101 Today

 My great aunt, who has always been a great aunt, is celebrating her birthday. She is 101. I sent flowers and friends have baked a cake. I hope, despite advanced Parkinson's, that she will be able to enjoy them. 

She is the last of my grandfather's siblings, an elegant, thoughtful, kind soul who loved her family, worked hard, gave back to her community and helped me learn to love books and reading.

 Through her generosity, I fell in love with Stuart Little, a wise spider named Charlotte, and many other characters, who, like my family, inspired a range of feelings, ignited imagination and often set me safely free to roam in my head when life beyond the page was chaotic, uncertain or less than wonderful. 

My earliest memories of her,  like Charlotte's gossamer threads, reveal a woman who was as warm and caring as she was gorgeous and independent. Born during the last pandemic, she was the youngest sister. Book-ended by two brothers, whom she adored,  she was also part of an awesome trio of sisters. Self-supporting since her high school graduation, she enjoyed her friends, spent time with parents, used her vacation time to shepherd nieces and nephews about when they came to visit, and loved to go places when she could. 

 Well into her thirties when her tenure in the Spinster Club came to an end, she was introduced to a handsome press photographer twelve years her senior by her best friend. Thus began a romance which led to a happy thirty-five-year marriage. With the birth of a daughter, her small family was complete and when I showed up less than a year later in very inauspicious circumstances, she was among the first of my maternal extended family to welcome me. She has always been the essence of kindness.

Tuesday

It is both trash collection and election day in these parts and before you chuckle at that peculiar juxtaposition, please remember where I live. Voting was handled weeks ago by mail and my ballot was left for a trusted friend rather than our postal carrier. It reached its destination well before today which meant no worries for me. My postal carrier is still strutting his stuff, but I prefer not to have contact with someone who will not distance or wear a mask. I do know that one of the prospective judges on the ballot has COVID. I hope she recovers.

Other than that, I listened to a brief presentation on the role of women here in suffrage and apart from a few of which I was already aware, there really was no new information. This area was a last bastion of conservatism, just as I suspected. I was taken aback when the speaker noted a subtopic about which she desired more research but was unable to obtain it due to the library being closed. Had I been the librarian moderating this program, I would speak to this History Center docent afterward and extend a hand  in getting further information. The docent, an older woman, did promise to complete her research at a later time.

Overcast and rainy for most of the afternoon, we finally have slivers of azure, just before sunset.

How was your day?

Kitchen Heresies

 That may seem an odd title, but Sunday  is generally my day to prepare whatever food I have for the week. Today I've made yellow rice, black beans, pasta and mashed potatoes and veggie cutlet with gravy and a Jackfruit curry with the remaining rice. None of this is from scratch and I've only ever seen Jackfruit in a can despite growing up in the tropics.

After almost six months of nothing but my own limited repertoire, I am more than ready to try some new things. The summer heat finds me eating a lot of fruit, yogurt. cheese, sandwiches, carrots. hummus and salad, along with pitchers of tea. I don't dare ask for watermelon on my grocery order. A friend did so and ended up with enough to feed her neighborhood.

I found six packets of Alessi soup mix in my cupboard and decided to make one for dinner last week. I added dried herbs, pasta, beans as it was a bean and pasta soup and some fresh greens, and fed myself for two nights. I've also re-discovered the joy of good quality peanut butter and jam without added sugar in a sandwich or on toast in the mornings.

What about you?

Pandemic Birthday...

I am sixty-one today and glad to be alive and well, even in isolation. I will attend a couple of virtual activities and carry on as I have since March. We were fortunate that the recent hurricane had rather minimal effect. My heart goes out to folks along our eastern seaboard, especially in the Carolinas where I have newly-found extended family.

Wishing you all a safe and wonderful week. Below are some photos from birthdays past.

ul week.

A Hurricane and a Pandemic...

With a hurricane bearing down on my state's east coast and expected to impact the entire eastern seaboard, the pandemic and its continual rise here has taken a backseat in our news. It is now a waiting game to see when and where it strikes and how much clean up there will be. At present there are no evacuation orders in place for my area. The governor has declared a state of emergency in east coast counties so I would expect an increase in traffic as people move to other areas or attempt to leave the state. and all of this during an uncontrolled pandemic for which Florida has become an epicenter.

Lukas and I are at home and staying put for the duration. 
Stay safe and be well.