Yakking with the kids

Our far flung family

One of the worst parts of being quarrantined at home is not being able to visit with friends and family in person. 

With stay-in-place orders in nearly every state, and 14 day quarantines imposed on travelers that cross many state lines, visiting is not a realistic option.

So after weekend phone calls, emails and a bit of downloading, we all got together via Zoom this past weekend.

Our three kids, their spouses and one granddaughter spent a delightful 40 minutes just talking and looking at each other.  From Colorado, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Tennessee, the nine of us were able to have a relatively normal conversation just as though we were sitting in the living room together and COVID-19 was far away.

Tennessee: 4138  Loudon County:  15

Sunday in the Suburbs

Official - No Means No Handbook!

Our community,  "Tellico Village" is located in Loudon County, Tennessee a largely rural county just Southwest of Knoxville.

Most of the county residents live in Lenoir City (Pop 8642),  Loudon (Pop 5381) or Tellico Village (Pop 5791).

The Village consists mostly of single family homes on winding streets along the Southern shore of Tellico Lake.  Originally intended as a place for city dwellers in the greater Knoxville area to build their "Cabin by the Lake", the Village transformed to a semi retirement community for affluent retirees from the burgeoning cities around Lakes Michigan, Erie and Huron - Steel, automobiles and other industrial products provided good wages and retirement plans, expensive real estate, high taxes and cold winters.  East Tennessee offers low taxes, less expensive property and moderate winters and the salespeople of Cooper Properties were happy to inform those northern retirees of the little paradise called Tellico Village.

Oh there are lots of native Tennesseans and imports from other parts of the country and the world and they almost universally share a few traits - they are well educated, law abiding intelligent people many of whom seem to share a common fault.

They don't seem to comprehend the word NO as it applies to all of us in this awful time of COVID-19.  Please refer to the official handbook of No Means No above and we might just live through this.

If its Tuesday, this must be Friday?

Keeping track of the Days

This is being written on Saturday for Sunday publication but I no longer pretend to have a good sense of time.  Retirement 10 1/2 years ago wend a long way toward reducing my internal clock to a quivering mess of time chalenged jelly but 17 days on the, "Stay at home" timeclock pushed me over the edge.

Up until mid March, we had a Silver Sneakers class 3 days a week in Lenoir City at 8:30am. That necessitated waking up at 6:15, coffee in bed, morning routine, breakfast about 7:15 and out the door before 8:00.

Exercises over by 9:30 and off to get groceries, haircuts, gass up the car and whatever else needed doing in town that day.  We would grab lunch at Casa Fiesta a couple of times a month.  Maybe we would drop off one of the vehicles for service, travel to the liquor store to replentish the wine cooler.

Mondays we would be home by 10:30 for Mary's card club but on Wednesday and Friday we could go off on some adventure for the afternoon - or visit one of our assortment of doctors.

But those 3 days were predictible and forced us to keep our internal clock reasonable on-time.  Now we have only two reference points; Saturday, Mary fixes Oatmeal (Thank you Jerry!) for breakfast and on Sunday, I fix Cranberry Pancakes (Thank you Dinny).

The rest of the week, we haven't a clue.  Must be getting old.

Tennessee: 3321 Loudon County: 13

It really is Saturday...

Jim, Andrea & Mary in happier times

I was lazy yesterday but I'm really slothlike today (Saturday 4/4).

My phone reminded me that 4 years ago today we were in Savannah, Georgia with friends Jim and Andrea Bradshaw.  This was a, "why don't we just go" trips that we all enjoyed for a number of years when we were all retired (mostly) and could come and go as we pleased.

Today with COVID-19 in the picture, we can't go anywhere not deemed essential (motels are, RV Parks & campgrounds are not) - some North Carolina counties are preventing Tennessee licensed vehicles from crossing into NC and others are restricting access to residents only.  Florida has long

Beach Bum 2016

entry lines checking for undocumented aliens from the likes of Louisiana and New York.

All the while gasoline for my thirsty RV is less expensive than it has been in many years and police along the way might ask me for my note from my employer saying I am employed in an essential job (let me see your papers rings a bell) or I might be fined for risking COVID-19 or be tossed into a jail where I will be sure to get it.  Then I can't return to the state I just left without a 14 day quarentine (in ine of those essential contaminated motel instead of my non-essential RV kept meticulously clean and sanitized by my nurse wife).

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

The madness perpetrated on the American governments (state, federal and local) in the name of keeping us safe is astounding.  But not to worry - this will all be over by April 1, 2020 -- OOPS, that was last Wednesday.  How about April 15, 2020. May ...............

No wonder I'm tired!

Tennessee: 3067 Loudon County: 12

Old Folks Having Fun

Old folks having fun

Today (Thursday 4/2) was grocery shopping day - so after a leisurely breakfast, we cranked up the Rxpedition and drove to our loca Food Lion grocery store.  many partially filled shelves, a few empty ones and some full ones.  Obviously they are either not getting all they order or they are getting cleaned out quickly.

Pre-mixed salads were nearly totally gone, ground beef was 73% only although they did have pre-made patties with a lower fat content.  Paper towels and TP were non-existant  and the veggie selection was limited but better than last week.  We got most of the items on our list and decided to drive another 6 miles to the Food City store in Vonore.  We haven't shopped there since they opened about 5 years ago but we were amazed!

Nearly full shelves throughout (except paper products and most cleaning and sanitizing rpoducts were gone or in short supply).  Food city's prices were a bit higher but they seemed to be well stocked on most things.  We'll probably head there first next time.

This was an almost normal shopping experience.

Tennessee: 2845  Loudon County: 9

Life here is actually pretty good right now

Carabelle, Florida 2015

Mary and I are basically homebodies. When we travel it is usually in our 20 foot Pleasure Way Lexor.  About 5 years ago, we took a 4 month trip across the country ending in Hyder, Alaska - then down the West coast as far as LA and back home again. You can read that blog HERE,

We are used to living in small places together and our tiny 932 square foot home seams quite large when compared to our rolling home but current events do place some unwelcome limitations on us.

I do miss my weekly golf with Bill and while our neighborhood courses are open under COVID guidelines, I just don't think it is worth the risk - Bill also participates in wine tasting groups, poker games and hand and foot groups and I just can't trust that every one of those people is virus free.

The same goes for Mary's Monday card group - all of the ladies in that group are careful but what about their friends and their friends and so-on.

You very quickly go from exposing yourself to a person or two to dozens with just a few interactions and THAT is unacceptable to us. We'll stay put right here except for necessary outings to the grocery store.

Please don't be upset if we don't accept your invitation to visit or fail to issue our own to you.  It is just a sign of the times and this too will pass.

Tennessee: 2683 Loudon County: 8

Fishermen or Liars?

One thing missing in the minute-by-minute reports on the COVID-19 situation is accurate information.   Every "Talking Head" on every newscast, social media platform and the print media has only ONE thing in common with all the others - they just don't KNOW.

They don't know how many people are infected, they don't know the mortality rate, they don't know how many people are asymptomatic carriers, they don't know how many masks or ventilators or hospital beds will be needed, they don't know if you ought to stay 3 feet or 6 feet or 10 feet or a mile from other people to be out of virus range, they don't know if you ought to wear a mask anytime you leave your home or wear eye protection or a full blown hazmat suit.

Many of the talking heads are no better informed than you or I, they have educated guesses perhaps or a spreadsheet complied from known data or perhaps SWAGs (Scientific Wild Assed Guesses).  But they just don't know and in their lack of firm knowledge they make assumptions and reveal them as though they were fact to the information humgry masses.  Think about this:

Now I am probably not the brighest guy on the planet but when one person tells me that 50,000 people are going to die from this COVID-19 virus and another puts that figure at 50,000,000 it is not too much of a stretch to understand that they are each peddling their own agenda and it is rife with the stuff that comes from the South end of a North bound horse.

What can you do to survive this pandemic?  Well my idea is to listen to the reasoning that we try not to spread this virus around, stay away from large groups, and reduce unnecessary interactions in person as much as practical.

1. Hug your loved ones that live with you. 
2. Call the others on the phone or Skype or Zoom as often as you can.  
3. Talk with your neighbors from a distance.  
4. Use your brain to try to make sense of all of this mess. 
5. Be grateful for those who are risking their lives to make things better. 
6. Don't spread false information - if you don't know it for a fact, keep it to yourself.
7. Understand that everyone wants to make it better but no one knows exactly how - be patient, we'll figure this out in time.
8. Don't pay much attention to talking heads or crazy old men like me.

Tennessee: 2239  Loudon County: 8