Arbitrary Steps

 We are still determined to celebrate Halloween. Because of health regulations I doubt we will get Trick or treaters like we normally would, but maybe a few will show up. We made a contingency plan: A folding table, a box, and some "Ghostie" lollipops. Now normally we answer the door for over 100 kids and hand out chocolate...the good stuff, but this year s more symbolic...at least we are trying to celebrate a bit. Here's our setup:Kids can pick out a ghostie My friends though? They put ours to shame! The spirit of the holidays combined with innovation is alive and well. Social distancing at it's finest Update: We had no trick or treaters.

 Or so they say. In our case it turns out our next door neighbor passed away of Covid. We did not know him but he had a wife and a baby (the family is of Mediterranean descent,  they don't speak English) and it's all very sad. To die young and leave a child behind is always sad, but now his little girl will grow up without memories of him. That makes our neighbor and our mailmen who have passed away. In our tiny town Covid is way too close to home

 We always try to make friends with those we are around day to day and that includes our mail carriers ( UPS, Fed Ex and USPS). Our mail guy was in his 30's, with a bushy beard and  sunglasses, he always looked like he was raised by ZZ top's surfer buddies. He liked classic rock and was gregarious and outgoing...and kind...so very kind. He'd spend so much time on our front porch listening to us as we told him about our days and what was going out in the mail ....and the stories that went along with what was in the packages. He never once said "Hey I gotta go back to work", he was always up to lend an ear and a smile. He was always asking what I was baking that day since I bake almost EVERY day since the pandemic started. I always set some aside with his name on it, and he stop and ask if I had any cookies for him. 4 days ago I saw him and promised I'd have shortbread cookies for him on Tuesday, he never showed up. Today we learned he died of Covid. He looked h...

 Soon it will be spackling the facade. Virus cases are getting worse, but for now things look fairly normal...at least the "New" normal...but winter is coming, and bad things are coming with it. This week we voted by mail in ballot for the first time, but our government (Dear leader, yuck) has ripped out postal processing machines and closed down polling places in an attempt to steal the election (again, in my opinion) so we took our ballots to our county office in person. Nationwide the lines stretch for 10 hours in some places to vote, turnout is INCREDIBLE and I could not be prouder. Tear out machines in an attempt to stop us? We'll find a workaround. Make us stand in one line for an entire day? Okay, we brought chairs and pizza is on the way. You would simply not believe voter turnout, in some places 300% of normal. It makes me so proud! It also makes me angry, our ancestors fought for our right to vote and now we are fighting all over again, during a pandemic no less...

 We all banded together, it didn't matter what you believed, or who you were, we all really thought that if we just stayed in quarantine that we were doing our patriotic duty and could beat this thing. It worked...for a very short time period. In the beginning across the world we sang to eachother on balconies, connected as strangers yet somehow worked together, and we felt COMMUNITY. Each night we gathered on balconies and porches, computer screens and rooftops to sing our songs to each other. It was glorious. I never want to forget how we behaved when we all really thought we could collectively save the world.  If music be the food of love, play on-Shakespeare

 There are "Super spreader" events that seem to get more people sick then would seem possible, one such event seems to have been the recent supreme court nominee ceremony at The White House. It was outdoors in the rose garden but seemingly doesn't matter, as attendees all sat close to eachother and mingled, hugged, and talked. Now each hour seems to bring news of yet another person sick. -Trumps campaign manager - Former press sec Kellyanne Conway - 2 senators - reports of others (but they aren't confirmed) Yesterday they had several others confirmed sick...ALL from this one event, and of course the President is hospitalized.    As for us, we are staying the course and staying home as much as is possible. We're trying to plan ahead for the holidays so we can maybe have my mother in law over safely. Plans are we will all quarantine for 5 days prior to having her over, that's enough time to start showing symptoms, and then have her come over to have dinner and o...

  The President has tested positive, as has the first lady. Now that's a heck of an "October surprise". He and his supporters have spent months downplaying the virus, and many of his supporters openly mock people for taking precautions...and here we are. I have nothing good to say about this, so I'll just say this: I hope he makes a full recovery so he can lose the election and face charges later. For those that love the first family I hope they recover, their son doesn't deserve to lose a parent. Update: I suspect all of this was just a ploy, he was back out on the campaign trail a few days after this. An obese 70's male beats COVID in 4 days? Not likely