across the street, and several others settled themselves on the curb. Three brothers would pause for a few minutes at a time to watch before doing another lap around the block on their bicycles. Couples running and walking by stopped in delight and stayed awhile; cars driving through slowed and indulged in a few bars of music before heading on their way. The FedEx man paused long enough for a smile to spread across his face before hopping back in his truck.

Natasha had said they would play for a half hour, but an hour and a half had gone by before the last notes of Haydn floated away on the breeze.

Okay, I’m one hour down on my way to 10,000. I took out my neglected guitar from its case, the one I never really learned how to play beyond a few chords and really lame, basic folk songs. I took a county class about 18 years ago and bought a guitar, only to put it in a corner and take it out maybe once a year. All that has changed! I am going to learn to play real songs, songs I enjoy, songs people know. And, there’s an app for that. I used an app to tune it (not available back in 2002) and an app to teach me how to play some of my favorite songs. Chris broke out the ukulele-type mini-guitar he bought Maxine one Christmas, and we started playing a few chords together. My fingertips are tingling where my calluses will develop over the next month.

I was beginning to wander aimlessly today, gazing at the weeks stretching out ahead with no certain end date to social distancing, beginning to face the cold reality about our planned Moroccan-European trip this summer. I lazily clicked from one recipe to another on my phone, not feeling inspired by any of them. I picked up the book I’m reading and almost feel asleep about 15 minutes in, then headed to the pantry to see if an enticing snack had magically appeared since I checked a half hour ago. Then, I spotted it: the neglected zipped up guitar case standing in the living room, tucked into a corner, where it’s been silently waiting for someone to take it out and tune it back to life. This is it. If I don’t do it now, I might as well sell it. No more excuses. Maybe I’ll even learn a few tunes to sing around the backyard fire before the weather turns warm.

It’s movie night again. A few nights ago, I was feeling we needed a shake-up here in movieland. We had been settling down in front of the screen more evenings than not, and I was looking for something a little more high-brow. I took a cue from our friends down the block. They are perpetually doing something unique and interesting. They – mom, dad and three boys under the age of 12 – while not baking bread, building forts and pogo-sticking around a backyard fire, had been listening to True Grit by Charles Portis, narrated by Donna Tartt. This was it! Our new worthy diversion! I spread out the 1,000 pieces of a Falling Water jigsaw puzzle, summoned the family, and started True Grit on Audible. This was the beginning of a fulfilling, intriguing family saga.

That was two nights ago. Tonight, I’m on the couch with Maxine watching her very favorite movie, Clueless. I have to admit, it’s an oldie but a goodie from my early twenties. Honestly, what’s not to like about Cher? She’s witty, bubbly, charming, true to herself, seeks to spread joy, and, of course, has an unmatched sense of fashion. But Max, what about Falling Water and True Grit?! “Ugh, as if!”

Edwin made chocolate cake today, which is his way of getting rid of stress. He’s been working pretty hard lately, especially with AP World History and Algebra II. Since they’re both advanced classes and he’ll still take the AP exam this spring, they haven’t really slowed down much since the closing. I made him run a little with me today, and I used the cake as leverage: he could use all that butter, cocoa, and eggs if he pulled on his running shoes.

The cake was an Italian chocolate sponge cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. He’s all about presentation, so he sprinkled it with chocolate sprinkles and white pearl candies. He then found my glass cake stand to display it. The cake itself turned out kind of dry, which he attributed to over-beating the whites – not sure about that- all I know is that the frosting was divine.