Best childhood on Lake Erie, many years in Pennsylvania, Manhattan and upstate NY, chucked it all to travel 5 years in an RV, settled in TX for a few, then back to snow country, Lancaster PA. It's a diary, a cookbook and random thoughts. Follow along!
Two aniversaries have gone by since I was left alone. I have settled into life in Lancaster PA for the most part. Even though I am free to do as I wish, I can't shake the feeling that I should call home if I'm running late. No one's waiting for me anymore. My hope is to break that habit by exploring, hiking and reviving my love of photography.
In other news, I had my right hip replaced in April 2023; I went to rehab for 3 months then continued in the MAG (Medically Adaptive Gym) with a personal trainer.
I spent a few days at Ocean City NJ, enjoying the sandy beach and swimming in the ocean.
Despite being active, I was hospitalized with DVT (deep vein thrombosis) and pulmonary embolism, blood clots traveled to my lungs. My doctors were certain this didn't happen due to my hip replacement 4 month ago, so I'm on blood thinners for life.
My Christmas guests included brother Ken and daughter Carla and fiance Arthur, and we had a Christmas Eve fire at their AirBnB. The warmth of family, good food and libations kept us cozy in the chill night air.
As you may know from previous entries, we traded in our small-town lifestyle for life on the road back in 2015. We sold our house, loaded up the car and drove to Florida with 2 Beagles and cat to purchase our new home on wheels.
We were rewarded with nearly 5 glorious years traveling the US, basking in each new experience, making lasting friendships and relishing our time together. We left the road due to health issues (details in prior post) and settled in San Antonio.
After I lost my life partner Shel in November 2021, I stayed in TX for awhile. I love my in-law family, but realized my place was up north with my children. I decided to keep only what I could ship or pack in my car, so for months I packed boxes, sold furniture and donated everything else. What a cleansing. Back in 2015 before we traveled, we did the same thing, selling all but some keepsakes.
It was a daunting undertaking but I'm thankful for the help from relatives and my daughters.
Before I left, I managed to take a few pictures of the "ribbon roads" of TX. I never saw sky roads like this anywhere else and believe it or not, my vertigo is so severe I couldn't wait to get off them! I still think they are graceful and unique.
Meanwhile, my daughter Carla flew down to TX to take Cole back up north so he wouldn't be cramped in the car on the drive to Pennsylvania. It was a great help. She let him out on his leash going through airport security and he was such a champ!! He's a travelin' cat and loved the attention. More later!
Nina, my older daughter and I had decided to share a 2 BR apartment. She suggested we share since she works from home and it was more convenient to live in Lancaster. Other than a few minor bumps in the road, this arrangement has been wonderful for both of us.
Nina flew down to San Antonio to assist with the drive to Lancaster PA. We closed up the apartment, spent the night with my SIL and left early the next morning.
We spent the first night in New Orleans. I was physically unable to explore the area, but Nina walked around and came back with coffee and beneighs from Cafe Du Monde. Yummy!
The next 3 days we continued our journey to Pennsylvania, sharing the d
As we got closer to Lancaster, the landscape changed. The countryside is so picturesque.
On the fourth day, we pulled into our new home and new life. I had only seen pictures of the apartment so it was amazing to see how open and roomy the space was. The living room is huge, the bedrooms are at the end of the hallway and there are massive closets and a storage locker in the basement. The kitchen is small but has an incredible gas stove!
This is what greeted me. You can see only a small portion of boxes to unpack. There were about 40, and each box was numbered and a list was made of each box's contents. Unfortunately, I made mistakes and lost half the list (it may still turn up) and as I unpacked the boxes, I didn't keep track of the numbers as I opened them. I naively thought everything was there, but some boxes went missing. Everything of value I took in the car, so it's not worth trying to track down the missing boxes.
They weren't insure anyway.
Within days of arriving in Lancaster, my car died. It's all electric with push buttons, couldn't be jumped, so it had to be flatbed towed to get a new battery. I thank my lucky stars we made it to Pennsylvania before it died!
A few years ago, life interrupted so I'll try to catch you up before I move on.
We left the Yellowstone area in the fall of 2017 having spent an amazing summer in the area (more on that later). We traveled back to TX for the winter as usual, but this time was different. I noticed a change in Shel's health and we needed to get back to TX as soon as possible. With extreme weight loss, malaise, loss of strength and abilities, I knew something was terribly wrong. We settled near San Antonio to be closer to medical resources and family. A year of medical appointments, tests and hospitalizations finally culminated in quad bypass surgery in February 2019. Even though the surgery was successful, Shel still faced other serious health issues.
While Shel was still hospitalized, well guess what? I was diagnosed with a brain tumor after my daughter insisted I have an MRI.
I was so consumed with Shel's recovery, traveling nearly every day to see him whatever hospital he was in, that I ignored my own symptoms that even my distant kids saw. I was falling and had to call the fire dept to pick me up when my legs didn't work, had very little memory of Shel's heart surgery. I was totally incontinence (which I didn't perceive as worrisome), and while Shel was recovering, I ran out of diesel for the motorhome for nearly a week, and froze. Carla convinced my Dr to order an MRI, and afterward was immediately admitted via the ER for brain surgery that day. Shel's family took care of our pets. We finally reunited at rehab a few weeks later, and for the next month, I underwent therapy to regain strength and agility, Shel rejected much help. My daughters dropped everything, traveled to TX, managed our affairs, and made ready an apartment for us, furnished it, and emptied and surrendered the motorhome before we were released.
We eventually moved in and life was good living on the 1st floor with a view of the community pool. I took advantage of the pool often and used the fitness center when I felt up to it.
After we moved into the apartment, I gradually became the sole caregiver, taking on most of the day-to-day tasks as Shel continued to deteriorate and no longer had the will or ability to carry on. We always promised our commitment to each other that included wiping each other's ass if it came to that, which it did. It was always a 2-way street for us and I knew that had our roles been reversed, I knew I would receive the same devotion, no question.
I even made things I would never eat. Shel and my mother shared a love of pigs feet, souse, scrapple, hog-maw, liver, and
HEAD CHEESE
Unfortunately, they never met.
Life became a routine of chemo, blood tests, infusions, transfusions, visiting nurses. Last weight was 134 lbs, 6'4" tall. Although Visiting Nurses came every week, I began considering fulltime nursing care.
However Shel fell in the middle of the night, hitting the edge of the bathtub resulting in several brain hemorrhages. I had a conversation 4 days later with one of the team of doctors who asked me to authorize or not heroic efforts if necessary. At that point I realized I had to face the gravity of the situation and that recovery was not possible. No prayers or divine intervention could change the course of life or death. Shel passed away 5 days later in Intensive Care just after being eligible for Hospice just hours earlier.
I am grateful that we had almost 25 years together. Our experiences living in Pennsylvania, NYC, small town upstate, traveling fulltime for 5 years then settling in TX was a life together well spent.
Our life together was complex. People who know us may say I could have done things differently. I chose not to.
The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 and beyond has changed our lives forever. It may take years to fathom the profound transformation the world has undergone.
In many parts of the world, the Covid experience is without a doubt, vastly different than mine. A few years ago my Yankee self became a Texan so these are observations from my point of view.
I DO NOT BELIEVE IN CONSPIRACY THEORIES
I defer to legitimate experts and their collective findings for accurate medical and scientific information. They have more validity in their little finger then those who "found it on Google" or "did their own research". It's absurd to believe the entire medical or scientific community is involved in a worldwide scheme to deceive us.
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100,000deaths is sadly, ancient news:
Coronavirus Case Stats:
Since these figures change daily (increasing), these are estimates as of mid September 2021:
Back in February 2020, there was buzz among experts regarding a potential pandemic. In March 2020 its existence became apparent as the highly contagious virus began spreading throughout the world. The science and medical communities scrambled to learn about this new virus and to find ways to mitigate its threat. Information was and is still, continually evolving.
Many states, including Texas, began closing most public gathering places. It became almost impossible to shop, so curb pickup and online shopping became the norm. Exceptions were grocery stores, pharmacies and big box stores, but they required masks and limited customers in their stores.
Most states implemented mask mandates and stay-at-home orders in early 2020.
Each state and local municipality implemented their response to the crisis to protect citizens within their jurisdiction while the federal Center for Disease Control (CDC) monitored the spread across state and national borders. Rules for masking, quarantining, stay-at-home orders, restaurant capacity, group gatherings, shopping restrictions and inter-state travel was governed by each state.
International travel was a nightmare.
For example, the national ban on travelers from China only prohibited U.S. entry to foreign nationals who had visited China in the last 14 days.Restricting flights from China did nothing to prevent the virus from arriving from other parts of the world (like Europe).Read More
Before we go any further, let's define the new Covid vocabulary
Anti-Masker - belief that wearing a mask infringes on "individual freedoms". Let me veer off for a bit and quote the definition fromUrban Dictionary: "Anti-maskers are the new anti-vaxxers. They are a new, more resilient breed of stupid that comes in swarms. Anti-maskers are atypical in that they hold the deluded belief that wearing masks during a global pandemic are somehow an infringement on their "individual freedoms". This is like saying there is a school shooter on the loose, and everybody in the school is forced to remain silent and hidden, but one student does not remain silent for the sole reason that it is infringing on their freedom of speech. It doesn't take a wise guy to see the ridiculousness in this way of thinking.'
Adulting - Doing adult things. Not exactly a Covid word, but became extremely popular in the past year.
Anti Vaxxer- A person who thinks they know more about medicine and public health than the overwhelming majority of doctors, scientists, immunologists and every major health organization across the the entire planet.
I don't need to believe in "evidence based medicine" and fancy "science" made up by sheeple and shills!
Contactless - not having to physically touch or interact with people. “Contactless” delivery or curb pickup has become became a popular option for shoppers.
Contact Tracing- Finding anyone who has been exposed to an infected person so they can be quarantined to prevent spread.
Cornteen - quarantine
Coronacut- bad haircut we give ourselves during lockdown.
Covid 19 - Novel (new) coronavirus disease 2019, the year it was detected.
Covidiot- person who ignores public health or safety warnings
Drive-By - a celebration such as birthday, graduation while driving by.
Essential/Non-Essential - Have to work, or not
Flatten the Curve - lowering new Covid cases
Frontliner- healthcare or other essential worker
Get the Jab - get vaccinated
Herd Immunity - when enough people have been vaccinated results in resistance to infection
Hydro chloroquine - used to treat malaria, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis (risky treatment for Covid).
Ivermectin - livestock anti-parasite medication that some people are ingesting to prevent Covid.
Isolation - 10-14 days, the incubation period that people who may have been exposed to the virus need to stay home and not interact with anyone.
Lockdown - staying home
Long Haulers - Covid survivors with long-term side effects
Pandemic - Global outbreak of a disease.
Pod - A group, usually a family, who lives or works closely together
PPE Personal Protective Equipment - equipment worn by healthcare workers to reduce exposure and contamination
Quaranteem - pod or family unit living together
Quarantine or Self Quarantine - isolating. Stay at home.
Quarantini- quarantine martini
Shelter In Place - stay in a safe indoor space
Social Distancing - 6 ft apart, avoid handshakes, bump elbows
Staycation - Vacationing at home
Super-spreader - gathering of people that may result in the spread of a virus.
Symptomatic/Asymptomatic - Showing symptoms of a disease/not manifesting symptoms of same
Ventilator - a breathing machine
Virtual or ZOOM meeting - appointments, conference calls, staff meetings, TV guest appearances via computer or Smartphone.
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As people began quarantining (staying home), many businesses were especially hard hit. Restaurants and retail establishments struggled to survive by offering no-contact delivery, drive-through or curbside take-out, but many still collapsed.
We live north of San Antonio and saw empty parking lots everywhere: at malls, shopping centers, theaters and businesses. It was as if we were in a Sci-Fi movie as the only survivors, very eerie experience.
Since April 2020, I have rarely entered a store. I order groceries and other necessities online with curb pickup, delivery or mail. A few times I've shopped inside a big box store when I only need a few things, in and out.
Essential businesses stayed open, but required everyone be masked and social distance.
Some stores painted arrows on the floors to direct the flow of customers in the aisles.
We still order our groceries online with curb pickup. We don't interact with the workers and leave our trunks open for them to load our food.
Our bank lobby was open (and still is) by appointment.
There were shortages everywhere, especially cleaning and paper products. Meats and frozen foods were often sold out but fresh fruits and vegetables seemed to survive the scarcity.
This was the paper aisle - paper towels and toilet tissue were always sold out. Anything to clean or sanitize such as bleach, disinfectants, decontaminants or anything "anti-bacterial" was nearly impossible to find. Even the soap aisle was gutted.
As a result, stores began limiting the amount of paper products, cleaning supplies, milk, eggs and other staples we were allowed to buy.
My younger daughter fled NYC, the epicenter of virus cases in early 2020, to a small town on the coast of Maine to quarantine for 2 months. They isolated and found ways to pass the time.
She finally returned to NY and isolated the remainder of the summer, staying in her "pod".
The need for emergency food exploded as people lost their jobs and depleted their savings. More than 1 in 10 Texans turned to food banks or programs to feed their families. In San Antonio, the Food Bank went from feeding 60,000 people a week to 120,000 in a matter of days. This image went viral:
Nevertheless, on 5/1/2020, Texas restaurants, movie theaters and malls were allowed to open on a limited basis, even though the state had reported a record number of deaths...
THE DAY BEFORE...
As a result, by the end of July 2020, cases skyrocketed and Texas became a national hotspot.
The restaurants that re-opened were limited to 50% capacity (supposedly), required masks upon entering and exiting, and tables were blocked off so customers were separated. Waitstaff all wore masks and we only remove ours to eat.
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The vaccine rollout in early 2021 was chaotic at first.
Healthcare and frontline workers were the first group to be inoculated. Texas struggled to devise a way to vaccinate the next group of people aged 65 or older or anyone with a chronic medical condition.
Initially, the state released a map showing vaccine locations, but left it up to us to find appointments. In my experience, not one location within 100 miles had vaccines or appointments. People were driving hundreds of miles if they were lucky to get an appointment.
In San Antonio, vaccines were to be administered over 6 days at the Alamodome, and within 5 MINUTES appointments were gone. They only had 9000 doses for a city of 1.5 million people.
My brother who lives in Daytona Beach FL, held a first come first serve for vaccines. Cars lined up days ahead of time and they closed the gates at 7:30 am because they only had 1000 vaccines.
I decided to wait for the frenzy to subside and was fully vaccinated at Walgreens May 1, 2020.
In the summer of 2020, our apartment complex limited the number of people using the pool and gym by requiring us to sign up for time slots. They also set up a table in the office entryway with sanitizer supplies, required masks and the mailroom had more sanitizer on the counter.
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In the fall of 2020, my daughter and her beau visited us in TX. They were extremely careful, wearing facemasks, face shields, social distanced, washed hands and tested often. But it wasn't until she returned home to NY that she contracted Covid, likely walking 1 block from her home to her job and back each day (and no where else).
She lost her sense of smell and taste, and slept most of the time. Thankfully she did not require hospitalization but her doctor checked on her every day via ZOOM (internet). Friends delivered food and she eventually recovered in a few weeks. I was helpless so far away.
My older daughter is fortunate to be able to work remotely from home as a graphic designer since all she needs is her computer. She started working remotely early 2020 and she is still working at home to this day with no immediate plans to resume in-office work.
I might add that so many people have began working remotely and it has proven to work extremely well. Surprisingly, remote working has resulted in increased productivity, employee satisfaction and lower overhead costs for the employer. Read More
The pandemic is only partially under control due to the widespread availability of vaccinations, however only about 56% of the population 12 yrs and over have been fully vaccinated. (September 2021)
Many have been resistant to vaccines for a variety of reasons, and anti-mask as well. I understand people are frustrated but the recent uptick of infections are mostly among unvaccinated people with the Delta variant.
One of the arguments against the vaccine is that people can still be infected, which is true, however symptoms are generally milder, and the vaccine does a good job keeping people out of the hospital. Most of those hospitalized are the unvaccinated, so once you've contracted Covid, it's too late.
Masking, which is widely misunderstood, is not intended to prevent us from being infected. It protects those around us in case WE are infected (WE don't always know if we are a carrier).
Sadly, history repeats itself:
Many hospital and front-line workers are on the verge of collapse from months of caring for the casualties. Unless you or someone close to you works in the medical field, you might get the impression that your community is just fine and normal.
BUT
Personal experience in the past year confirm that Covid infections are indeed real. One hospital is so overwhelmed that we waited 6 hours for a bed for a non-Covid related issue. They're not accepting ambulances, and non Covid patients are feeling the pinch as unvaccinated cases are overwhelming hospital staff.
Verbal and physical attacks on health workers surge as emotions boil during latest COVID-19 wave
Stressed health workers are now confronting volatile visitors and patients. “The verbal abuse, the name-calling, racial slurs … we’ve had broken bones, broken noses,” said one hospital official in Dallas.
Health care professionals say pandemic-related stress and frustration with hospital protocols aimed a protecting patients and staff from COVID-19 have triggered a raft of verbal and physical abuse against health workers. From a front-line Covid doctor, Get The ShotWe have been staying safe as much as possible. Curb pick-up for groceries and from local merchants, virtual medical appointments, order online, wear masks, use the pharmacy drive-through...I'm spending my time keeping my hands busy.
As more people were vaccinated, restrictions were relaxed for awhile. At first those who had been fully vaccinated were not required to wear a mask per the CDC.
However with the Delta variant spreading so rapidly, the CDC is again recommending masks indoors.
Beginning in March 2021, TX Gov. Greg Abbott has initiated many changes in the state's response to the pandemic and laid the burden on the citizens to be "personally responsible".
Businesses reopened 100% in March 2021.
In May, Gov. Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting cities, counties, school districts, public health authorities and other government entities from requiring people to wear face coverings. That order bans school districts from creating mask policies at elementary schools where children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for the vaccine. Masks, hand washing and social distancing (really?) are their only defense.
Being the compassionate state that it is, Texas has gone ahead and sued over a dozen school districts who ignored the ban even though the majority of parents supeport a mask mandate Parent poll
In July, another executive order: state and local governments can't require masks or vaccines.
Dr Fauci, Director of NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984) recommends that teachers and school personnel who come in contact with children be vaccinated as another layer of protection. Good advice...
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