August!

Good Grief! Another new month. Just the other day was February. Then March and COVID. And a death of a good friend. A death in the time of COVID but not of COVID. No, his death was of age, failing health, falling, broken hip, surgery and lung and organ failures. Still, he died alone at the beginning of the pandemic’s quarantine. And his wife with dementia is in a nursing home; originally it was respite care while husband was in hospital; now it is permanent. I often wonder how the paperwork will get done. And how she is doing in a facility that is in lockdown. Family visits only at the window outdoors.

The quarantine continues. We have three cases in our condo building now. Quarantine contains the spread here, but it is still unnerving. Hoping they stay strong and healthy to survive the threat.

Meanwhile we carry on doing what we can – writing, mentoring, more writing, and eating. Napping of course, but eating, too.

We are on Factor meals sent weekly to us from a Batavia kitchen. Small portioned meals that are healthy. Extremely tasty and of good quality. Cheaper than eating out. If we curb our grocery bill and eliminate eating out, Factor is not only affordable, but better on the budget and the waistline. It also eliminates a lot of dishwashing and cooking. I’m not much of a cook in the first place; Rocky is the cook here, but this is now very difficult for him to perform. Factor meals are a blessing.

This will be the fifth month of quarantine. We have exhausted most of TV binge watching. Now working on obscure documentaries and movies. Some old; some new. Watched Rear Window from 1954 with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly; and Wendell Cory! Remember Wendell Cory? I remember watching this movie with my folks at a theater in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Great movie. Alfred Hitchcock. Took me back when I was 11 or 12.

Weather watching through a window. Air conditioning on since April 1; expect to turn it off November 1. Our normal routine to keep allergies at bay. Meanwhile, storms come and go, bright sunny skies come and go. It may be hot outdoors but inside it is 75. All the time, and dry.

Rocky’s first eye surgery was successful. In another few days the second eye gets its new lens. And then new glasses. Once healed, I think I’ll take him to his hearing doctor for a new set of hearing aids. Our insurance now covers this and Rocky is pretty deaf even with his current hearing aids. We shall see if we can get him communicating better with those improvements.

Until then we converse via hand signals, lip reading, a lot of shouting (me) to overcome his hearing deficits. He does not write notes well due to Parkinson’s. He is also reluctant to write emails or notes on his computer or I-pad. Communications. I have a master’s degree in it. Under these circumstances, the degree means nothing. We have retreated to the Stone Age.

Well, this is August 2020. Wonder what will be happening on September 1^st?

August 1, 2020