The Highs and the Lows

 

I think that the trip home to Cleveland a few weeks ago took more out of me than I thought it would.  I was so excited to see everyone and get together for birthday dinners and social lunches.  But now that I'm back, I feel empty.  My depression is at an all time high and even getting out of bed is a chore.  

Maybe it was interacting with so many different people in a short period of time.  Maybe it was negative conversations.  Who knows?  But whatever it was, I can't shake it.

I'm being published again in Cape Fear Voices--and I'll be in a special glossy edition, but even that doesn't light me up like it should.  Depression is like having someone sitting on the top of your head.  It's heavy and it follows you all around.  I'm tired of being depressed.  

And now, it's September, fall--my favorite time of year.  Alex will be 3 at the end of the month and we get to see her next week.  I have been practicing my colors in Spanish, but she is probably way past that now.    

I've been writing letters to the Cleveland grandkids in response to the Birthday letters they gave me.  Each of them are so different.  I sent Ben a check for his birthday and it was cashed the other day.  I'm not sure why, but I looked at the back of the check when it hit my account.  He printed his name so Jenna could co-sign and cash it and I realized that he doesn't write in cursive.  I guess keyboarding has eliminated the need for learning cursive.   He is in public school now and I worry that he will feel out of place since he has been home schooled.  He's really cute, so I know the young ladies will like him.  I just hope that these final school years will give him good memories. 

Of all of the letters, Ellie's was the most entertaining.  It was more like a conversation than a letter.  As odd as it sounds, I felt like she writes like I do.  She starts on a subject, interjects a related thought and then says something funny.  She included a "PS" in her letter that said it only took her less than 30 minutes to type out her letter and that she was proud of herself.  Ellie has a strong sense of self that I hope she never loses.

Sam looks so much like Bill, Jenna's father.  He is athletic and gifted.  He played the banjo for us and he was very good. 

Zach is the sweetest kid.  He's quiet, but funny.  He can twist his body around like my sister, Fritz, used to.  Jon says Zach is not double jointed, but he sure looks like he is.

I'm glad we got to see them.  And, I have included a picture which to me is typical of 2020.  Sitting in a garage due to the virus.

The Visit Home

We spent the last week in Cleveland celebrating birthdays and seeing family.   What a good time we had, but as I call 2020 the year of nothing, I have to call this trip, the visit of food.  Between meeting people for lunches and dinners, it's safe to say that we added a few pounds--oh good, just what I need. 

One of the events was "Neighborhood Lunch."  Since I've been on Facebook, I've reconnected with several of our neighbors from West 100 St.  We decided to get together, so 7 of us went to Olive Garden in Middleburg Heights.  We talked for over 2 hours and had a great time catching up.  It's amazing how young we all looked!!

I also reconnected with my best friend from 4th grade, Debbie Onody.  I haven't seen her in 40 years.  She has 5 children and 3 grandsons.  We had a fun time remembering school chums over lunch.  We had "friendship" necklaces when we were young, so I bought us both necklaces that celebrate that bond.  It was so good to see her again. 

Seeing the grandchildren was hard.  That must sound odd, but Jenna and Jon are taking Covid very seriously.  We had to wear masks, stay 6 feet away and not hug the children.  It just broke my heart to be that close to them and not be able to squeeze and love them.  

The last time we saw them, they still seemed small and as I remembered them.  But this time, they all got so big, especially Ben.  He is 5'8" or 9" now and taller than we are.  He stood next to Tony (6 feet apart) and I immediately thought of that little boy who always wanted piggy back rides from Papa.  

The children are all very talented.  Sam played the banjo, Ben played the ukulele and sang, Ellie did some gymnastics and Zach showed us some Tae Kwondo defensive moves.  They are learning how to play tennis and even jump on a pogo stick.  They were not able to be on swim team this year because of the virus.  

Sam is starting to look more like Jenna, although, I've always said he looked like her father, Bill, so I guess that makes sense.  Ben favors Jon and Ellie and Zach favor both of their parents.  Ellie has the most beautiful smile and Zach is sweet and funny.   

I cried so much during our visit.  I cried because they were so big, I cried because I couldn't touch them and I cried because they are so beautiful.  I will post pictures of them soon. 

In the meantime, I have posted beautiful birthday flowers from the Charlotte Swegle's and a picture of our Neighborhood Lunch. 

From left:  Lynn Viancour, Back Row: Earl Melvin, Donna (Viancour) Andrassy, Peggy (Quarando) Szabo,

 Ralph Quarando, Front:  Jan (Viancour) Morgan-Swegle, Gail (Doane) O' Dell

Missing due to health reasons:  Linda (Doane) Yamamotto, Gordon Hathaway

Flowers from the Charlotte Swegle's  for my birthday

Published!

 

Yesterday, I got two copies of the Cape Fear Voices issue that published my story about the snake in our lanai.  It was a thrill to see my thoughts in print again and I'm trying to submit another article before we leave for Cleveland.  

I love writing again, although, I feel a bit hemmed in because the articles are restricted to 700 words.  Anything over that has to be published in installments.

Cape Fear Voices is a new, small paper dedicated to featuring the diverse points of view of the people in the community.  The Leland area is one of the fastest growing in the country and is less "locals" and more east coast/midwest every day.  

I am really looking forward to our Cleveland trip and seeing our grandchildren again.  OK, it will be behind masks and there will be no hugging, but at least I can see them and talk to them.  No matter what restrictions or how long the visit, I am so excited to see them.  

I think this is the first time in a long time that we will have seen most of our grandchildren in a 2 month period (Owen didn't visit.)  The first part of August, Tony Jr., Coleton and Anthony visited and in September, David, Brenda and Alex will be here. It's hard to believe that in a little over 3 weeks, it will be September.  2020, the year of nothing, marches on.  

Dixie will be staying with her Godparents for the week we are in Cleveland.  She will miss barking at people while she's sitting on the back of Tony's reclining chair with him, but I know she will enjoy extra treats and extra love while we are gone. 

Here's my  first Cape Fear Voices entry"

Mother Nature

I'm not sure how I ended up with dots on my text, but I will figure it out  before my next post. 

• One of my favorite commercials of all times is "Mother Nature."  I think the commercial is about selling margarine but everyone thinks it's butter--including Mother Nature.  She's not happy when she finds out she has been fooled, so she raises her arms above her head and says, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature." After that you hear loud crashes of thunder and see wicked lines of lightening.  You get the message. 
• 
  
• Well, Mother Nature sure likes to fool us.  I think Tony said we have had 4 hurricanes in 5 years--the latest Isaias (which I understand is pronounced E-Sigh-A-Us) made landfall at the South Carolina/North Carolina border last night.   As it moved inland, the eye was 8 miles West of our house.   
• 
  
• That sounds pretty scary, but we only had one tree down and the same pot of flowers that went down during the last storm, went down again.  We were very lucky.  One of our favorite cities, Southport, was not so lucky.  Southport is a sea side community, with many residents living on boats--well, actually, they lived on boats, many of the boats in the harbor were damaged to the point of being totaled, as was the pier.  Huge sand slides were all over the roads and lawns of residents and cars were pushed into each other and turned over. 

Jokes about trailer parks didn't seem funny today, as a park was totally destroyed, killing a few people and leaving 2 small children still missing.  

Chunks of bridges in various places are gone, and water damage in the Outer Banks is again severe.  

For a small moment in time, we forgot about masks, our stupid president and the virus.

David, Brenda and Alex were totally missed, as was my cousin and her husband in Beaufort, South Carolina, and for that, we are most grateful.  

Dixie spent most of the time before the storm shaking and hiding under the bed.  We stumbled over something that makes her feel safe--a laundry basket.  Tony just picked her up the other day and put her in one I had on the floor.  She seemed to like having "walls" all around her and being able to see out.  I put one of her blankets in the bottom and she rested comfortably on it and stayed in the basket next to me during the thunderstorm we were having.  

So, that's life in North Carolina.  Critters, snakes, storms and who knows what else.  

But we are well and have once again, dodged Mother Nature.  I will continue to eat butter and not margarine!

Again, sorry for the dots. 

The same plant that went down in 2019

The same tree that went down last  year

Another Outdoor Adventure

As I said in my last blog, when the heat index is 107 degrees, you feel like you are living in the Congo.  To that end, I don't like to be outside in weather like this.  I don't like to sweat, I don't like to have frizzy hair and I don't like to take 3 showers a day.  I'm not an outdoors person.  I don't like to garden, I don't care how much our trees have grown since last year and I don't go hiking. 

So what did Tony, Dixie and I do earlier this week?  We went to Waccamaw National Park.  

Yeah, it was another 90+ degree day and we were out there walking around.  I think the sun has affected my brain.  Dixie was pretty smart about the whole thing.  She found shade made by the wooden bridges we were on and took every opportunity to stay in the shade and lay down and rest her paws.

Like the Covid virus, I am tired of the little box that this kind of heat puts us in.  I want to walk among the roses in the backyard with a cool breeze fanning my face. Ah, winter where are you?

Here are some pictures from the park:

A view from the covered bridge.....

Dixie taking a rest

Tony

Dixie laying under the air conditioning vent; glad to be home

Heat Index

When I was growing up, summers in Cleveland with no air conditioning was ugly.  My parents had large fans strategically placed around the living and dining rooms but all they did was blow hot air around.  

Sitting on the front porch in the evening just invited mosquitoes to abuse your skin and buzz your ears.  Personally, I preferred fall.  Yes, it was back to school time in the fall, but to me, summer was really overrated.  Who needs temperatures in the '80's and high humidity.

And so, here I am in sunny North Carolina.  We moved to get away from the snow, but I think I forgot about summer time. 

Oh Lord, is it hot down here.  I'm talking extended periods of time when the average temperature is in the mid '90's and there isn't a hint of breeze anywhere.  The humidity is high and you get heat advisories on your phone and computer, telling you to stay inside.  

But, it's the heat index that makes me shake my head.  Today, the weather advisory said that we could expect temperatures in the mid to high '90's with a heat index of 107.

107?    Did we  move to the Congo?  This is the kind of heat that makes it hard to breathe when you go out.  I find myself looking forward to fall once again.

In other news, we've been seeing a family of wild turkeys in our yard on a regular basis now.  The babies are getting bigger and they seem pretty comfortable just walking around the backyard.  As always, Dixie barks and wants to get out into the backyard to investigate them.  She's graduated from bunnies to turkeys.  The problem is, I think if one of them got a hold of her, she would regret it!

Dixie has been walking on grass lately instead of the sidewalk.  Tony says the pads on her feet can take the heat, but I don't think so.  She's having her spa day today so hopefully, getting a shorter hair cut will help her cope with the temperatures.

We went to the beach the other day and that helped.  It was a bit cooler and there was a nice breeze but the sun was unforgiving.

We saw lots of tourists on the beach with really white skin, I'm betting they were hurting after spending hours out there.

We will go back, hopefully soon.  I love the beach.  

A beautiful day...

Unforgiving sun

  

Our turkey family--I call them the Trumps!

Dixie's blunt cut!

Side view--she really got a haircut!

Writing

I think it's funny how things happen sometimes.  How something you do, or some place you go is the same for 1,000 times and then on that 1,001 time, something is different and that difference affects you.

That happened to me last week.  Tony and I went to Bridgewater,  the wine store we go to and buy the majority of our wine.    I was wandering around and I saw a small, newspaper on the counter.  It was called Cape Fear Voices and appeared to be a new publication.   I picked one up and stuffed it in my purse.

I found that Cape Fear Voices is associated with Teen Scene Magazine, which encourages young people to write articles for publication. Cape Fear Voices was full of diverse stories from people in the community sharing their life experiences and points of view.  On the last page was a "Help Wanted" ad soliciting for new writers.  

I sent in an article I wrote about the snake in our lanai and sent it to the Editor.  I got an email from  him today saying that they were going to publish it.  

That pleases so me so much!  I am writing again and this time, people will be reading what I write.