Good Friday, April 10, 2020
This morning Jon announced at breakfast that he had “a crazy idea”. He wanted to make Hot Cross Bun for Good Friday and we could take them to our friends. I told him I thought it was a good idea! The recipe involved yeast and raising twice so it took most of the day, but they came out great.
While Jon was cooking, I talked with cousin Sharon, who is alone sheltering in place and finding it especially difficult. I listened to Suzy York, cousin Steve’s daughter, podcast where she interviewed cousin Nancy’s granddaughter, Brenna Kennedy, about the impact of the coronavirus on her and her friends who are all seniors in high school and missing all their “high school last’s.” It is a wonderful interview if you would like to listen to it. Humansoptimized also has other podcasts with various people and how Coronavirus is effecting their lives.
The link to the podcast is:
https://humansoptimized.podbean.com/e/the-class-of-2020-will-forever-remember-the-memories-they-didnt-get-to-make/
I texted with a friend, Jackie who taught school and was a Superintendent before she retired. I sent her the link and she really enjoyed hearing Brenna share her experiences and thoughts.
The Hot Cross Buns were done, in bags with a card sending Good Friday wishes by 4:00 PM so we started delivering them. First the neighbors, Rachel and Bob and then MV and Jim, both across the street. We put the buns in their screened area, rang the bell, waited and then visited from outside. We then got in the car and drove to Marcia and Greg’s. Their screen door was locked so I think I texted them to say we were outside. It was then on to Marilyn and Steve’s and they saw us stop out front and came out. Another short visit and on to Jackie and Bruce’s. Their doorbell did not work so we put them on the hood of their car in the car port and then called. They were home so they came out and we went out back to see their building project. They are building a lanai onto the back of their house. Next we drove 30 minutes to our final stop, Carol and Jay’s where we had another visit in their driveway. It was really fun to connect with some of our friends even if at a distance and for a short time. Thank you, Jon, for thinking of this.
At 7:00 PM we watched the Good Friday service which was very moving. We sent a text link to friends in Melrose and received text messages. I think it might have been Easter Sunday that we communicated with Jeanne and Chip from Melrose. They had Easter Dinner with their family because they all live in the same house. Their neighborhood had Easter Egg Hunt where each family hunted in their own yard. They said it was really fun to watch all the kids.
Saturday we received thank you from everyone mostly by text. Everyone enjoyed their Hot Cross Buns. Our neighbor from Windham, NH, Marie, called and we had a nice visit. She is a widow and finding this very difficult being all alone and unable to be with her family that live close by. She says she does go for walks in the neighborhood and is able to visit some of them on her way. She is grateful this did not happen at the time her husband, Dennis died. She did say their Grief group is continuing using Zoom so that is helpful.
I texted with friends, Mary Ann and Al, from Melrose who now live on Cape Cod. They were commenting on Jon’s post about the sandhill cranes. They are doing fine sheltering in place. They are concerned about summer people bringing the coronavirus down to The Cape and not having the medical care needed.
On Saturday, I had a nice text and then phone call from our friends, Pat and Dick, from Minnesota who were here when this whole thing started. They were having a nice day and able to set outside on their deck.
Easter found us receiving text messages from Minnesota saying, “Merry Christmas oops Happy Easter.” From Doug with an attached picture of snow. Two of our friends received the same texts from their families in Minnesota. We talked with Doug and they are lonesome being in Minneapolis but unable to be with their grandchild, Hope.
Nephew, Mark and Megan, sent us pictures and videos of their Easter Egg Hunt. It was really fun to watch Lewis, maybe eighteen months old, toddle around the yard looking for eggs. Megan had made a treasure map for the kids to follow and Lewis had blue eggs so Harry would leave them for Lewis to find. It was great fun to watch. Thank you, Mark and Megan.
We had a late breakfast of Raised Buckwheat Pancakes. This was after we had gone on our walk. Today we had a record high temperature for Easter. It was in the 90’s. We put on our church clothes and watched the Easter Service on the TV. We made our Easter Dinner of ham with pineapple glaze, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad, and green beans with almonds. We ate in the dining room with my mother’s Lenox china.
We talked with Rebecca while we were cooking, and she was not at all surprised we were making a ham dinner. It was Kevin’s birthday, so they were all at her place and they were face timing with his parents and Uncle Bert in the background.
I had a nice facetime with niece, Amy, while I was drinking my wine and Jon was out hitting golf balls in our backyard. She has been sheltered in place since March 8th when she returned from FL. She does have one couple that are staying home also so they had Easter Dinner together. She has ordered some patio furniture, but it got delivered without the screws. She is looking forward to putting it together and being able to sit outside.
In the evening we talked with Jeff and his kids. They had a very nice dinner made by Lisa that included hot cross buns.
We really did have a nice Easter Weekend connecting with friends and family via phone, text and social distance visits.
Monday and Tuesday, April 13 and 14
I went for my walk in the evening after dinner when it was cooling down. We are having 90-degree days and it stays in the 80’s in the evening. We spent much of the Monday with Rebecca’s family as we were trying to help Griffin with his schoolwork and having problems with the computer. Tuesday we were successful in helping Griffin. I made fried rice for dinner.
I had a phone visit with my neighbor MV as I was asking her for masks for Carol and Jay to wear when they fly to Reno. Her daughter is an ER doctor over in Jacksonville. She says they are still staying ahead of it over there.
This afternoon I had a nice phone visit with my friend from Pelham, NH, Pam Casazza. Her husband died a little over one year ago after they had been visiting us in SCC. She had a nice Easter with her family since they all live together. She missed having her son, Doug with them. He is single, living in a small apartment and sheltering at home. On the weekends he takes drives just for some change of scenery and keep himself sane.