We started off the New Year, or actually ended the last one, on a crazy, happy note. What could go wrong?
We started the New Year, with a party in downtown St. Petersburg. We had Leila all to ourselves. It was a child celebration, and that is something Leila does very well. Me, too.
Besides making the goofy hat, she painted a school bus, watched all sorts of weird kids plays, and ended with the fireworks.
Val’s family, which includes me, had a great party at a beach restaurant. You know, before You Know What.
As the dark clouds of reality gathered, we went about our business while holding our breath. Kyna and Sal decided to sell their old house and buy a new one. We just settled for a new kitchen sink.
Mico stayed with us while Kyna and family were showing their old house. Sadly, potential buyers do not like to be attacked. Fortunately, Mico could help me put in the plumbing.
Notice the difference in size? Our dogs immediately confiscated Mico’s pillow and left him watching.
The timing was perfect, as timing goes. As the virus shut everything down, Kyna managed to sell the old house, buy a new house, and get moved in. They have a saltwater pool!
Leila looking down from the rec room. All the bedrooms are on the first floor, another requirement along with the swimming pool! It is a great house, turning into a home.
Our lives were still going strong as the winds of disaster gathered. For our birthday party, all those born on March 4th celebrated. Besides cake, we also had some beer.
We even managed a final trip to the beach. Leila loves Grandma, and the two of them get crazy when they are together.
Then the closures hit. Remember restaurants? We do. Here Leila is making sure none of the Lava Cake goes to waste. Non essential businesses shut down. People started to suffer.
While on home restriction, in Florida we could go out on the water as long as we did not congregate at the launch. The rules said nothing about getting caught in a wind storm and nearly not getting back to shore. We did that on our own.
Like most folks, we started going stir crazy and found inane things to keep us busy. Here I am repairing a flying pig Jesse and Kyna gave us many years ago.
This is my first attempt to insert video. Humor me here, because it turned out to be surprisingly difficult to perform the motor transplant.
Val got her own personal tool kit, so she immediately started taking things apart.
One of our trees suffered a broken limb during a fight with the wind, so I had to amputate. This was very high in the tree, and although it is not clear here, I was wetting my pants.
During the beer tasting contest, someone spilled a drink into the keyboard of my laptop. I went on YouTube, listened as a gentleman from Korea explained in Korean how to replace the keyboard, and then attempted the same myself. I had to use a spudger, a tool I never heard of. Miraculously, the laptop works!
Our children are prissy after getting mowed. They are ever alert to a possible treat, especially when they have trouble fitting in the tiny bed.
But when they get shaggy, they just pass out on the sofa. Turns out that Bella, the old dog, may be a Brishon rather than a poodle. Doesn’t change much about her.
Restrictions started to ease, too early according to some. When the park down the road from Leila’s opened, Daddy took her riding her brand new big kid bike. They went 11 miles. She was very proud of herself, despite the whining objections.
As part of the battle reality was waging on me , a squirrel or a rat went down the drain vent and clogged our sewer. I tried to use a snake to get it out, but instead wound up wrecking the plumbing under the sink. So we hired a plumber to remove the rodent, and I replaced the drain.
Our governor decided it was time to stop all the stay at home nonsense, and began opening things up, starting with the beach. As the number of cases rises to the highest levels ever, he admits that the young people will do all right, and us old farts are on our own. Note that he is not an old fart.
I hit the trifecta of death. I am male, over 70, type A blood, and have COPD. I rarely go out, and when I do I am masked, lathered up in sanitizer, and do a quick in and out. Val had this suggestion for visiting the beach.
As if COVID – 19 was not bad enough, the flames of insanity are consuming the country. I used to think having a front row seat to the demise of our democracy would be exciting, if not amusing. I was wrong on two counts. It is far more terrifying than anyone could have predicted. And instead of being amused, I cringe every morning when I open the paper. I cannot even fathom where it will all end.
So please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Stay safe and sane, or at least as sane as your started out. We will come out the other side of this, if we keep a positive attitude.
Let me leave you with my personal attitude about our present reality.
