12 Oakdale

I woke up with a fever and coughing. I’ve caught the cold that Clara has been fighting all week. We thought she was past the contagious stage when she came over to make cookies last week. Guess not. The next day, her fever was back. What’s done was done. Another opportunity for my immune system to be exercised. Stephane, Kyle and Clara came over for our traditional Christmas dinner of roast beast, a three-rib hunk of beef that we will be eating on for a week. Steph made beet and greens salad, Kyle brought huge twice baked potatoes (half of mine is waiting for me in the fridge), Grant made his green beans with tomatoes at Clara’s request, and I baked a mincemeat pie, topped with whipped cream. Pickles, garlic white bean dip with crackers, and cookies filled any empty spots in our tummies. The kids used to love a song titled “No More Room For Broccoli” which explained how stomachs could be too full for nutritional dinner parts, but there was always room for dessert. We filled every nook ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. How different this year has been from the last.  After a year at home, we are now comfortable traveling and meeting our neighbors, joining Orange County Audubon and the Windermere Tree Board.  Through dumb luck, we learned about availability of Covid shots in our area, so on Jan. 7th, we got in line at the Orange County Convention Center for our first. Suddenly, we felt confident we would once again see family and friends. After our second shot, I booked tickets for San Diego. Everyone talks about missing grandchildren, which we did, but hugging daughter Mary, after not seeing her for 364 days, just about stopped my heart. She and Ryan had artificial grass and a swing set with slides installed in their back yard, which was a lifesaver for Bella and Remi, since California parks were locked down almost all year. I helped them build raised garden beds, and Bella carefully planted carrots and radish seeds, while Mary added tomatoes, peppers an...

I’ve hired a personal trainer. It’s come to that. Ever since Grant fell off his bike, we’ve fallen off the exercise wagon. Yes, we occasionally rode our stationary bike, and we talked about taking walks. Our fat cells had little to fear. An intervention was needed.  I texted every trainer recommended on NextDoor, a neighborhood-based app, telling them we were a couple of old geezers who wanted  needed to work on our cores. Two texted they were available, two had full schedules, and two never responded. We hired Denny for 6 weekly sessions. I wanted to continue my preference for hiring women, however Grant was frightened by Delia after she said she’d make it fun with dance moves. He’s stilled scarred from our ballroom dance lessons experience.  We’ve had 2 appointments with Denny. I can actually feel an ab respond when I remember to pull in my stomach. On the other hand, my knee is killing me from our homework of getting up off the floor 5 times each day. Feeling cocky abo...

At least three years ago, I’d read about a fabulous exhibit of 6 paintings of Ovid’s myths involving fleshy, naked Greek women and goddesses that were united for the first time since the 1500’s, when Titian painted them for Philip II of Spain. Should we see it at the National Gallery in London or the Prado in Madrid? Both were appealing; both were rendered moot by Covid. The last stop of the tour was the Isabella Stanley Gardener Museum, in Boston. Mrs. Gardener bought one of these, “The Rape of Europa” in 1896, the first Titian brought to America, as the highlight of the museum she created. (Any woman named Isabella gets a free lifetime membership of the ISG. I am signing Bella up.) So to Boston we went, staying at the Omni Parker House Hotel, where they claim Parker House rolls and Boston Cream pie originated. Sadly, their restaurant is still closed, so we had to eat elsewhere. The Beantown Pub, Vietnamese Bahn Mi Ho, and Cantina Italiana substituted nicely. We are good hunter/gather...