A Casualty......

When we were beginning to explore condominiums in the Milwaukee area we drove up to Port Washington on a Saturday. We were intrigued by the small town feel and also the busy downtown. The store windows were mostly full....with very few shops empty. Port was close enough to Milwaukee and offered lakefront living in our price range. It didn't take much discussion to sell our house and bring us up from Bayview. We have so enjoyed our almost six years here. The marina offers seasonal sailboat activity that brings back happy memories. We can walk to the library or down town for a cup of coffee. We can also walk to neighborhood restaurants and the post office. There are lots of places to take Fenway for his multi-walks-per-day. Watching Lake Michigan never gets old.

As the COVID-19 virus hit the world, the United States and Wisconsin we wondered just how small businesses could survive. We saw the unemployment figures rise drastically. Our stores, restaurants, pubs, gift shops and all other non-essential vendors had "Closed" signs posted in their windows now, or "Open for Take Out" at our nearby eateries. We talked about how our down town main street would look after the return to a new "normal".

And then there was a notice on Facebook. One of the smaller restaurants, Baltica, announced they would be closing. After nine years they would no longer be a part of downtown. The food at this restaurant was delicious. It was a place I would take friends for lunch when they came up to visit. My photos don't do the building justice because it has friendly orange awnings out front that just seem cheerful.

                                  

We will have to say goodbye to Baltica.....and soon an empty storefront will occupy their space. How many more for Port Washington? How many more for America? How many more world wide.

The powerful and deadly COVID-19 will decide.

Life.....

Several years ago I met a woman who moved to Wisconsin from Iowa. She and I were just casual friends and saw each other at some Ozaukee County Newcomer functions. We would have smiling conversations once in awhile and slowly she shared some of her family story.

Her son, a young doctor, had gone through some very, very serious health challenges. He and his young wife met each one of the difficult hurdles after another with family and friends gathered around to support them. His story included three liver transplants and the complications and long recuperation periods after each operation.  The details were just so complex and hearing his story and knowing what it's like to be a mother (without a son or daughter facing such life-threatening ordeals) my heart would ache for her and for him and his wife. And I don't know the young couple at all.

One story that the young doctor shared on his own blog was a comment from one of his patients that he always remembered. From her hospital bed the woman said to him, "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful." I wrote the sentence down on a little scrap of paper and stuck it on my desk.

As we all go through this new COVID life and wonder what the future will bring I remember the comment and now it means something to me too. "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful." I thank my friend's son for sharing the quote and for facing our current world-wide-share-at-a-distance-life with such strength and courage. A toast to him, his wife, his family his friends.....and my family and friends.

"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."

Soft Start.....

Fenway and I walked out of the building at 6:30 this morning.....to a lovely, warmish, soft morning. It smelled like spring so maybe April really is going out like a lamb. We turned at the sidewalk and headed toward the lake.  The sun was already up and behind low clouds, but the lake was flat and the sky was lovely.

Crossing the street I began to hear music echoing from the waterfront. Two cars were parked in the lot behind our neighborhood restaurant and one had its window open. Ukelele music was drifting toward me. Not something you hear everyday! I couldn't catch any words until I got a bit closer, but the small musical sound was just so peaceful and perfect for this early morning stroll.

And then I caught the lyrics from the refrain and they are caught in my mind and I thought, "What a perfect song for my COVID morning walk."

"I wish you were here with me

I wish I was there with you

I love you.....I love you...."

Celebration......

Yesterday the youngest resident in our building celebrated her birthday. She turned five. The only reason we knew this was because her dad or grandmother posted a sign down in the lobby. They asked residents to come out onto their decks at noon to watch as firetrucks came by to mark the occasion....and they provided helium balloons for people to hold.  So I grabbed a red balloon and Dave and I went out onto the deck.  It was pretty cold and windy, but our little neighbor and her dad and grandmother were bundled up and using sidewalk chalk to decorate for the "party". We waved and grabbed Fenway so that the three of us could sing happy birthday to her. (Fenway does a great job with that song!) We couldn't see the decks on the front side of the building....but could hear other neighbors calling out birthday wishes and the little girl was waving up to all of us and seemed happy and surprised.  And then the firetrucks went by....honking their horns. They formed a noisy parade of at least three trucks an ambulance and maybe two other emergency vehicles.

The cold drove us back inside and I've been thinking about her birthday ever since, and remembering the birthdays we celebrated with our two when they were about the same age. The parties included some friends, ice cream and a cake with candles, presents to open and a few games. They were, for the time, pretty typical and fun events.

So I hope that our little neighbor had a good day....and that, if she even remembers it in years to come, she will think of her birthday in the time of COVID-19 as memorable. Maybe for not all the right reasons.....but for the neighbors who showed up to wish her well.

Celebrations in the time of COVID....again a whole new normal.

February 28th.....

Browsing backward through my little blog entries I find that I first mentioned COVID-19 about February 28th. I know we were hearing about it before that because we were enjoying a month in Greenville, SC and looking forward to a trip to Belgium in March. Talk of the virus was beginning to show up in the news. But then my sort-of-persistant cough got worse and after visiting a walk-in clinic in Greenville and then seeing a pulmonologist in Milwaukee we pulled the plug on our European adventure.

And we pulled the plug on the trip to DC with our son-in-law and one grandson, and we pulled the plug on the trip to the cancelled college graduation for our oldest grandson in Washington State, and we pulled the plug on the trip to Nashville for my reunion with college friends in May. Our busy calendar was suddenly completely empty.

And so we've been home, in our condo in Port Washington since February 27th. We are here, comfortable and fortunate. Our pantry remains stocked, we have plenty of toilet paper, we walk our dog along Lake Michigan's lakefront and wave to neighbors from a distance. We've seen our daughter  twice in the past six weeks and her family in their driveway once....at a distance. We talk to our son and his family near Seattle, we Zoom with friends to stay connected, we talk on the phone. We are lucky. I know that.

Tonight, once again watching the news and seeing so many families line up at food pantries that are running out of food, other families desperately waiting for their government check so they can pay the rent, listening to stories of families who have lost a loved one to this damn virus and applauding those who leave the hospital after weeks of treatment.

Looking for the hope....looking for the light at the end of this long tunnel....but feeling down. I want to be able to jump in the car and drive to West Bend and take the "kids" out for ice cream. I want to be able to go to book club without thinking twice, or to a local restaurant, or meet a friend for coffee, or go for a walk without veering off the sidewalk in order to stay a safe distance away from the couple coming toward me. I want to go to my monthly quilt guild meeting and begin to be involved on the Friends of the Library board.

I want....I want.....I want my old life. I want a safe future for my kids and grandkids.

I don't want this....but then, neither does anyone else.

Armchair Traveler.......

Day 39.....still married.

It's quite cold and windy in Port today....but the sun is shining and the blue sky boasts some puffy white clouds. Lake Michigan is sparkling outside our window and I've been watching five deer sitting in the sun on the hillside from our bedroom window. Dave is working on a puzzle and I've just finished 20 more face masks for a local group that has, so far, made and distributed over 5000. And now it's lunch time.

So we fill another day and remind ourselves, once again, just how fortunate we really are. One of the things we do is sit in front of the computer and watch a slide show of photographs taken on one of our travel adventures.  In the past few weeks we've been to Ireland, Paris, Alaska, Utah National Parks and Yellowstone. We've re-cruised from Boston to Montreal with friends. We've re-camped in Florida and up in Canada.

             

             

            

            

                            

The photographs bring back so many memories....and remind us that even if we never take one of these far-away trips ever again we've been just so lucky to see and do so much! And the fact that so many of these adventures were taken with good friends make them even more special.

Maybe tomorrow we'll go re-snorkeling in Akumal! And as I look at our slide shows and remember our adventures I think of the Dr. Seuss quote:  "You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So...get on your way!"

Even if, you only go in your imagination.

I Love A Good Mystery......

I love left-overs. One of my most important in-the-kitchen plans is to cook extra chicken, or make a big pot of soup or whatever so that we can have a good dinner and then we can re-enjoy the meal without me having to spend any more time over the stove. This has been my mode of operation for years.

And the other part of this plan is that I never label my left-overs before putting them in the freezer. They go into a baggie or a plastic container and a few days/weeks/or a month later out they come and I wonder what we are having for dinner that night.

Sometimes I open the container and say "Yea....we have pork tenderloin medalions for dinner!" Other times I open a container and say "I think it's soup."

Anyone care to guess what's in these containers? I'm pretty sure the baggie has my tortellini soup....the rest? Who knows.