We planned to feed the birds on a small scale with black sunflower seeds. Well, the plan has met with bird resistance. The feeder has not had even one bird show any interest. But a squirrel has found heaven in a shell so to speak. So usually Butch would be in a tizzy tackling a squirrel problem and we have decided to let our lone squirrel have his way until the feeder is empty and then give up on feeding anything!
Yes, we are in a cold snap. Don't laugh, you people of the northern climes, it does happen and it isn't pleasant as that is what we like to get away from when we travel over a thousand miles south. It is okay because it has to be and we know it will be relatively short-lived. We can still do our indoor activities such as pool and cards. Cold for us is anything in the 50 degrees and below range and that is where we are this fine morning at 7:15 am.
Many things are different from years past due to the pandemic. We still have park meetings on Tuesday mornings but now they are online and often outdoors if warm enough. We can play pool in the pool hall but there is a limit of 10 people, masks are required and there is a sanitation routine of cleaning and sanitizing equipment before leaving. They are playing shuffleboard outdoors with the same precautions as the pool hall. Linedancing is also being done outside on a lesser-used street. Card playing is taking place privately and those doing so know the habits and dangers of their cardplaying friends. We seniors are a relatively cautious bunch. It also helps that the local people here must also abide by the rules of mask-wearing and social distancing and yes, they are called on it. Entry is denied to anyone without a mask in all public places. In restaurants, masks are required unless you are actively eating. All this and even so the numbers here are spiking too but to a far lesser degree than other places. We hope things can return to normal next season but by then we should be totally used to the way things have been since March of 2020. It doesn't take all that long to form a new habit.
I am very happy with my Internet service. It seems almost as speedy as our Iowa service and we are enjoying so many options with our Amazon Fire that it is sometimes difficult to land on a choice for our evening's entertainment. Coba Systems is the name of the company and they are very accommodating. They have 3 levels of service based on your usage habits and expectations. $49.95, $79.95, and $99.95. I chose the middle one hoping our streaming would not bog it down and so far, so good! We expected the Internet availability to be the one stumbling block to being here. The park still offers Internet but you must be in or near the main hall to get it. As I have pointed out many times before, park-wide Internet rarely works adequately or consistently and is very costly for the park and a source of frequent complaints.
That's it for this morning...maybe more later.
Sometimes I forget about you. You being, the friends and family who still look in on what we are doing from time to time. Today is a busy day. I have invited Liz and Dave for a bean soup supper. Liz bought the turkey/ham offer that HEB does each holiday season, offering a ham if you buy a turkey. I would do that too if I had freezer space, but I don't. So the ham was a bone-in ham which is the very best option for making bean soup. So the soup, she is a simmering.
Also, Monday and Tuesday afternoons are women's pool days. I went yesterday, had a good time and won 4 games out of 6. Felt good about that and would like to go again today but not sure I can work it in. Liz would like to give me a haircut sometime today and I need to go to the grocery store. Are you starting to see the picture?
Life is good.
We have been enjoying streaming on Netflix, Amazon, and IPBS passport. Jason told us about a strange but fascinating documentary on Netflix. My Octopus Teacher. It was very good and thought-provoking. We enjoyed it very much. We watched Hillbilly Elegy and our friend Liz, who was raised in that part of the country found it to be unfortunately accurate. And we have been watching My Next Guest Is with David Letterman. He interviews a wide variety of people and it is always done well. On Iowa PBS Passport we have been watching The Durrells of Corfu. I had watched it before but Butch had not so we are watching it together. I am enjoying it as much the second time around. Good Internet is worth it to me many times over! The next 5 months will be whizzing by!
Yes, we are stymied a bit. We got used to the restrictive lifestyle from March through October due to the infamous covid-19 and the remnants of it still remain. We think we should drop in on "fill in the blank" and then remember that may not be a good idea so we settle back in for the usual routine we have established. Butch is feeling the bite of it a bit more than I am. Our usual Sunday routine was to go to the El Dorado for breakfast tacos and then to the grocery store to stock up for the week. Part of the reason for that in the past was because Butch was very busy with pool or golfing events and did not want to give those things up through the week. We also would often follow up with a visit to a friend in another park. That doesn't work for a few reasons; such as not as many people here as in the past and if they are we do not know their health status, past, and present, quarantine requirements, or general thoughts on being careful or diligent. So we very much feel as though we are in the same holding pattern we have been in since March. It is better in many ways, of course, Butch is back to his new normal so we can go on walks, play pool and take road trips. We do play cards now and then with friends who share our bubble. It seems to be working for us so far.
Time marches on or at least we hope it does. We do hope things will be very different from this pandemic year in the year to come. One thing is for certain, 2020 will remain a year that will stick in our minds forever.
