Omaha Pandemic, Friday, June 26, 2020

Does it seem as if we just read this post and here we are over 90 days after we returned from our trip to Arizona and California? This past week we celebrated our 38th anniversary married to each other, reminisced about our trials and tribulations, Deb joining a family in progress and slowly becoming the Queen Bee, and then adding two delightful daughters to the mix. The years have flown by and here we are wondering how 90+ days can fly by - what about the previous 38+ years? Glenda, who was present at the ceremony all those years ago, and her husband Jeff arrived from Lincoln to help us celebrate on our anniversary.  She had prepared some wonderful home made pate´ served with baguette croutons, cornichons, kalamata olives, red onion and Dijon mustard as an appetizer, washed down with Aperol Spritzer cocktails while we admired our rear garden. Mark then threw some steaks on the “barbie” and we enjoyed some potatoes and salad together with red wine.  A glorious celebration.  We even placed Glenda’s bouquet of Shasta Daisy flowers on the table to add an air of sophistication.

Darcy and Abigail sent flowers and chocolate covered almonds, and all four children chipped in on a new electronic picture frame take will hold 40,000 pictures; now if Mark can figure out how to set up a second WiFi network to run it, we can get it loaded. Sounds like Jake will be pressed into service as  our long distance system administrator again.

Sunday was Father’s Day; years ago, after the children were old enough or flush enough to buy us their own presents, Deb and Mark agreed that neither of us was the other’s parent, so we don’t give Mother’s/Father’s day presents to each other, but we gladly accept them from the children.  Books were the big gift this day both discussions of African American culture and how to sort out the inherent racism all white Americans are brought up with. This will be a deep and hard learning experience that we hope to learn by and adjust to. The girls arrived for an evening meal, Abigail giving a wonderful metal sculpture of a nut hatch bird for mounting in the garden. Darcy’s gift was to provide shaggy Dad with a haircut. As long as she was in a cosmetological mood, Abigail took advantage and got her hair cut as well.  Watching the two of them interact was a gift in itself.  Darcy using the Dustbuster vacuum to clean the hair off Abigail’s face was worth the price of admission.

Our West Garden project is nearing completion, and the landscape contractor is finishing up today. Mark is making some benches for the area from the remains of the walnut log that fell in the yard of our previous home some eight years ago and has been air-drying (mouldering) behind the shed in the rear yard. So far it has yielded a lovely live edge dining room table and these two benches. There will no doubt be more as we slowly get it out of our garage, hopefully before the snow falls.

The days are whizzing by: Deb had her monthly Book Club via Zoom on Tuesday evening and then her drinks group, again by Zoom on Wednesday night. Thursday was given over to projects, Deb finishing up her planting and Mark working on the benches, applying coats of sealant to the legs and the benches. More baguettes were cooked in the afternoon and Deb prepared a new recipe, a lemon shrimp fettuccini, for dinner. It was truly yummy! We then sat, exhausted for a cocktail after a long day, raging about the havoc the rabbits are playing with our garden. Can one obtain pet foxes in the city? We watched as the moon came out and then sat quietly enjoying the cooling evening as the lights came on in our rear garden and the fireflies (lightning bugs) performing their mating dance by the hundreds.  Summer is truly here and before you know it we will be social distancing among the falling leaves from our maple and oak trees. Of course we will continue to wash our hands, wear our masks and stay safe, as all of you should be doing.

Omaha Pandemic, Friday, June 19, 2020

We are at another Friday and today Deb and Mark celebrate the final day of their 38th year as a blissfully wedded couple, tomorrow being the 38th anniversary of their marriage. It was a hot and muggy 1982 June day, Deb with a splitting headache, two mothers-in-law practising passive aggression as they vied for supremacy, two fathers-in-law kind of bumbling around trying to stay out of all the wives way, two pre-teen boys gussied up in their best blue blazers to stand with the newlyweds and be part of the fusion of the family. Deb Duggan and Glenda Pierce stood up for Deb as her dual matrons of honor and John Covert stood up for Mark as his best man; later family lore would have its first true legend as John gleefully tossed his two week old daughter onto his shoulder and all stood in horror as Jessy slid off over his back head first into the grass.  This may help explain Jessy’s outlook on life!!

We had another Zoom cocktail hour with Tom Nielsen and Kevin rose in Tucson. We saw live pictures of the “Bighorn” fire which was raging and visible from their windows, smoking up their picturesque sundown view of the painted mountains, one of the primary reasons for them picking that particular home.  Both, along with their roommate Liam the Scotty dog, are doing well, enjoying the morning walks, the afternoons in the air conditioned house, and the early evenings in the pool. Such a life.  We are already envisioning our next winter trip south to mooch off of all our Arizona friends; that is if they manage to keep self distancing, masking, and avoiding the current surge in COVID cases that are ramping up in this reddest of states.

Saturday we enjoyed our Family Zoom meeting. Audrey and Jake were on the road in Michigan, leaving their home for one of the first times and hauling their new camper behind the truck to a nearby campsite for a test outing. Later we received a picture of the lovely set-up.

Saturday evening, our friends Lee and Howie Needelman came over for a social distance steak cookout and cocktail in our rear garden. Good meat, potatoes, salad and homemade cookies for dessert from Lee.  Although we don’t get out much, it is so uplifting to be able to see friends, talk and be relaxed, although politics and COVID continue to be prominent topics in our conversations.

On Wednesday, our oldest grandson Chris Gillespie stopped in Omaha in the morning on his solo drive back to home in Hagerstown, MD. Chris had driven cross country the preceding week to see Ed in California. Chris was there for one day when Ed announced that he was flying out on Sunday morning to Hagerstown for Spenser’s rapidly organized high school graduation  ceremony! So, Chris hung in California for another day and then headed back east. We enjoyed our two hours with him, eating breakfast and learning about his adventures on the road during his cross-country trips. He was truly on a busman’s holiday as his regular job is as a rural mail carrier for the USPS, driving a mail delivery vehicle over the rural roads of Maryland.

This week the crew we have hired to finish the west garden area started. This area is not so much a garden as a walk-way area to be covered in crushed granite to form an area for benches, potted plants and a band of greenery next to the house. Deb envisions an Italianate style palazzo in miniature, less the statuary. Anxious to see the vision as a reality.  If they don’t get some crushed stone down before the predicted Friday evening rains, it will just be a muddy pool.

Progress on the new basement room at Abigail’s house is progressing. The drywallers enclosed the ceiling last week and they are taping, applying the joint compound and sanding this week. The carpet people are into measure this week, and next we finish the lighting and painting.  the finish carpentry around the closet and baseboards will be done next weekend, we are hoping, and then carpet install and Darcy can move down. That still leaves completion of the patio and raised garden beds to go there.  Busy summer for one that is supposed to be quiet due to the pandemic.  Exhausting to write about, let alone get it all done.  As Mark is truly retired, and Deb is probably retired unless travel picks up again before all her clients die off, it does keep our days filled.

Another Sunday of Eggs Benedict for breakfast and plowing through the Omaha World Herald and the New York Times - plenty of puzzles, reading and lounging. This week we in Omaha have “enjoyed” temperatures above 90ºF every day for the entire week; plus constant wind sometimes gusting to 35 mph. Finally on Friday the high is predicted to only be 84º - but rain and thunderstorms throughout the weekend. We surely need the moisture as we are down an inch for the month of June from historical averages and we are only half way through the month.

Did we mention that tomorrow is also the Summer solstice? We begin the long slide towards shorter days and longer nights. Before we know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be upon us. How will the pandemic affect the high holidays for us? Will we have our usual multi-family gatherings as in year’s past or will it be cozy intimate family only? Will there be long travels in store or remixing in place at home. Well one thing is certain, we will enjoy them no matter what.

Stay safe, keep washing your hands and maybe wash your mask occasionally!

Omaha Pandemic, Friday, June 12, 2020

June one-two. Today would have been  the 97th birthday of Edwin Busk Covert I. Memories come flooding back, mostly good, some not so good, but all the memories form his life in our minds. We can’t help but wonder how he would have come down about our great leader; one can only hope that even his strong Republican mind-set would see what a debacle our country is in, and maybe added his voice to the dissent. That is a warming thought.

The marching and turmoil of this week has been historical. The thought of military force being brought to the peaceful marchers and protesters has us nearly apoplectic. This time, if we each resolve to change our attitude and push back the fears that have been ingrained in us, maybe we can actually make progress. We at 6208 Pierce Street are certainly going to try.

Saturday morning, Mark spent over at Abigail’s, assisting (more like watching and occasionally handing a tool) to our electrician neighbor and friend Tom Babb as he rewired the basement room for lighting in the remodel project going on. Saturday evening, we enjoyed our now standard Covert family Zoom conference call.  All seemed well, grandson Christopher is headed off on a cross-country vacation this week, ending at Ed’s home in North Hollywood.  On the return trip he promises to take the northern route through Omaha on I-80 to stop and see the local family. Safe travels Chris. Also Saturday evening we visited our friends Deb and Tim Duggan for a cocktail and dinner on their back patio.  Due to the temperature still in upper 90’s, we migrated inside around the dining room table for our meal of

Salads, bread, curried rice and dessert.  All accompanied by some nice wine and conversation.

We again dined on our favorite Eggs Benedict for Sunday morning brunch as we completed the ever worthy Omaha World Herald and tried to plow our way through the New York Times. Then over to Abigail’s where all hands turned out to cut and place the ceiling insulation for sound control in the basement room.  Now we wait for the drywall crew to arrive this coming Saturday to put up the new ceiling. During the week, Darcy and Deb went to NFM to order carpeting for the room. The project is coming together rather quickly. Now we order the closet doors and finish the painting before the carpet arrives.  Great progress.

We also spent more time working on the patio and vegetable garden taking shape in Abigail’s rear yard.  This week we ordered the stone for the patio to be delivered, together with the sand and edging.  More work in the heat coming up next week it looks like.

Tuesday, Mark joined his Hospice House Gardeners to plant an Eastern Redbud tree in memory of Jerry Warner, one of the master Gardening crew, who died of Pancreatic cancer earlier this spring. A solemn but still joyful event, as we remembered some Jerry stories and, along with his wife Barb, all threw some shovelfuls of dirt to plant the tree.

On Wednesday we finally had some moisture, almost two inches in a long steady rain that lasted all day.  Still short for the year but it did go a ways to catching up, however the forecast is  more dry weather over the next 10 days, so we will keep an eye on all our plantings. We made progress this week on our planned western garden entry into the rear yard. We planted two Arbor Vitae and completed the digging for the foundation settings for the metal arbor. Mark spent a few hours studying the drawings and putting all the nuts and bolts in the correct places so that we could set the arbor up and make sure it would fit in its planned spot.  All looks good for next week as the crew we have hired will be in to level the area, put down a base, and then the compacted gravel that will form the walkway of the area. Very exciting for us to finally get this vision closer to completion.

Our rear garden is coming into bloom this week, roses have popped and the lilies are all starting to open, at least those that haven’t been mowed down by those murderous rodents with long ears and fluffy tails.

Today we picked up sand for Abigail’s patio project and delivered the stones we had purchased earlier in the week.  Tonight we will jump on the Zoom stage to enjoy a cocktail with Kevin and Tom in Tucson. Hopefully, they will be either inside in the air conditioning, or lounging in the pool with refreshments at their finger tips. Stay safe, keep washing those hands and keep the masks in place.

  

Omaha Pandemic - Friday, June 5, 2020

OK- now ten weeks in and still standing.  Not a quiet week, either here in Omaha or around the country. As if the COVID 19 wasn’t enough, unfit constabulary in Minneapolis managed a killing of George Floyd, a black man, that set off lingering and deep seated unrest throughout our nation, stretching around the world to cities  as far afield as London, Paris, and Berlin. Here in Omaha, a crowd of protesters with some vandals mixed in, set off a confrontation in our Old Market area that resulted in another young black man being killed.  Although the original ruling was self defense by the white, gun toting, bar owner, a Grand Jury is now going to be called to investigate the incident. The outrage of the nation is correct, we have too long allowed our white complacency to lead to the deaths of black and minority citizens - their outrage is well placed and we are chagrined and embarrassed at our past. We support the protests and while we abhor the vandalism, we urge everyone NOT to judge this necessary fight by the opportunism of a few in the crowd.  Do not forget the much, much bigger picture of systemic racism embedded in the culture of the United States.  The 1960’s and 1970’s are back to visit it seems!

Last Friday night, we watched the movie Lincoln, as Mark had never seen it.  The prejudices and stupidity of the 1860’s are still with us. If only we had a leader of the near caliber of Lincoln instead of the current chump, who matches every action to his grandiose feeling of superiority and entitlement - us against them, and decides he is going to rule by force.  I see revolution coming, if not in person, at least at the ballot box in November.  No doubt, as he is losing, he will claim it is rigged and all false news.  The uprising will really occur if he refuses to leave office and must be forcefully removed.  Tough  and scary times.

We spent most of our mornings this week at Abigail’s house, helping Darcy to create a large vegetable garden location as well as digging an area for a 12 x 12 patio, using the removed dirt from the patio location to build up the garden area.  In addition, we are converting the basement room into a larger bedroom for Darcy to use, and thereby allow Abigail to spread her knitting and craft projects into the other upstairs bedroom.  A busy time, with exhaustion each evening.

We did manage to enjoy some non zoom time - one evening we walked to our friends Zoë and Garth Highland's’ home to enjoy a cocktail on their back patio.  We also joined Lee and Howie Needelman on their patio for cocktails and carry-out Asian cuisine.  Deb’s zoom cocktail hour went off with out a hitch, although one member was absent for unknown reasons. Evidently, unnamed persons falling asleep on the sofa before the appointed time is an unknown reason. As we look back, it is obvious that our social life was real busy this week.

We are also taking part in the Will Cather Foundation Spring event, although virtually.  Very enjoyable and educational.  Thanks to current Foundation president and BFF Glenda Pierce for turning us on to the event and encouraging us to participate. Another highlight of the week was to get Sushi the cat and Harry, the dog into the groomer’s this week.  Neither was too excited, but they sure look better to our eyes.

The weather in Omaha turned to normal Nebraska hot this week, with temperatures springing into the low to mid 90’s each day.  The rains are now gone and we are beginning to water regularly. Most plantings are in, and the plants the rabbits have not attacked seem too be doing well; there are a few to get into the ground for this weekend.

This weekend should be quiet as we finish up some projects at Abigail’s and relax a bit on our own back patio. We don’t really seem to miss the go, go, go of the pre-pandemic days; the nightly curfews caused by the continuing unrest are disheartening, but, as we don’t go anywhere at night anyway, it doesn’t affect us although our night at Needelmans did bump up on the 8:00 time limit as we hustled home; it was time for us to take a bath room break anyway. Stay safe and keep washing your hands!