COVID 19 Learnings

Bucket List Jar

It has been over a year since I wrote a blog post since most of my "ramblings" are now on Facebook. However, these times call for extreme measures.

Someone said to keep a journal during this time to show your future self what you went through and what you were thinking.  My beloved said "Tell them to go to your Facebook".

THINGS THAT ARE GREAT ABOUT THIS TIME:

• A daily 7 pm phone call with family.  2 of my siblings' families and both of our progeny and their family are regular attendants and we invite special guests.
• Connecting with other family in Austria - we visited them in September 2019 and Zoom calls are bringing us closer to them that was thought possible
• We are in the germ pool with our son daughter-in-law and granddaughter so we have her at least once a week
• After that Zoom call we go for a walk and have a streak going of over a month.  Burlington has so many wonderful neighborhoods that we are taking the time to explore
• We are now not eating take-out at all.  For a while we were supporting our local restaurants AND once it gets safer out there we will continue to eat out way more than we eat in
• In our 978 sq feet of condo living, we have not killed each other and have a regular belly laugh daily.  The latest was Murg thinking I had gone to the dark side creating a shopping list which was actually from Rise and Shine Dairy.  I don't even have a grocery shopping list in normal times.
• Connections to our communities:  Our UU Church has regular opportunities to Zoom with other congregants, our YMCA swimming group meets for coffee once a week, Our Star Island conference meets once a week for social hour, and the family ZOOM
• The longer the isolation goes on the more I realize what I can do without and what I crave.  We have a bucket list jar of things we cannot do now that we will do when this is over.  Our granddaughter put "Get Ice Cream" into the jar.  I put go on our trip schedule in February 2021 to Israel

Map of Burlington and the Yellow is where we have walked

Rodney and Rudolf in Austria

AND THINGS THAT SUCK:

• I have been bracing myself to lose someone I knew pretty well and last Saturday night a member of our UU Congregation died.  This was the first time I cried uncontrollably.  It takes a lot of energy to hold it together and not feel what is going on.  
• No hugs except from my Beloved.  I now realize how many hugs I give and receive during my day.  
• The word uncertainty has become such a part of our language.  A member of our family's teen age son asks his Mom, "When will this be over?" and she has to say "I don't know, nobody knows"
• Realizing what we have done to our environment.  This is a curse and a blessing.  We can see what we have done, and with any luck we will not go back to some of that and will be sane in how we treat Mother Earth.  Do we have the resolve to do this?  I am not hopeful.
• The USA's reputation - on our Austrian call, one very honest woman does not hold anything back and just asks "Why do you still have him in charge?"  I cannot answer that question and am totally embarrassed by #45.  What are we doing to our reputation and to the world we are leaving our grandchildren?
• On our evening walks, we walk by small businesses, and I say "They won't survive, they won't survive!"  I fear this is sending us into a very deep depression not experienced since 1929.  We will be OK but my heart breaks for those who were struggling before COVID19 and will exponentially be worse off now
• Distraction and lack of focus - sometimes in a manic way I get things done AND some days I wonder what I did all day.  We have a monthly small group and for preparation we read 8 pages of content.  I have read 1/2 a page for our meeting tomorrow.  I cannot concentrate on it.  Nothing sinks in when I read the words.  It has taken me 10 days to read a very engaging mystery novel by Louise Penny.

Those are Sarah's initial ramblings about this strange time.  Feel free to correct me in grammar son Chris and his friend Augie ....................

Murg thought I had gone to the dark side

Zuzuisms and our week with her

Zuzu's parents gave us a wonderful gift by entrusting us with her for an entire week.  This was the second year in a  row that they followed their favorite band, Phish, to Mexico for a three night concert.  Golfing and swimming with the dolphins during the day.

Our friend Paul Brouillette who posts Joelisms on Facebook inspired me to write up a few Zuzuisms.  Paul's have caused me to spit my coffee out more than once, and I don't think any of these will be as funny as his.

Here are the Zuzuisms that I can remember from our recent visit.

On the first day, when we put Mabel, the dog we dog sat at the same time, into her crate until she did her business outside: "Granda you don't have to be mad you have to be brave"

Constantly during the movie that Granda took her to:  "Come on, really?" (I suspect that one of her parents says this all the time and my bets are that it is my son Chris)

We ran into our nephew Mike in City Market, our local coop.   There is another Mike living near who is my brother so to distinguish them:  "Mémère, you mean the New Uncle Mike, right?"

I spoiled her as a true grandmother should, and bought her 10 donut holes from Dunkin Donuts.  She promised to not eat any more, having quickly devoured 4 of them and 2 minutes late snuck under a table and had the container open.  Granda took it away from her and hid it.  For the next 2 hours until bedtime every 2 minutes "Where are my Dunkin' Donuts?  I need my Dunkin' Donuts?"  the last words before I left her that night "My Dunkin' Donuts better be right on the arm of the couch tomorrow morning.  Can you find them Granda?"  First thing the next morning before her eyes were even open "MY DUNKIN' DONUTS!  You found them Granda!"  She does not eat many sweets at home!

She was very sad about missing her parents and had been crying.  We got her to stop but in the saddest voice possible she said "I need something to wipe my tears"  We asked Granda if he had a magic hankie to wipe her tears and that was used for the next few nights or any other time she hurt herself and cried.  The hankie went home with her.  BTW Granda can always be counted on to have a magic hankie in his back pocket.

To anything she did not want to eat or do:  "No Fanks"  in a quick sassy way.  We were hoping that she would want to go to church with to which she replied "No Fanks"

This trip the food she asked for over and over was toast.  We even had to go shopping for more bread for Granda and then is was "Granda can I have some of your new bread for toast?"  Last year we could not supply her with enough oranges and this year it was toast.

We so enjoy these visits, AND we are outnumbered the minute she arrives.  She keeps us on our toes for sure.  I suppose that is the role of a grand child.