Hard to Believe

Isabel Allende is a terrific writer and has written many novels. I know I have read most of her stories and going through the Amazon list of her books I found two I had not read. I ordered both of them: In The Midst of Winter and Of Love And Shadows.  I began reading Of Love and Shadows and found it to be, like her other books, fascinating with her choice of words.

At the beginning of the story, there is a mix up of two babies; one dark and one blonde. The description of the babies and the characters in the book,  made me want to read further into the story. Around page sixty when Evangelina is introduced into the story, I felt as if I knew the character. The circumstances rang a bell somewhere in the deepness of my brain. Had I already read this book? Nothing else in the story had given me that feeling. How could I have forgotten the baby switch, the father who works as a clown, the homosexuals, the love stories, the photographer, and so many other interesting characters. Up until page sixty it was like a brand, new book. How could I have forgotten so much of the story, if I had read it before, and why was the part with Evangelina stirring something in my brain. The book has a copyright date of 1984 and that is thirty-six years ago. Maybe that is why I do not recall reading this book!

I continued reading and nothing seemed familiar. So, I figured, it was just like reading the book for the first time! I did not have a clue as to how the story ended. Why had the character of Evangelina and her epilepsy attacks stuck with me when the other interesting characters had disappeared from my mind? It's hard to believe that an interesting story can fade away, especially one of Allende's books. I will read it again with just as much interest as I did the first time, if I did read it before, and maybe I will find out whether I either did or did not read the book.

How can something be erased from a mind yet leaves subtle hints? You know you have been there before, yet you are not positive. Is this how an Alzheimer patient is, remembering bits and pieces of life until it all disappears?

Now, I look at the cover of the other book and I wonder if maybe I read it also. Soon, I will find out after I begin to read In The Midst of Winter. Its copyright is 2017 and chance are that I may not have read it!  One good thing, when memory fails us, is that books can be reread with just as much enthusiasm as the first time!

"A person who doesn't read

is no better off than the 

person who can't read."

Unknown

What To Do When In Isolation

Gibby, my teddy bear, is going to help me show you what is done while cooped up at home during the Coronavirus pandemic. He was a gift from a friend many years ago and is willing to help me with my blog today. He has been sitting in a corner of my bedroom collecting dust, and after a good shake, he is now ready to go to work!



He loves to sit and watch Netflix and I have seen him laugh or cry, whatever emotions are being shown on the movies.










Putting on a baseball cap Gibby is ready for a walk. He watches the news on the television in the bedroom every morning though lately the news is getting too depressing. He
washes his hands a thousand times a day.

He loves to snack on chips, nuts and an ice-cream bar every day!

He enjoys working on the computer and loves Facebook, e-mail, messenger, and the memes. For the past month he has been watching the virtual Mass on Utube or Facebook. Sometimes he reads a book or checks out the grocery ads, though he knows he can't go shopping like he used to in the past.

 His favorite water is Perrier and he spends a lot of time looking into the refrigerator. Sometimes nothing looks good.

 Looking outside he wonders when he will be able to go out without fear of catching the virus that is killing so many persons all over the world. He goes to the little altar and spends a lot of time
praying for his family, friends and that things get back to normal.

 Sometimes for fun, he will get dressed up and put on a wig so he can pretend that every thing is all right. Looking at the calendar he wonders if it is still today. During lock down it is easy to forget what day is today!

Now I have told you how Gibby passes his days; what do you do?

"Age simply doesn't enter it!

The older the friend, the more he is valued,

particularly when he shows so visibly 

the characteristics that we look for in a friend.

You have only to look at a genuine teddy's face

to see at once the loyalty, common sense,

and above all, dependability behind it."

Peter Bull

BS: (Blog Script) The idea came from a friend who does something similar for her granddaughter.

The Safety of Home

April 27, 2020, was a perfect day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the trees were budding and I decided to drive to Majestic Park for a walk. Exercise was something I had been neglecting and today I would begin walking and as long as the days were nice, I would continue walking every day.
I debated on whether I should wear my mask and decided on not wearing it because I would be outside away from other people. There are rules in place about staying healthy now that the pandemic of the coronavirus seems to be world-wide! Wearing a mask is one of the precautions.

Arriving at the park, I got out of the car and began walking up the hill. I noticed that it was a bit windy. Would the wind blow my baseball cap off my head? I found a bench and sat down and noticed a sea shell on the bench. Someone had either forgotten it or it was left on the bench for people to enjoy. Two people were flying kites. It looked like fun because the wind continued to blow! Suddenly, a thought entered my mind. What if someone, blocks away from me, sneezed or coughed without covering their mouth. Could the virus hitch a ride on the wind and reach me?

I jumped off the bench and practically ran to my car. I felt safe in my car but it wasn't until I arrived home, my car was in the garage and I was in the house that I felt completely safe. I did the usual routine of wiping everything down with a Clorox wipe and washing my hands while singing the Happy Birthday song twice before I could relax. Even now, I hope the virus did not float my way and if it did, that I cleaned it all away!

Strange how my life has been completely turned up side down and the fear of the virus has me doing things I had never done before. And even after all the measures that are done, no one is entirely sure they have conquered the battle!

"Worry is like a rocking chair:

It gives you something to do

but never gets you anywhere!"

Erma Bombeck

Pantry Blues

"I hate housework.

You make the beds,

you wash the dishes,

an six months later

you have to start all

all over again!"

Joan Rivers

My pantry is a small room about 6' by 6' and for the past two years I have thought about cleaning it out. Today, since I have nothing else to do, I decided to remove all the items and clean it and I thought I would call it the Corona Clean Up! Of course, it may take me all week to complete the job because I tire and get bored easily.

I found a brand new syrup container with the expiration date of 2018 and a box of mashed potatoes that expired in 2016. Gee whiz, I wonder what else I will find! Continued taking things out of the pantry and putting them on my kitchen table, counters, floor and any available space. I was surprised to find Christmas wrapping paper, three packages of straws, a three section plate for horderves, a small crock pot, cloth napkins with rings and a few more food items that had expired.  Now my kitchen is a mess and I have to make my way carefully around the different piles! Washed down the shelves and tomorrow I will put everything back!

Here it is, another day to work in my pantry. Much easier putting things back as I tried to categorize what went back on the shelves. On a day I happened to go shopping at Costco I picked up an eight carton of pork 'n beans and another one of diced tomatoes. Maybe I thought I would never go out of my house again because as I put my items away I realized that I would never eat or use all those cans of beans and tomatoes.   Once I had arranged the pantry like I wanted, I took the cans to the Arvada Food Bank along with "tons" of plastic grocery bags.  The masked fellow who took the items told me that he heard that King Soopers was all out of beans and thanked me for my donation of beans.

"Cleaning out a pantry

when one is quarantined

is the most exciting

thing to do!"

E. Moscoso

Virtual Mass

After almost a month of virtual masses with our local priest, a great homilist, the Pope, and many other churches throughout the world, I am becoming used to watching the mass on my laptop or television. Am I going to be ready to return to a church full of parishioners? Will people be looked on with suspicion?

I listed two things I have missed during the isolation due to the Coronavirus.(1) The good feeling of seeing friends and chatting with them. (2) Receiving the Holy Eucharist and communicating with Jesus within me.

Then I thought about the good things of listening to mass on the Internet. I could hear and see better than sitting in a pew. In fact, I am practically on top of  the altar on the screen. If I missed something said, I could pause and rewind. No getting up and driving to church if the weather was bad. I did not have to get dressed but could watch in whatever I was wearing. I have the ability to watch more than one mass. I can pause the mass if I need to do something and return to where I left off without missing anything.

Makes me wonder if I will enjoy mass the old way because being in isolation has been much easier watching mass or talks via Facebook or UTube.

Though, preaching to an empty church must be terrible for the priests, yet they do it in an exceptional way. One would never know the church is empty. Lately, since we are staying home and we are not supposed to go out into the world, virtual masses have become important to many of us. I just wonder how we will return to what we used to think was normal. One day at a time is how we function in isolation and as each day passes, my guess is that our attitude and way of thinking is also changing.

"Virtual reality is really a new communication platform.

By feeling truly present, you share unbounded spaces and 

experiences with people in your life. Imagine sharing

not just moments with your friends on line, but entire

experiences and adventures."

Mark Zukerberg

More Alike Than Different

Last evening, on April 18, 2020, I watched the television show One World Together At Home and enjoyed seeing the many artists entertaining and raising money for the COVID-19 that has spread around the world. Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Steve Colbert began the show with Lady Gaga singing Smile. This song has always been one of my favorites, but her rendition I did not like. How an artist can take a simple and beautiful tune and make it so different, that at times I did not recognize the song. I hoped that the whole show would not be a disappointment!

Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Usher, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Keith Urban, Celine Dion, L.L. Cool J, John Legend, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, The Rolling Stones and Andre Botticelli were the artists I recognized. Those I had never heard about were: Eddie Vedder, Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello, Abby Cadabby, Kacey Musgrave, Maluma, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Lizzo, Bily Eilish & Finneas,  Burna Boy, Awkwafina, and J. Balvin. Some I liked, others, not so much. As you can see, there were more unknown than known.

Some of the speakers were Idris Elba & Sabrina, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Ellen DeGeneres, David & Victoria Beckham, Doctors, Nurses, Amy Poehler, Bill & Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and Priyanka Chopra. All praised and thanked doctors, nurses, maintenance personnel in hospitals, delivery persons, research people, scientists, grocery store clerks, food workers and mail carriers among other essential workers.

All the essential workers on the front lines must have felt good after the tribute they received on the show! Some doctors and many nurses had indentations on their face where the mask had been in place for over sixteen hours as they worked with COVID-19 patients!

As I listened to the people in their individual squares, I checked the backgrounds. I was surprised that some areas looked very humble and nothing like I thought stars would live. I wondered how many persons watching the show were also checking out the backgrounds and this morning on Sunday Morning I had my answer. A segment was devoted to the very topic about backgrounds of the isolated people in their homes. It was mentioned that kitchen backdrops are good place because we can all relate to kitchens. Books in the background show an intelligent person who reads. Looking around my home I found places that would look good as a background. Yes, I realized that we, stars or not, have very similar looking homes. Or it seems after looking at some of the backgrounds!

"Small actions

X lots of people

= big change!"

From the Internet

Passwords Are A Pain

No matter how many times I write down my password, it seems that I can never open a program that asks for my password. Yesterday my family and I were going to use ZOOM to connect with everyone in my family. It is a video communicating program for video and audio group chats. "It's free and easy to use," I was told so I decided to join.

I received a link in my e-mail from my daughter and clicked on it and it sent me to Zoom Rooms. I clicked on that and it asked for my password. I used what I thought was my password but I was declined. Then I went to my second e-mail address because that password has been the same for ever. Nope it did not work either. After half  an hour of trying different  passwords, I was rejected over and over again.  I contacted my granddaughter in San Francisco because she knows everything about the computer, cell phones and electronic means of communication. I tried everything she suggested and together we tried to get me on Zoom with no success. Finally she said, "Without seeing your computer there is no way I can fix whatever is wrong."

I must have six or seven passwords for a program but all of them were wrong. I finally got a new password but even then I could not connect with my family in California. We solved the problem when the six of us went on our phones on Face Time and we were able to talk and see each other.

Trying to remember passwords is a pain and even though I write them down with the date when I get a new password, some programs just won't open! I sometimes wonder if it is a ploy for me to apply for a different password. This evening I did get on to ZOOM and tomorrow I will try to connect with my granddaughter for practice. If I can get on with her, then I think I will be able to do group chats!

"Treat your password 

like your toothbrush.

Don't let anybody use it, 

and get a new one every six months."

Clifford Stoll

Last evening I got into one of my accounts and was thrilled that finally my password worked.This morning I tried the same account, and guess what, I was unable to get in. After three tries with exactly the same password I had used the night before, I was locked out and now I have to contact the company to get it straightened out. I repeat, passwords are a pain!