“It has been a quiet week” As the saying goes, here in Omaha. No travels, no excruciating outside projects, just moderately cool weather, some welcome rain and mostly indoor projects. We started the week with our bi-weekly Zoom Cocktail hour with our friends Tom and Kevin from their home in Tucson; they are anxious to report the weather there is a balmy 100ºF plus all week during the day, dropping to the upper 80º range in the nighttime. Their scotty dog, Liam, now goes for his shortened walks in the early morning hours so the three of them can get back in the mechanically cooled air. Early evenings are spent under the shade of the portico, with occasional forays to the backyard swimming pool Here in the Midwest, a pool is considered an “attractive nuisance” and an expensive indulgence; in the high desert it is a near necessity!
Monday we spent most of the day at Abigail and Darcy’s (Now often shortened to “AbiDar’s”) for some continued projects. A bedside lamp sconce was installed in the south bedroom, and a real slapstick comedy (if you were a bystander) occurred as Deb and Mark struggled on a ladder, a bed and a platform, plank to remove the old and rehang a new ceiling fan in the same room. These two projects ate up most of the aged handy person’s day and was rewarded by struggling home sore, cranky and feeling inadequate to recover on our front porch with a medicinal glass or two of Shiraz. We were pleased to hear the next morning that the fan still hung and did not fall to macerate Abigail in her sleep!Wednesday it was back to AbiDar’s for a morning appointment with the HVAC repairman and then a day spent assembling a new hall coat tree that arrived in a large box. Abigail then set up her iPad so Mark could watch a video and then spend 2 1/2 hours removing and installing a replacement ice-maker in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, Deb made a Costco and grocery run to cover the supplies that continually drain out of the house. Of course that meant a roasted chicken was in the offing for dinner, as sandwiches and future salads. We only feel slightly guilty at taking advantage of this loss leader $4.99 piece of poultry. We know the potential and real damage to the environment that this brings, but, such a bargain. An organically raised and home roasted bird would cost over twice as much and still wouldn’t have the skin and texture of this wonder. Sigh!
We have had unseasonably cool temperatures this week, upper 50ºF overnight and highs in the upper 70ºF’s to low 80ºF’s during the day. Thursday was raining most of the morning, moving to the 80ºF range in the afternoon; it was however a great excuse got stay inside, reading a book and striving not to feel guilty about “not getting anything done.” Our atheist work ethic sometimes piles up on our emotions. Lee and Howie Needelman arrived for a socially distanced dinner of grilled steaks, green beans, boiled new potatoes with butter and chives, and a fresh salad with homegrown tomatoes. Lee provided dessert in the form of warm homemade brownies sobered in ice cream and whipped cream (gilding the lily so to speak,) delicious as usual.
In other family news, Ed and Meg are spending the week in a rented cabin with Meg’s relatives, who also rented accommodations, in the Lake Tahoe region. We will be anxious to hear of their adventures when we check in this weekend. John Covert announced that daughter Jessy and son-in-law Alex D’Astous have enrolled their son Milo for elementary school here in Omaha, and they left Milo with John and Lynn while they travelled back to Chicago to pack up their apartment for the permanent move to Omaha. It will be great to spend time with them. Although we have only seen them virtually via Zoom since their arrival in Omaha this spring, the prospect of future gatherings in a much safer time is in the offing.
We continue to limit our outings, with Deb doing the bulk of shopping while Mark remains in the car. This routine was underscored this week by an incident in the parking lot of the local Aldi’s grocery store. Those who have seen us recently know that the rear hatch of Deb’s blue Subaru Crosstrek is covered with some blatantly liberal stickers, mostly having to do with the ouster of the current miscreant occupant of the White House (“Make America Think Again”, “Someone else for President”, “I will vote on 11/3/20” and also a personalized Planned Parenthood Nebraska license plate.) As we arrived at the parking lot and pulled into an open stall, we had the windows down, enjoying the nice weather and Deb donned her mask in preparation for entering the store. She heard some muttering from the older man loading his recently purchased groceries into his trunk coming from the vehicle adjacent but thought nothing about it. As she exited our vehicle, beginning the walk to the store, the old guy started telling her that “we will whip your a- - in the election,” and other uncalled for arguments. When she said, “excuse me?” He started in on more invective and then challenged her to fight! She called him a “Silly old man who was pathetic.” this inflamed him even more and he kept calling her back to fight with him. She turned around and again told him he was “just pathetic old man.” A passing woman asked her if she should call someone from the store, and Deb answered again, “No he’s just a sorry old man.” And went into the store. Quite a spectacle, but of course, Mark, who remained in the car with the radio on, was oblivious to anything. When Deb returned with her groceries, the “mean Old Man” had left, and Deb inquired of Mark what he thought of the incident, Mark professed that he knew nothing, but allowed that if he had heard, he would have leapt out of the car to defend her honor! Really, he would have!
