Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Sunday, October 18th, 2020

Outing

Sadly, my lap lane today did not work out as my waitlisted spot was not confirmed and I did not try to go and see if a lap was open. Nonetheless it was a beautiful day, with a bit of a tiff at the end.

We started the day by putting  stuff onto the curb for people to take. Sadly, about half was still there to night so we brought it back in. I will need to go through it, dump some of it in the bin (which I really hate to do) then find a box and get EM to run the rest to a thrift shop.

We then set out to the pumpkin patch in Loudon County. It was extremely well organized. I had made a booking a week in advance and we had a slot to visit between 12:00 and 14:00. We got there around 12:30 with our friends and meandered around picking out what we thought were the nicest pumpkins. They are now residing on our steps alongside a beautiful pumpkin vine and some decorative corn adorning our house for Halloween. We also brought out the other Halloween decorations and hung them in the tree out front.

We were done by 13:30 with the pumpkins and made our way to Zephania, a boutique vineyard. I had spend yesterday preparing a picnic and our picnic basket came in handy. We had a red beet salad (not popular with the girls), a caprese salad, dried figs rolled in prosciutto, cheese, apples in lime, olives, bread and crackers to accompany our wine tasting. The girls wanting to hang out soon got bored with their elders and asked to leave; just as we had settled on a bottle of wine. They were made to stay until our two-hour slot was up.

The compromise was that Danielle and I finished the wine at her house while the girls headed out to go shopping. It was a great day until we came home and my teenager in residence was in a mood because she had to pack up the stuff left out on the curb. Generally, she seemed upset about spending time with the mums. The grievance is about being cooped up together due to the pandemic and needing to get out. Not that she has not bene out. I reminded her of the two days she had spend with her friends camping and the sleep over last night, but clearly that has not been enough. Her mood has of course put me in a bad spirit after what I thought was a perfectly lovely outing, giving all of us some breathing room and space to do what we cared about. Apparently not for her. I no longer recognize this person I am living with. In the past we have always enjoyed our outings and time together. Somehow now she seems to think it is all wrong. So what was a perfect day has left a bit of a bitter after taste. I have resolved to not include her in any further excursions as I really do not need anyone to spoil my mood.

Especially the time at the vineyard  was lovely. We had a nice spot on a lawn by the vines. Great food, the sun was shining, we were away from home, she with her best friend, enjoying great wine and just being away. I thought it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday.

While we are out and about in the fresh air virus infections are on the rise across the globe again. The world today reports 39.8 million cases of which 8.3 million alone are in the USA. Recent increases are primarily due to virus fatigue in Europe and sheer ignorance in the US. For instance governor Como had to prohibit a wedding ceremony to be attended by 10,000 people. This apparently was an orthodox Jewish wedding where the entire community comes together. It is pure insanity! Firstly, weddings have been proven to be the number one super spreader events (followed by Trump rallies) and secondly, the NYC Jewish community has been one of the hardest hit during the early outbreak. Why would they want to put their entire community at risk?

In Europe states are taking measures like curfews (France), mask wearing mandates (UK, Spain) and #stayhome appeals (Germany)  in an effort to curb the spread.

I am monitoring the situation carefully given our plan to go home for Christmas. Flights are reserved but not yet paid for.