Blogging When There is Nothing to Blog About (except a Hurricane!)

How has life changed in the last few months?  Not a lot.   Covid19 is very much with us with well over 150,000 dead in the USA and about 1000 dying daily.  We wear masks whenever we are inside buildings--we go to church online--we shop for groceries once a week--we don't shop for anything else.  Although I do have a mental shopping list of another pair of shorts for me and knitting needles and yarn for Ruth.  So I may shop online but a fraudulent charge from Amazon a week ago has me a bit hesitant about using my credit card.  My new one came in the mail yesterday.

One positive change is our TV watching habits.  Jim and I have had three shows that we have watched together using Amazon Prime or Passport Thirteen (PBS).   Lark Rise to Candleford is our favorite.  We have gotten to feel so familiar with the characters--they are a part of our lives.  We laugh and cry with them.  I have read that the show expires in mid-August from PBS and am not sure what that means but we better watch what we can while we can.   We also liked Shakespeare and Hathaway on PBS but have seen all the back episodes now.  The Vicar of Dibley--Jim likes it better than I do.  He laughs and I groan!   And now, at last, some live sports are back--golf, NBA basketball in the Orlando bubble, and some baseball teams.

A change in my attitude has been less of a concern about feeling useful.  Maybe it's because I have accepted doing less but also because I have found a bit more to do.  We have had three summer sleepovers with Laura's kids.  I read a chapter of Jim's manuscript every few days and make comments.  I have tried to send emails out to folks I know are struggling with health issues--or just to say I miss someone.  Peggy and I walk maybe not every week, but at least every other week.  We have had coffee with the Moorheads probably every other week.  

I wish I could have people over here--or meet them at restaurants for dinner.   We have been hesitant to do that--thinking that it is not yet safe.

I have read far too many murder mysteries and not been the better for it. It's filling my head with too much of the ugly side of life even if it is good escapist literature!  I just finished the first three of Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series which I bought for $3.99 for my Kindle app.  I read one each day and was totally absorbed in what would happen next.  But they were sordid and sad and ugly tales full of Victorian hypocrisy and secrets.  So no more of those for a while!  

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Susan just called and we will have another grandchild sleepover.  James needs internet access today and early tomorrow morning and they have no power thanks to Hurricane Isaias.   We did not lose power.   So we can be of use to them! Our power blinks a bit but it has not been a loss--in spite of high winds yesterday.

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Another update.  James had supper with us and that was very pleasant--to focus on conversation with him alone--another time to be with a grandchild as "an only child."   But power came back on at his house, so Jeff picked him up and he went back home.  

So this was our first hurricane in New Jersey.   On my walk yesterday down the towpath, I probably saw six trees down with several of them crossing the path.  Roads were blocked all over town.  Jim had to find another route to the golf course when College Road West was blocked.  We were fortunate not to have lost power.