12 Oakdale

 There was a cartoon character, a cat I’m pretty sure, that would get something to eat, then rise up in the air in ecstasy, gently floating down in contentment with a sigh. Today, I am that cat. Joy just keeps coming over me. I have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal , so I should receive a paper copy of it Monday through Saturday. Grant has a subscription to the Orlando Sentinel , and he should receive a paper copy of it on Sunday. What our delivery person throws out in our driveway is any random assortment of the two newspapers. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes both, occasionally neither. The subscriptions have digital backups, so it is only slightly annoying, especially if I don’t get the Saturday WSJ , because its puzzles aren’t on-line.  Today, both newspapers were outside. I will never, ever say another bad thing about the delivery person again, because on the front page of the Sentinel , an article explained how Orange County residents could sign up ...

It’s not quite our turn, but already frontline workers are getting the Covid vaccine. Best Christmas present ever. Each state is handling its own distribution design, and there aren’t enough doses to begin to fill the need, but it’s here. Thank you, thank you to the researchers, scientists, delivery people, test subjects who made this miracle possible. Florida has decided older frontline workers and people in nursing homes are our first recipients. Then the elderly, which Governor Desantis has decreed is 65 years old and up. YES! In other states, the cutoff is 75. On the other hand, Florida has more than 4 million people over 65, so my place in line is good, not great. I am just about ready to make plane reservations to San Diego.  There has been much debate about the moral delima of distributing too few doses. Perhaps the young, who need to be at work and school, should get the vaccine first. On the other hand, old people are more likely to die. When should teachers get the shot s...

  December 2020 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Well, that decision was easy. As we dithered whether to spend another year on Key Biscayne, our     landlord told us he would not be renewing our lease. He would be moving into our, actually his,     apartment in May. Grant had decided to retire at the end of January, and we had committed to spending    February and March in Okinawa, helping Mary with new baby Remi and toddler Bella, while Ryan   continued his Navy doctor stint with a Marine battalion. We planned to visit Japan for a few weeks while we were so close. After that, who knew. Suddenly staying on Key Biscayne was no longer an option. Now we are grateful; then it seemed   impossible to find a house before we traveled. With the perseverance of our wonderful Realtor Jodi, and many trips to central Florida, I found a darling, 1950’s house in Windermere, about 15 minutes from Stephanie and Clara. While the rooms are tiny,...

Clara and I spent all yesterday baking and baking. We made pinwheels, gingerbread, checkerboards, shortbread decorated like little packages, and Santa’s from Nutter Butters dipped in white chocolate for hats and beards. She was a trooper but wore out before we got to the chocolate drops. I was pretty done in too, so we saved that recipe for another time. She took plates of cookies to share with Nancy next door and to the little girls across the street.   She also helped me make our broccoli and bacon crescent roll appetizer wreath which was our dinner during Zoom happy hour with our marriage enrichment group. We drank what I call Noëls, appropriated from a Total Wine Halloween Bloody Good Times recipe: 1 oz cherry vodka, 1 oz vodka, 4 oz cranberry juice. Shake with ice. Serve in martini glasses or over ice; good maraschino cherries for garnish. I called them Cranberry Delights at Thanksgiving. Three celebrations just about uses up one bottle of cherry vodka. As if I needed any more...

We drove over to Palmer Park to see the Christmas Star, i.e., the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which happens every 20 years. However, this year, they are the closest they have been since 1623, when Galileo was alive. Plus, it’s the first time in 800 years that their conjunction happened at night so we could see it. Throw in the Winter Solstice, and of course I was willing to give it a go. At first we were the only ones there, but as the sun set, more people arrived. People who evidently had not heard of social distancing or mask wearing. Grant felt uncomfortable so he headed back to the car before it was dark. I hung onto my little seat on the end of the board walk. As soon as I’d spotted the planets, I looked at them with my binoculars and left. I wished I had been comfortable asking people to respect my space. However, when I got to the parking space, I realized I could see the planets right between the trees. I showed them to Grant, then we left. As usual, the humidity was abo...

When I went to Serbia to see long-eared owls, on the way I visited my niece in Switzerland. Fortunately the first weekend, my other niece came down from Sweden to see me, and she introduced me to the two-pants v one-pant day. What a wonderful concept. They had offered to translate the temps from Celsius to Fahrenheit, but since I have no idea what to wear at anything under 70°, that was useless. So each morning, Emily would tell me, “ Aunt Pam, today is a _____ pant day.” What a help. Of course, looking at owls in Serbia was always a two-pants day, plus long down coat, scarf, gloves, boots, etc. Today I got up today at 3:00 AM to participate in my first Christmas Bird Count, I knew it was a two-pant day here in central Florida. I was to meet Wes at the MacDonalds in Mount Dora at 4:00. We would drive to a wooded area and look for barred owls and any other type owl until 6:00, when we would head back to Mickie D’s for breakfast. I planned to skin down to one pair of pants in the bathroo...

The stockings are hung, not by the chimney, but on the bookcase using new stocking holders. Grant got the stockings for our first Christmas, almost 40 years ago. We have a wreath Stephanie bought at a fundraiser she supports, and the greenery and candle center piece Betsy sent me for a birthday and Christmas present.The house smells wonderfully. I indulged my love of poinsettias, buying 2 large red and 2 smaller pinkish at a 4-H fundraiser, then driving to Gainesville for the horticulture students’ annual sale. Unfortunately, the first two days’ socially-distanced reservations were booked, so all the Bubblegum pink were gone by Wednesday, when we could go. I settled for 3 Marbled Star and 2 Carmina Hot Pink. My friend Diane gave me an arrangement with a red and white spotted one in a ceramic poinsettia bowl. Enough? Never. Outside, I put up LED lights along the garage eave, which may be my last time of hanging lights. Climbing up and down the steps tool probably should not be in my fut...

The first cold front of the season has slipped in, and, baby, it’s cold outside, with a low of 41° Monday and Tuesday night. Yesterday, it warmed up some, and only dropped to 45° last night. Brrr. I made William a cardboard den and placed a lamp over it for some heat which is fine since it didn’t rain. A temporary solution. We have to design and build him a weatherproof structure before colder temperatures come. Annie has been reluctant to venture out after being stuck on the porch one of the cold nights. She had refused to come in when we were going to bed. The next morning, she let me know it was all my fault that she was cold. Since her kitty litter is out there, I used a gentle prod to help her make her mind up to go out. She caught on. Now I have to carry her out. She is a fair weather cat. Sleeping on the couch in the warmth  is her plan, with occasional forays to her food bowl.  I’ve added fast walking to my exercise program since I’m reluctant to swim even with my wets...