Social Distancing in Littleton: Weeks 28 & 29

It is less than a month before the presidential election and I’ve never felt so unsure about the United States. I’m eagerly checking the mail box for my ballot, as I’m ready to cast my vote. I’ve always taken my responsibility to vote seriously, but it has never felt like such a desperate and somber decision. I voted for Clinton four years ago, but to be perfectly honest, I never imagined that Trump would turn out to be such a destructive president. Other people knew and those people were out protesting in 2016. It took me a little longer to realize the severity of the situation.

Trump is not a leader. He does not care about the United States or its citizens. He only cares about winning. Last Friday, ( or earlier, who knows as the medical updates are confusing) he tested positive for Covid. I sincerely hoped that he might have a change of attitude similar to Boris Johnson. Not Trump. He reacted in the worst and most predictable way possible. He went for a photo op ride around the hospital, so that he could wave at supporters, while the endangering secret service officers that were with him in close proximity. He whipped off his mask when he returned to the White House and he reiterated his thoughts on how Covid isn’t a big deal. His behavior makes me sick.

Several people in the White House tested positive. Pence is pushing back against safety precautions for the vice-presidential debate. I think Pence is scared to debate Harris and it is his way of diverting attention. I think Trump is also causing a diversion, because he knows that he doesn’t have a clear path to victory. It doesn’t matter the reason, his actions are endangering lives and further hurting our economy.

I don’t doubt that no matter which president had been in power during Covid, that we would have lost lives and jobs. It still would have been a difficult 2020. However, if we had a true leader, I believe the losses would have been significantly less. I’m worried about these coming months.

In the last few days, I’ve heard of former coworkers/friends who have lost jobs in the theme park industry. The cuts are massive. It’s heartbreaking, because I know that this was more than simply a paycheck to them. I’ve heard of one acquaintance who has died due to Covid. This person was my age and healthy. Even though we are doing well, this weights on me. I feel tremors of stress.

The wildfires that are devastating the west coast are impacting our air quality. I know we are lucky compared to many, but when my eyes sting and my chest hurts from the smoke, I’m reminded that this year has been impossible to escape. Here is a picture of our neighborhood from a few days ago.

Our neighborhood is becoming filled with political signs. Many supporting Trump, but even more supporting Biden. On the happy side, we have more houses decorated for Halloween, than we do stating political preferences. Some of the Halloween decorates are fantastic. My favorite is a family that has a whole pirate ship with skeletons climbing on ropes and on the roof.

Other happy news… we went to Top Golf with our friend’s Julie and Ryan. It was my first time and I did okay. We had our own “bay” with plexiglass separating us from other guests, so it seemed a bit safe. We wore masks when walking through the building. I had a lot of fun and I’m eager to go back. My aunt would be so proud that I’m giving her favorite hobby a try. Next step is a real game of golf.

We also went to an outdoor gathering at a neighbors house. It was Oktoberfest themed and also a lot of fun. We met some great “new-to-us” neighbors that we really liked. Generally, it was just wonderful to socialize and laugh. Afterwards, I did feel that there was probably a bit too many people there for Covid safety, but we sat on the outskirts of the party and mostly kept our distance. We stayed outdoors, even when the temperatures dropped. It wasn’t without risk, but I think the risk was minimized.

We’ve booked the kids holiday with us for Christmas. Please send good vibes that this doesn’t get canceled and that it is safe enough to happen. We miss Zoe and Felix so much and it would be devastating to have yet another trip canceled. We haven’t seen them since the summer of 2019.

One last happy thing…we are 1/2 way though the final season of “Schitt’s Creek.” I’m going to miss the Rose family!

And finally, cute cat pictures!

Social Distancing in Littleton/Florida = Weeks 24-27

It has been a month since I’ve written a general update about the state of the world. We spent two of the weeks in Florida, returning a week ago.

This was our second set of flights during 2020, and our second time visiting Florida. We had such great time on my birthday trip, that we wanted to explore the idea of buying a vacation home or perhaps even moving full time to Florida.

We flew United again, which was a much better covid experience this time around. We did the same route, Denver to Tampa. Nearly everyone was complying with the mask mandate. We didn’t sit in first-class this time, so we were worried that we would have to share our row with a stranger. On the flight out, the middle seat was empty, and on the flight home, we had a stranger sitting by the window. Dan sat in the middle. I realize that leaving our house is risky, but I do feel much better when people are following social distancing and wearing masks. The only hiccup is on the flight home, United ran out of the antiseptic wipes that they hand out as you board. I thought this was a pretty bad oversight during these times. Luckily, I had extra wipes. I also wish they didn’t fill the flights. I guess on the positive, it is good for the economy that people are traveling and spending money.

We stayed in an Airbnb rental house in Kissimmee. The house was clean and felt safe. We had a private pool overlooking a lake, which was nice. It certainly felt safer than a hotel, as we didn’t come in contact with anyone while at the house. We kept our normal work schedules, so we were home a lot.

As before, dining-out was similar to Denver rules = Keep a mask on while walking through the restaurant and the tables are distanced. We played mini-golf, which was the same as usual, we just used a lot of hand sanitizer as we were touching things.

The biggest surprise is Dan bought us day tickets for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so we could experience Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

We arrived at park opening and immediately got in the queue for Smugger’s Run. I’m not sure that Disney was as strict as Sea World with safety protocol, but I generally felt okay, especially when we escaped the crowds bunching-up at the entrance. I hate to admit that the park felt less magical. The sense of atmosphere was diminished ( a few storm troopers, but that was it) and there were queues for every store. I kind of wish we had waited to visit.

After Smuggler’s Run, we got a call from my stepson, Felix. He wanted to play video games with Dan, a normal part of their weekend routine, so we decided to leave the park. Our original plan was to upgrade our day pass to annual passes, which we have done in the past. We figured that with an annual pass, coming to the parks for a few hours wouldn’t be a big deal. We wouldn't need to squeeze all of the fun into one day.

It was absolutely pouring rain and the guest relations staff were standing outside with umbrellas. I think this was to prevent unnecessary people from entering the small guest relations room. A regretful employee informed us that Disney had temporarily stop selling annual passes. Deflated, we went home and I called Disney to get to the bottom of it. They offered to refund our day ticket, so in the end, we could not upgrade, but we did get 90 minutes in the park for free. That was the extent of our time at Disney. I’m hoping we will go back with the kids for Christmas or next summer and get our annual passes!

We found a vacation house and put in an offer. It looked great on the surface and we were really excited to become owners of a short-term rental property near Disney. However, upon the inspection problems arose and we decided that it no longer looked like an attractive deal. We backed out, and since we were going home shortly after, we didn’t look at more properties. I’m not sure if we will revisit this idea or let it die.

We enjoyed other Orlando activities, such as The Chocolate Kingdom, mini golf, and the Orlando Cat Cafe. I will write about all of this in a more detailed trip report, but I did want to share a picture of a cat named Todd.

We absolutely fell in love with Todd, who just wants to cuddle and take a nap. He is the sleepiest cat ever! We were thinking of how we could adopt him and get him back to Denver, when he was snatched up by another human. We hope he is off to a loving home with great sleeping spots!

Speaking of cats, we’ve had quite the stressful time with Slinky this last week. On Sunday, he started acting odd. He was lethargic and stopped eating/drinking. Today, we took him to the vet and he was given medicine and fluids. We are waiting for the lab results. Luckily, he seems to have perked up a bit with the fluids, and he did eat/drink a little when he came home. He also seems more feisty. I’ve been crying buckets for the last few days, worried that we would have to put him down, but now I feel like he is rebounding. Happy thoughts that he continues to get better and that the labs don’t reveal anything serious.

I was devastated to hear of the passing of Justice Ginsburg. I was upset enough at our Colorado Governor Cory Gardner to write him a letter regarding his decision to vote to confirm Trump’s nominee. I don’t expect Gardner to change his mind, as he is very much in Trump’s pocket, but I did feel better writing the letter. I’m mostly upset that republicans are going back on their word and the precedent set when Obama had a similar situation in his final year of presidency. I’m also definitely worried about who might get confirmed and what that could mean for future rulings. The world feels fragile.

I have a political themed movie recommendation: Irresistible starring Steve Carell and Chris Cooper. Irresistible is from the mind of John Stewart and follows a small town election that catches national interest, causing heavy-hitters from both major political parties to interfere. It’s a surprising and intelligent movie with a good dose of humor. We watched it last weekend and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Cordella Magazine sent me their latest literary journal. It was wrapped so beautifully, that I wanted to share a picture. Hurray for packages in the mail!

Fall has arrived, but we still have summer weather. We missed a small snow storm when we were in Florida. Check out this stunning sunset!

Apparently migrating tarantulas have been spotted in our neighborhood, but we haven’t seen them. We did have a wasps nest removed. I’ll take wasps over tarantulas.

Finally, some cat pictures. I’m transforming…

Social Distancing in Littleton: Week 24

It has been another very quiet week. Not much new on the Covid front. It seems like things here are mostly the same. We did turn down two invites from neighbors, one hosting a wine evening, and the other a dinner party. Both events sounded like a lot of fun and we really like our neighbors, but it just was outside of our comfort zone with social distancing. Hopefully they will keep inviting us and we can join events when things are safer.

I found out that I came in 7th in my heat for the first round of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction competition. I was very pleased. This weekend, I had 48 hours to write a 1000 word story in a spy genre, located on an oil spill, and I must include the prop of barbed wire. I will find out the results in October. I love these challenges. They force me to write outside of my normal genres and within constraints. I’m also motivated to win!

I used my fun Llama tea diffuser that Dan bought me for my birthday! My novelty tea diffuser collection is enormous now.

We watched a new documentary on HBO Max called Class Action Park, about New Jersey’s infamous Action Park amusement and water park. The park was known for flaunting rules and allowing kids to run wild, including very dangerous situations leading to many injuries and deaths. Beyond the safety violations, Class Action Park speaks to a sense of both nostalgia and anger that many klds of the 70’s and 80’s felt from the freedom that their parents gave them. As a latch-key kid growing up in that era, I can definitely relate. Action Park has since been purchased by a former employee and has been rebranded, I imagine with safety precautions front and center. I’d love to visit this infamous theme park.

Finally, cute cat pictures! Tom is giving his new “purple thing” a bath and Slinky is licking fresh whipped cream, getting more on his face than in his mouth.