It looks like reopening the country is backfiring. Cases are skyrocketing, and many areas are making the tough decision to close down again. I’ve not noticed any changes in Littleton. It still feels like things are somewhat back to normal here.

We were invited to our neighborhood block party on Saturday. A few weeks ago, it felt okay to go, and I signed up to bring a “Better than Brad Pitt” cake. I don’t particularly have a thing for Pitt (give me Gosling, Reynolds or Bale), but many years ago, I found the recipe online, and it has been a big hit every time I make it. It’s a pineapple and coconut cake= delicious. In the end, we decided that it was too risky to attend. The gathering was somewhat large and some, not all, of our neighbors are not as worried about wearing masks and social distancing. I felt guilty for signing up to bring the cake, so I still made it. I walked over with another neighbor, who had also decided it was risky, and we dropped off our stuff, but only stayed for a few minutes. I was sad to miss out. I hope this doesn’t knock us off the list for future invites, as I’d love to get to know our neighbors better when it is safer. Ultimately, I know this was the right decision for us.

Instead of the party, we took a drive, and ended up in a very strange part of Colorado, called Central City. In the mid 1800’s Central City was a gold rush boomtown. Several streets are still preserved with Victoria era architecture and old signage.

It was like walking on a movie set and very cool. Unfortunately, the area is also depressed, with many stores shuttered. I would blame it on covid, but when we drove to the other side of town, we discovered several huge casinos. I think this is the likely culprit. The old part of Central City could be very trendy, if they cleaned it up, and filled the vacancies. Right now, it seems dodgy with some old, small casinos, America’s first dispensary, and several antique shops.

In other covid news, today I spoke with a student that I tutor from Brazil, and he told me that a family member had just died from Covid. My student was distraught and crying. Although I only spoke with him for five minutes, as he was kind enough to call me to explain why he needed to cancel, I felt overwhelmed by his suffering. This is the first time I have spoken with someone who is grieving a Covid death. I felt incredibly sad and overwhelmed by the situation.

In non-covid news, I was excited to learn that I passed to the second round of NYC Midnight’s 100 word Microfiction Contest. On Friday evening, I received my round #2 assignment = I needed to write a comedic story that involves the action of snorkeling and I needed to use the word “Scam.” It was a fun challenge, but I’m not as confident with my submission as I was for the first round.

We are on a revitalized health kick. Dan got some scary news at the doctors, but luckily it is something that can likely be controlled with diet. Last winter, I also got different, but in the same vein, health news. So we both need to stop the covid baking/drinking/eating crap shenanigans. We went to Sprouts, and bought a bunch of produce. In a first for me, we bought a whole pineapple. I usually buy the pre-cut fruit. Dan had a cool pineapple coring tool from when he was single, and he showed me how easy it is to prep pineapple. It was delicious and my husband is adorable!

We missed not having rum with our pineapple juice!

Other exciting news is we booked a trip to England at the end of October. The kids will meet us in England, and we will have a week with them, plus an extra week for Dan to work in London. I’m trying to temper my excitement, in case it doesn’t happen, but it isn’t easy. I’m so excited to see the kids and family, plus have some tourist time in London- including on my own, so I can go to all of the museums that no one else in the family cares about. It’s the best of all worlds.

We had an amazing sunset this week.

And the obligatory cute cat picture. This is a rare moment when they are sharing the cat tree. Tom always wants to be on the top, but Slinky usually wins.