coronavirus fear

Covid-19 lockdown: remembering March 2020

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This is a post we published in March, 2020, after the Indiana Governor’s Executive order to shut down the state.

When the sound of a mower is relished

Our local NBC station showed a video on their noon news of the city of Indianapolis. The video was in black and white and showed scene after scene of the city with no people, cars, buses or any sign of life. Totally empty streets and parking lots made the shots look like they came right out of the last scene of the movie “On the Beach”, an apocalyptic movie from 1959.

Carry out only

Sher and I and our son were commenting on the video which led to the discussion of the quiet nature that has become our neighborhood. It seems as though most of the neighbors are paying attention to the Indiana declaration of “stay at home and work from home”. Very little traffic, even the guy with the extra loud Harley is not to be heard recently.

Then we heard someone starting up their lawn mower. Wow who would ever think that the usually obnoxious noise from a Briggs and Stratton engine would provide a twisted sense of normalcy to this COVID -19 pandemic abnormal situation. Thus the title of this post.

At times the pandemic lockdown feels like years ago, at times it seems like yesterday.

Drive thru pick up lunch today

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This Omicron variant is everywhere, it seems. Tagged as super easy to catch we decided that instead of going out today we’d get pasta at the drive up window after ordering online.

Spaghetti and meatballs w/melted cheese and a breadstick

We had not had Fazoli’s in a while. Given that we had a BOGO special this was an easy decision to make. The drive through is only about 10 minutes away, so it was easy to get our order quickly. The portion sizes are quite large, and we had plenty left for a full meal at a later time. We didn’t have to cook, got a good meal for a good price, and did not have to get out among the public. Win-win-win.

Those pesky New Year’s resolutions

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“Last year’s resolution was to lose 20 pounds by Christmas. Only 30 pounds to go.“ —Anonymous

Well it is time, so they say, for the making of New Year resolutions. You know, you think of something in your life you want to alter or improve upon, and thus the list is created. Just about anything can be made into a resolution, thus requiring a change of some kind. How about you? Any resolutions for 2022 you’d like to share? We won’t check up on your results later on, we promise!

We always have a ball on the road!

We sure want to travel more this year in our RV motorhome. We do miss the comfort and enjoyment of traveling together. It is a quick trip by air for sure, but in the RV you can see so much more. With the threat of the COVID still very much in play, by using our RV we have our own on board facilities. No public restrooms for us thankfully! In addition we can cook on board if we do not feel comfortable at restaurants.

“A new year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” —Unknown

COVID messed with our Christmas plans

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A lovely spread on our snack table

We were planning on spending time with family in Columbus, Ohio this Christmas season. One of our sons and his family and our daughter and her family from Seattle were getting together in Ohio. Sher and I and our son who lives with us were planning on going to Ohio for a Christmas celebration.

That pesky COVID-19 put an absolute damper on those plans. Our Ohio family started feeling bad, and yes, the at home tests showed positive. Our Seattle daughter and her family had traveled from Columbus to our son-in-law’s family in Cleveland, and you guessed it, they started showing signs of infection. They had a real struggle finding testing sites or at home kits. Finally they got tested, and yes, they were positive. None of our family is having real bad symptoms, fortunately nothing requiring hospitalizations, and all are reporting feeling better.

This damned COVID is spreading fast everywhere, and we did not want to take the chance to travel, so at this point in time we are staying put in Indiana. Maj is in the age and health very high risk category. No need to take any chances. We were going out to eat for Christmas Eve dinner, but have scratched that now. Sher was able to put together a wonderful shopping order for a Christmas day meal. Ham with all the trimmings will delight and fill us on the 25th.

Have safe Christmas and New Years celebrations, folks. 

Wild strawberry or COVID virus??

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Took a picture of a couple of mushrooms yesterday.  Within the image was a little red wild strawberry. Once the photo was enlarged and the red berry zeroed in, the details of the berry came into focus.

That looks eerily close to COVID

Immediately the  shape of the berry looked very familiar. Yes, that shape has been displayed just about everywhere since, oh, sometime around March 2020. It does look way to much like the renderings you see of that damned COVID-19 virus.

At Bob Evans we felt safe and enjoyed our meal

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Sher and I had been running errands, shopping and visiting a winery in Indianapolis, and it was time for a stop for a light supper. We have not been to a Bob Evans since before the pandemic hit, but we knew their menu featured items we both liked.

Extra partitions installed above booth benches for patron separation

The Bob Evans at the intersection of I-65 and Southport Road, just south of Indianapolis, was on our way home. The restaurant was fairly busy, but not packed. Most of the staff wore masks and about half of the customers we saw also were masked up. We watched staff clean a booth in preparation for the next patrons. The effort that went into the cleaning was impressive and very thorough.

Our food was delivered in a short time, and the service was excellent at this Bob Evans location. We did felt safe and comfortable here, and were able to really enjoy our meal and each other’s company.

Want to visit NOLA again

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We’re 15 days away from our second dose of the COPVID-19 vaccine. Shortly after that it should kick in and offer us a measure of protection from the virus.

Bourbon Street in New Orleans, known for music, food and revelry. Note the famed balcony iron work in the background

Red beans and rice with smoked sausage

The band at Bamboula’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are standing in front of the tomb of Marie Laveau, the famed Voodoo Queen. This is reportedly the most visited tomb in New Orleans.

We are not sure exactly when we’ll decide to travel again. But one place we do want to visit again is New Orleans. Sher and I both so enjoyed our last visit there back in 2018. We loved the food, the music and the atmosphere of this exciting  place. There is so much to see and do in NOLA.  It will definitely be on an upcoming itinerary  of ours.

The king of the sea

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King Neptune on the Virginia Beach, VA Boardwalk

Compare Neptune’s size to the bike rider!

Neptune and his turtle

The octopus

The bronze statue of King Neptune is the spectacular creation of artist Paul DiPasquale. It was dedicated in 2005 and to this day reigns over the sea (and the boardwalk). Neptune holds his trademark trident with a hand on a sea turtle. He is also surrounded by many other sea creatures on the statue base.

We lived in Virginia Beach in the 90’s and loved the beach and boardwalk, spending hours and hours enjoying the ocean waves. Imagine our surprise when we returned in 2016 and saw Neptune as we strolled north along the boardwalk. Photos do not do him justice. Virginia Beach is a marvelous vacation destination with year round activities. Hopefully the city will be getting back to post pandemic conditions sooner than later.

Hey, we went somewhere today

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OK, for some of you, maybe it would not be a big deal. But for Sher and I our trip to the Buck Creek Winery was the first time in a year that we actually went out and went into a store. Yes a place where people go, talk, buy things and act kind of normal.

Our son drove us out and about today. Yesterday we noticed that our wine supply was running, well, low. So off to the Buck Creek Winery, about a half hour from our place.  We had our masks on and there was only one other customer in the winery  when we went in.  We felt comfortable, Joseph set us up to have a sampling of 6 different wines.

Our assortment purchase today

We ended up buying a case of assorted wines after a fun sampling experience. We belong to the Buck Creek Winery case club, which enables you to enjoy a 20% discount on case buys. Refer to the Buck Creek website for details.

Even though we have had our first dose of the Moderna vaccine, we were still somewhat leery of getting out. But we felt ok at the Winery today. Joseph  maintained social distance, was most polite and informative and he poured our samples. Oh, it was different wearing jeans with a belt instead of sweat pants.