Oh BOY…………
“How easily it glows, how easily its light goes out- the firefly” …………………………. Chine
“Deep Calls to Deep” …………………………………………………………………Some Biblical Thingie
“Must be the season of the witch” …………………………………………………….Donovan
Well, Sunday began our recovery from the NYC extravaganza (foreshadowing here) and The Queen had decided that I needed a new guitar…… which she had found on the selling wall. I am not typically, nor hardly, either an impulse nor a collector (toys) kind of buyer. But I humored her, and we made the trek up to the booming metropolis of White River Junction and reluctantly purchased what looks like would have been played by Hank Williams on the Grand Ol’ Opry, which is kind of my dream to begin with. So now I have a new guitar that I have no idea what to do with, but which looks really cool and has its own state of the art pickup. Our reward for this was a must- stop at the infamous Wicked Awesome Barbecue where we dined outside in tent in sweltering 94° heat. From there, it was all into the search for the elusive bonding products to repair the front of our house- prior to the start of The Queen’s latest and greatest effort to repaint the whole magillah………… which might get completed sometime in this millennium. Did I mention how hot it was? This resulted in trips to three different Home Depot’s, in two states, and holding the general manager of the last one at gunpoint to acquire the necessary products. Subsequent to this, we crawled home semi- exhausted- (more foreshadowing.)
Began to have a few sniffles on Sunday night which I attributed to unaccustomed exposure to air conditioning that made everything in the city feel like entering a walk in freezer, but by Monday morning was feeling a bit worse for the wear. Determined to work through this, I spent the day working online and doing zoom calls, going to the gym, and playing music Monday night. By nightfall it was worse. Tuesday morning decided to take the dreaded test, which was resoundingly positive…. WTF……… Which only reaffirms my belief that these days the two most dangerous things to do are to fly and to go to New York. As a result, was I went to New York, got the plague, and had to cancel my planned trip to North Carolina for family reunion……what a world.
So, back to the world of masks and isolation and feeling generally like a leper. So, you might imagine there’s not much to say about this week…………. But, alas, you know well that is not my style, and thus here is live report of what Stuie did with his week of Plaque-cation (get it?):
I read two whole books
I watched hours of classic appearances on Austin City limits, which I was not aware still existed, but which I found out is the longest running the entertainment show in television history; Jackson Browne, Merle haggard, anyone?
Found my buried treasure of handkerchiefs that and then sneezed thru a dozen in a day.
I discovered how to connect the portal with FaceTime and spent time with the entire family in North Carolina………. All of whom did not seem to even realize that I had not made it……. there’s a deflater.
I reluctantly picked up a paintbrush, and washed, scraped and sanded the entire front entrance portico to our house, while TQ flew around –up on various pieces of staging, scraping and bonding the roofline and upper windows.
I spent an hour a day bitching about the handyman we hired to assist us in painting the house, who, in typical VT. fashion, dropped off the staging and ladders and then disappeared. What were we thinking?
I commiserated with God’s Own Mandolin Player, and prepared or refined set lists for three upcoming gigs………………… Thinking about songs that could be played with masks on.
I watched several episodes of the Lone Ranger…. nuff said, masked man.
I swam in the wonderfully clean, though very brown, Pond for the first time……, naked…… managing to not get bit by our newest monsters snapping turtle.
I watched wistfully, through the screen door, as the. Dumpmaster took advantage of my illness to make repeated visits to woo The Queen.
I took my masked self to Home Depot, where we spent my last six months’ earnings on the painting project………………. that will likely never end.
I made friends with Ivy, Lucy’s erstwhile suiter, and even lured her into the house, where she mingled on the porch with all the non Covid living beings in our household.
I watched more Austin City limits. I read more books. I took a nap.
I cleaned and organized the back of our barn – just to see if breathing in asbestos for hours would adversely affect my Covid………. apparently did not……… except I can no longer see out of one eye.
I watched several old taped baseball game……… since we do not have cable and I cannot watch them live…. better than nothing? maybe….
Practiced my technology skills by updating many programs on both of my laptops…………. Leading to only several minor crashes………… And the need to start in safe mode……. nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I sweated a lot, ate a lot of carbs, gained a few pounds and went to the grocery with two masks on yesterday, which seemed to result in excellent customer service.
I generally felt sorry for myself for 48 hours……………and then decided it could be a lot worse.
Long story short………. I had a bad cold for 2 ½ days, and am now back to jogging, and normal routine……though continuing to lay around and wear a mask whenever TQ comes in the house……….. To avoid any further painting assignments…… it could be worse
Getting ready to head out in a 90° heat and sweat the last of it out……. and actually symptom free for three days; thankfully in time for several music events, an overnight work trip, and our mid-summer visit back to Ohio (and the g-daughters) next weekend for 10 days………. The Lord is my shepherd……… I SHALL not weep………
Got to go see a man about a dog………but I’ll be back………
Risen from the ashes,
Stu-ber