Quarantined in Florida

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What a life changing experience. More so for some than others. Our personal situation is doable. We aren’t struggling by any means. It is those with family, friends or even themselves who have become ill with this coronavirus that are the ones dealt the bad hand. The first responders and health care workers who have cared for the stricken struggle along with them. We pray for all this to reach its finality and allow the world to put its pieces back together again. Humpty Dumpty....we must fare better than him. Together, we can do it!

For the most part, every day is Déjà Vu. They all seem to replicate themselves. Without seeing the written date, we have no clue what day it is. Actually, this predicament isn’t truly a new one.

Our day begins with a warm sunrise. Cory gets up first and either putters around the RV or takes an exercise walk. I drag myself out of our delightfully cozy bed (remember the dreamy cruise ship mattress?) and try to rally around. Morning is not my forte. I check my Ipad for any important announcements as well as obtaining my daily game points. Priorities. Lulu pretties herself for all to see. She doesn’t want to be seen flawed. Cory makes coffee and we position ourselves in our lawn chairs outside the RV. We exchange felicitous chatter while watching and hoping friends may come by to join our small coffee clatch. Yippee. Art pulls up on his golf cart and finds his chair under the canopy. Carolyn and Bill might wander across the roadway and join the group. Sam & Sandy only have to come from next door. Dave (with the noisy air conditioner on his RV) pops in occasionally from across the street. Walt and Diane stop in once in awhile if they are passing by on their golf cart. We all work on solving the worlds problems but as of yet, have not been able to end this coronavirus pandemic. Rats! Eventually, each one of us heads off for our daily ritual of “what to do now.” For me, it’s consists of primarily nothing. I love it! Years ago, when I was working, my good friend,Lill, and I would wish for “a do nothing day.” If one ever arose, it was like a gift from heaven......wow....just sit around and DO NOTHING! Like winning the lottery. A dream come true. These special days rarely happened. That’s what made them so precious when they did. Oh, if Lill could see me now (sadly, she died several years ago). Day after day of “Do Nothing Days!” She would be envious, I know. But she would be so happy for me....that’s the way she was.....always wanting the best for everyone else. That’s what made her happy and special. I wish you all could have known her. You would have loved her like I did.

Most all days now in Florida are HOT....Hot, Hot, Hot! I never thought I would complain about the heat but I am! It becomes unbearable at times. If there is a little breeze, okay.....it’s tolerable. If not.....it’s horrid. Gasp! Pant! Struggle! Survival is inside with the air conditioner on. We have never been a fan of air conditioning. Much prefer open windows with cool breezes flowing through our little wheeled box house. But instead, we now listen to the humming roar of the air conditioner. Nooooooooooo. What happened to our peaceful silence?

I’m easy.....I find my simple pleasures playing on my iPad. Thank God for my iPad. I would be a looney tune without it. We keep the TV on....helps to drown out the buzzing of the a/c. I usually have the news on until Cory comes in. He doesn’t like the news on all the time. The remote becomes his property. That’s ok....I’m occupied on the iPad. He spends hours flipping through channels. By the time he finds something, most of the afternoon has passed. He enjoys an afternoon nap. That’s okay....he’s quiet and calm. He doesn’t cope as well as I do with all these “do nothing days”. He likes to be busy. He misses not being on the go all the time. He’s restless. He’s in and out of our motor home like a meerkat at it’s burrow. It’s been challenging for him to give up his job as leader guide of our adventure pack. Since we are all in the same “House-Boat”, you can appreciate his frustration.

Of course, my “do nothing” day still requires the basic housekeeping chores. That’s understood. All this cooking is draining me. I was so spoiled when the four of us went out to dinner all the time. So many restaurants....So much food....So enjoyable. I shall never take it for granted anymore. Never! Now I’m like Julia Childs minus the wine intake. Rats! There was the day when I used to like to cook but after preparing a million meals over the years, I’m all cooked out. But life must go on....the body must be fed....I have to cook again. Rats! Oh, whine, whine, whine....No...wine, wine, wine! I love Sundays! That’s pizza day! Cory goes out and picks us up a tasty pizza from either Domino’s or Pizza Hut (my favorite). I count the days for Sunday to arrive.....4 more this week....yippee! Cory did take pity on me one day and treated us to take out dinner from Cracker Barrel. Oh, drool and slurp...it was wonderful. Thank you Kind Sir.....you are so good to me. And the treat didn’t end there.....he reported back that the Cracker Barrel store was open for business. Whaaat? Their shop? Yup! We snatched up Sandy and returned for a moment of shopping....oooo Bad! Even though it was momentarily exciting, we bought nothing. On the way home, Cory stopped at a paint store to see if they had face masks. He had to call in his order from his phone outside the barricaded store. Too bad! No masks for you!

Continuation of our daily routine: we watch the local news during dinner (which I’ve slaved over) followed by the network news, followed by Jeopardy, followed by Inside Edition. Cory usually takes another walk now cause he doesn’t like my show. Suck it up, Bucky. Now the “piece de resistance” of the evening. Cory finds whatever series we are watching on Netflix, Hulu or the like. Currently, we are watching Justified. We like it a lot. Previously, we watched Hell on Wheels. Excellent. Our first series we watched was Longmire. Oh, was that good! It was so disappointing when it came to an end. We really didn’t know what we were going to do every evening. Sit and talk?? Nah. Thank God for Hell on Wheels. You can Google these series to get the snapshot about them. You won’t be disappointed.

Glued to the TV, we watch episode after episode until about 10:30 PM. That’s it for us.....bedtime! We shut down the purring (Ha!)air conditioner. Open the bedroom window and turn on our new, quiet tower fan and we’re set to go. Yawn....Zzzzzzzz. Bring on tomorrow ...

Fortunately, we can break up our days with a golf cart ride around the park. That’s fun. We get to see the few friends that are still holding fort here at Tropical Palms. Occasionally, a little alligator pokes its head up at us through the murky creek bed. On occasion, Cory takes Sandy and the two of them go out to the grocery store....mask on face and gloves on hand. Sam & I stay home as instructed.

My big outing came when I went to my orthopedic doctor for more cortisone shots in my knees. Whoop-de-do! Owwww. The shots I got in October wore off sooner than hoped. I held out as long as I could in order to have these new shots get me through the summer. Bullet biting got me through until now. Lulu’s soothing lullaby’s offered minimal relief. I was amazed that some patients wore no masks at the doctor’s office. What were they thinking! I stayed clear of them. Anyway, I had to go in alone (virus restriction) so no Cory to hold my hand! Howl and whimper. But see: I survived to tell this story again. My knees feel great. Wish they would stay that way! I discussed a left knee replacement with my doctor for next October (2020) when we return here to TP. He gave me the paperwork to get things in motion once restrictions are lifted. You better start prepping yourself now for all this. It’s going to be more than a blog....it will be a full blown documentary. Get ready! I’m talking big time chronicles.

Lately, at 7:00 PM, our activities director, Nicki Jo, arranges various ways to recognize and thank some first responders and healthcare workers that are staying here at Tropical Palms. One night, we sat outside our homes and beat on pots and pans for these heroes. Other nights, participants drive their golf carts around the park while “Banging for Heroes”. You can probably hear us! She is great in getting everyone together for this well deserved recognition. Great job, Nicki Jo!

Our morning coffee clatch had much to witness last week. Our good friend and neighbor, Melba, was having her trailer home moved to another site. Her family came to help as her home was towed away down the roadway to its new location here at TP. We miss her! She was a wonderful neighbor and good friend. She’s still our good friend and wonderful neighbor...just a few blocks away now. Everything here is within walking distance so she isn’t that far away....just not right next door. See you around, Mel!

With her house off the site, our vantage point for viewing our outside surroundings has increased immensely. We have full frontal exposure. We can see the complete entrance/exit of Tropical Palms. We can almost see Russia. Hmmmm.....I think someone else said that before me. That won’t last forever but right now, no new campers are permitted into this resort.....pandemic restrictions. Those of us who have been here have a special pass in order to come and go. Without this pass.....stay out! That’s good to help prevent the spread of this dreadful virus.

Pull up your chairs. More excitement for viewing on these “do nothing days”. Lucky us! The tree trimmer men are here to cut down some dead trees in the park. Mostly tall palm trees. We had front row seating as they took down a tree on Melba’s old lot.

These men knew what they were doing. Whack! Timmmmberrrrr. Splat! The tree was downed, cut up, removed and cleaned up.....all in 40 minutes! Hardly enough time to finish our cups of coffee. Lulu loved every second of it. She loves anything involving hard working men! What a husbucket! She made her way over to the limbs and leaves. She left nothing unturned. She even found a pedestal to perch upon. She prefers that location for her accolades. She is soooooo vain! In all, the sweaty workmen said they were taking down around 20 trees. Lulu loves sweat! Move on, Lulu.....you are getting too frisky. Some trees still have dead palms hanging from them.....next hurricane will take care of them most likely. Hope we aren’t here when that happens.

Oh, goody! More entertainment. See, life hasn’t been that mundane! We had Steve (Top of the Line RV cleaning) wash our RV and treat the roof. We had it washed and waxed when we arrived here last October. Pollen, dust, grime, bird poop ..... reasons to wash our house again before we head North. More important to have the roof care done especially since we won’t be storing our RV in our polebarn this summer.....we will be living in it in Somewhere, USA — out in the elements. Very important to keep a roof in good condition....not just on an RV but any building. Lose your roof, you lose everything! They even washed our car. Old black is a real beauty! Where are my sunglasses? My eyes, My eyes!

Staying home but staying in touch. ZOOM seems to be the solution. Cory’s sister, Cris, sets up the Friday afternoon gathering of the Guenter siblings. We have attended most. Our daughter, Kim, sets up our gathering with our children. It’s a great way to see everyone again. The app allows you to change backgrounds. Please excuse our son, Cory’s, backdrop. It’s quite showy!

Time to close this up now. Justified is on. Stay well, Stay strong and Stay home! And check out the 27 photos on two pages!

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