PNewL PNewS
Volume 28 Issue 3 “All the pnews that phits.” October 2020
Editors Note: I lost track of time…again
In the Time of the ’Rona & Other Observations Part III
Road Trip!
Last issue, I mentioned my amazement that everyone seemed to be going to the beach. Well, I finally went too. As one who loves to travel, this shutdown stuff has been challenging in an “oh so privileged” way. I want a change of scenery, but I want to follow the rules. Finally I broke. I bought a small rug from my friend John in DC and suggested I drive up to get it. I incorporated a few stops—a visit with Lynne in Charlottesville, an overnight on the Outer Banks with Betsy and Geoff, and a stop at Marnie and Stephen’s in Greensboro. It all seemed pretty neat and tidy. No long days of driving at least by my standards, and it would be a good opportunity to see how the world is managing “in this time.” Plus I have a van so I could keep pretty separate. The only thing I forgot was that it was hotter than hammered hell.
(The use of this phrase, which I really like and have no idea when I adopted it or where I picked it up caused me to go on a down-the-rabbit-hole google search only to find that it isn’t really a phrase and/or I adopted and adapted it. The phrase is actually something like “hotter than the hammered hinges of hell” which makes more sense but it is unlikely I will change, so here we are.)
It was really fun--reallyfun---to visit with people I haven’t seen in a while in new places and to almost feel normal. Thanks to all for being careful and cautious and so welcoming.
Charlottesville and Lynne are as lovely as always. She is re-doing a house, which is a project I admire and do not aspire to so it’s super cool to hang out with someone who has that kind of vision. I mean, this is taking out walls kinda work. Nope. Not me. Put a deck on a shed or an outdoor shower in the backyard? Now, those are my kinda projects. Imagining space where there isn’t any? Heebie geebies!
A brief stop in John’s garden in DC was refreshing. A breath of calm and green in a big city. How fun. And then the Speedway to the Outer Banks, where I have never been, to see cousins Betsy and Geoff, relatively recent transplants from the Great White North. Nice quick visit and intro to this part of the NC coast. Cool! But it was very hot. Contacted Marnie as I headed east to say there was no way I was sleeping anywhere in this heat—I think it was 95 degrees F as I started out and it was only going to get hotter heading inland. Oh my. So we had dinner and a chat and I drove home to the mountains where it was a tiny bit cooler.
I am not sure I will ever drive in DC again—every time I have done that I have wound up going in circles around where I needed to be because of either closed-due-to-construction streets or one-way streets going the other way. Signage is, to my pitiful mind, pitiful. (Last time I did it, I didn’t have a computer voice telling me what to do so I thought this time might be better. It wasn’t.) I will not choose to drive from DC to the Outer Banks again either. It is a Speedway I am not used to any more. Any time I make these declarations, I wind up almost immediately needing to do it. We shall see.
All in all, a success but I still have a problem while travelling grokking that the weather could be an issue. As far as how the world is managing in this time? I guess it’s doing okay. It looked sort of normal—people are out and about, masks some places not others, folks keeping distance for the most part, idiots still abound.
I had another quickie road trip, this time with Roger the little old man co-pilot, to Sydney and Mike’s in Indianapolis. I have never been to Indianapolis before and it’s a reasonable 7+ hours away, and they moved away from here and I miss them. This time the weather had gotten a little cold so we were on a different spot on the temperature spectrum. We spent most of the time on their porch, which was surrounded by trees with changing autumn leaves—with a propane heater that took the chill off. It was lovely. They live in a bit of country in the middle of the city. It was a brief visit but was just right for the times—it’s hard to keep up the physical distancing for long—but I got to see some Indy and some family and did not seem to bring any germs to the Hoosier State nor did I pick up anything. These mini attempts at normalcy do press the release valve a bit. Again, thanks for the Hospitality. Why the capped H? No idea but it works for me.
Miscellaneous etc.
• Today has been a challenge already and it isn't even 10. Unexpectedly, the pump guys came out at the same time that I was supposed to be picking up a neighbor at the mechanic and the handyman arrived. It all felt like too much. My coping skills are in the toilet--I wanted to stomp my feet and cry and lash out. I texted Gini, and she wrote back "Please be gentle, kind and understanding of yourself as you would be toward a good friend. You are doing the best that you can in a crashing world." Thanks. I needed that—you might, too, on occasion. Please feel free to borrow it.
• As a huge library fan and a volunteer in one for 14 years+, it often shocks me when an obvious book for me just passed me by. The Library Bookby Susan Orlean is one of those books. I was captivated to the end. I just finished listening to Stacey Abrams’ Our Time is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair Americaabout voter suppression in general and her campaign in particular, among other things. Why a portion of our population—including Abrams herself--is not super-duper angry all the time, I don’t know. Telling people it is their right and honor to vote and then putting up hurdles in their way? Wrong, so wrong. And this is not ancient history—it’s going on now. Oops sorry. Trying to stay away from that topic! Abrams reads it and has a wonderful voice. And now I am on to Caste: The Origin of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. She’s another smart cookie—I read her The Warmth of Other Sunsabout the Great Migration and was amazed at what was left out of my education in US History. This is going to be another challenging one—here I go!
• Have you ever vacuumed a lampshade? Life-changing. Highly recommend.
• The only way for me to keep Roger out of the kitchen is to mess around in the freezer. I don’t know how anyone does it any other way, but there is always stuff falling out of the freezer on to the floor and it scares Roger and sometimes hurts my feet. He thinks it is easier to just stay away. I am now on a new configuration fridge/freezer (thank you Patsy and Ernie) and it still happens.
• Among the top of The Things That Irritate Me Today list: I have several address books on various devices and programs and none of them seem to speak to each other. Seems it might be easier to go back to paper and pencil.
• Here’s a new one: I have no cursor on the computer screen today. It’s a little weird so I’m going to the grocery store.
• I have a serious problem getting mice out of traps—it’s icky and creeps me out. I am wondering if aspiring to be better at it is worth doing at this time in the world and my life. Thoughts? (Note: I put out a bunch of traps the other night. One is missing. Enough said.)
• Only one Zoom comment this issue: We had a mini college reunion this past weekend and it was surprisingly charming. There were a bunch of people I didn’t know because it spanned many years and a couple itty-bitty colleges. One thing I did say to myself a couple times was—who are all these old people? Hahaha
• I may be one of the only people who is alternating TV bingeing The Great British Banking Showand Blacklist. Anyone?
• I have a knitting injury so am icing down one hand and trying to type with the other. Not very speedy.
Cleaning out…Finally
• Up until recently, I have been doing a little clearing of the decks…but slowly. I don’t like this bowl--ya want it? This is not going to get me anywhere fast.
• Then, one day, I addressed my filing. I have been in awe of people who have been cleaning out closets and based on the number of photos I have received in the mail, I think a lot of people have gotten to thatcloset…or drawer or bin. My filing has had issues for a while. At the bottom of the file-able papers is a whole stack of things I am not ready to get rid of but I am not sure where they go. As I was getting to that point in the pile, I decided I would tackle it. (It was about three inches deep.) There were a bunch of photos and cards and letters (I have a box for that!). There were a lot of articles on black history in WNC, travel and money/political orgs/philanthropy. Some could be recycled, some could be put on the read then recycle and some, well, go back on the pile. I meant to do it all but got tired of it so that will be waiting for me next time.
• Yesterday, I finally got to two closets and I “tossed my (yarn) stash.” I am subscribed to a knitting teacher’s Patreon page and she suggests regularly tossing our stash out into the open and seeing what we’ve lost interest in. Since part of the stash is in the closet, I had to address the whole of that too and since there were some donate-able warm and wooly things in there, I also had to address the coat closet where more donate-able type things reside. I went three hours without noticing the passage of time. It felt epic and productive. I now have piles of stuff that need to be better organized but hopefully some will help someone to keep warmer in the coming months. The stash that needs to go elsewhere will join other people’s stashes, and the rest is reorganized and put away tidily. It was not truly Marie Kondo-ized but while I appreciate her big picture view, she and I probably don’t have a lot in common.
• I am just about to send this off to the world and have been grappling with how to share some very hard news that is new and hard. My buddy and pal and sister Martha is starting treatment for cancer soon. There, I said it. I'm heartbroken for all of us--because she has to go through this along with everyone who loves her, and with this bleeping pandemic, I don’t feel like there’s anything I can do to help. I would appreciate any positive thoughts you are willing to share with the universe or however it is that you share positive thoughts. Some of you know her and can reach out gently (letters are good and support the USPS), some of you don’t and you can just do that fingers crossed thing. Thanks. That’s probably enough for now.
Onward. Stay safe and sane my friends.
“The library is an easy place when you have no place to go and a desire to be invisible.” Susan Orlean
