2020 Just Keeps on Giving!

As if there hasn't been enough to deal with this year, let's just throw in a hurricane! Early on it looked like we were in Isaias's direct path; however, it was downgraded to a tropical storm and began veering, ever so slightly, east. While we have had a few very bad storms since I've been here, we are in a tiny "notch" that seems to give us a little protection. We took all of the usual precautions but as it turned out, they were unnecessary. The morning it was to hit, it was a bit cooler and very still. Late morning brought some steady rain. It remained overcast and we received several more rain showers - and that was it! No excessive rain and no wind! One enjoyable side effect was that this morning was cool (74-75) and tolerable. We all enjoyed that!

As you know, since the pandemic I have been ordering some of my groceries for pickup. Whenever I place an order, I indicate that they may substitute if something isn't available (and they notify me online). This order did not indicate that there were any substitutions. I had ordered Rosie a small (12-16 0z) log of Pet Fresh food. As I'm unpacking the groceries. I discover a 6-pound roll!! If it had been 6.5 pounds, it would literally have been half of the bodyweight!! My first thought was to check my bill, which didn't seem excessive. As I looked closer, they had discounted me the difference between the small roll and the large one!! Even so, Rosie could never work her way through all of that, and the texture changes when frozen. So, I kept 1.5 pounds for Rosie and split the rest among her boyfriends - Max, Festus, and Buster. Of course, her favorite boyfriend Bogey would have been at the top of the list were it not for his restricted diet. I took a photo of the huge roll, but it never dawned on me until much later that I should have put it beside Rosie and taken a photo......so, I made this one!!

Chris and Bogey. He's a good boy!

 

After my 2 week quarantine, the Pandemic Pals got together again at my place. It was great to see everyone and we had a lot of catching up to do. You can see from the photo how comfortable Bogey has also gotten. Unfortunately, I missed the best shot! We were having a bite to eat when Bogey ran over to Lynn, his mom, and edged toward her plate. Lynn scolded him and he ran right over to Chris and put his paw on her arm! It was just priceless!😄

Lynn and I have been busy with Liberal Ladies' things and as "community organizers' in the Crescent. The Liberal Summit has an initiative for democrats (liberal, open-minded folks) to organize within gated communities in order to be able to disseminate information and get candidates into private house parties. Lynn and I organized a Zoom meeting with Nathan Campbell who is running against Tom Davis for the SC Senate. What you may not know is that when I first moved here, Republicans ran unopposed. Over the years we have gotten more and more Democrats willing to run, especially young people. It will be a heavy lift for Nathan to win but he can at least make Tom work for his position.

In the midst of all of this, John Lewis died. Of course, I was glued to the TV for his service in Atlanta (3 real, civil, intelligent, compassionate Presidents spoke!), but I was also touched by the whole journey to his final resting place, for all of the places he, one last time, stopped and honored. It was an emotional time.....and with life as strained as it is, events like this become more emotional. I guess losing great heroes of our lifetime exposes our own vulnerability, our own desire to make this world a better place before we are gone. Few can compete with John Lewis in that respect. I wasn't at the original March on Washington when the greats spoke, but I was at the 50th anniversary. Thank you, Jim and Anthony, for making it possible.

If that isn't enough, my TV died! It was actually like my remote died. I could turn on the TV but nothing happened after that. Finally, I got online with a Sony person and he walked me through the solution. I had to reset to factory setting and start all over again! Once I reinstalled all of the apps I like, I realized that my Fire Stick would not work. At that point, I gave up for the day. The next morning I set that up again....and I hope that never happens again!!

Last weekend I read Mary Trump's book, Too Much is Never Enough. The Trump family really seems to take the fun out of dysfunctional. After seeing him for 3 years, I can't say I was surprised by anything, but when you see how they related to each other, you can begin to understand (but not excuse) why he is like he is. When Jonathan Swan asked him the question about John Lewis, had you turned off the sound, I could have told you what he was going to say. He is a damaged human being who were he not the leader of a major nation, should be given our pity, compassion, and care. Unfortunately, his dysfunctionality is damaging our nation...... I just hope we are able to survive him.

With so much chaos in the world, I'd like to leave you with this photo from my friends Rhonda and Bryan who have recently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bryan manages a golf course and took this beautiful, soothing photo of a sunrise. I just love it....and I love their experience of discovering New Mexico. I've driven through a couple of times and I really found it unique and charming....and very different from most of the US. Saudi friends will be interested that Albuquerque is abbreviated ABQ! What do you think of when you see that? Anyway, enjoy this lovely photograph. Thank you, Bryan and Rhonda.