Stay-At-Home Starting to End?

It almost seemed like a regular Saturday morning on the Washington National Mall today but if you looked closely you could see the masks and attempts to keep six foot away from the next person and a lot less people than one would see on sunny day. But it was good to see ice cream trucks, bicyclists, families, dogs, joggers and frisbee throwers out in the sunshine and trying not to think about going home and being cooped up some more. Also it was just generally quieter, as if we've gotten used to not making a lot of noise. I'd say there were far more cars, trucks and buses about than I've seen in this past week due to the pandemic stay-at-home order. There were at least two ice cream vendors in their brightly colored trucks doing a good business and there was even at least one National Park Service guard walking about.

The Maine Thing

18th C house, a B&B

Jamie Wyeth's house

Friendship fishing harbor

sunset view in Cushing harbor

buoys hanging everywhere

lighthouse in mist

19th century church

old car still running

Sometimes we manage to get out of town for a while and this time we went to Maine by flying from Washington DC to Manchester NH and then renting a car to motor up into the middle of Maine, near Rockland.  The scenery is so different and wonderful  you know I just went crazy snapping away with my new digital camera. We saw lovely rocky coastlines, old 18th century and Victorian houses and churches, active fishing ports, lighthouses, colorful buoys, working old cars, vast open fields and lots of lobster pots.  We had a great few days with friends and family enjoying this very different part of the country.  I managed to tank up on some great seafood such as lobsters, prawns, scallops, and shrimp and some creamy ice cream.  What a lovely state to be in!

DC Slices in the Square

I was hurrying back from physical therapy the other day when I spotted this van parked in Farragut Square. At first glance I thought it was some sort of emergency van but it turned out to be a Pizza Van! I've never seen such a thing in DC before -- security trucks, ice cream trucks, hot dog trucks, Brinks trucks and even a green Cup Cake van in the same square the week before -- but not this. So of course I went up to the guy in the window to ask for a slice as I do like a good slice of pizza occasionally. Unfortunately, I was too late but I did find out that DC Slices is a new business and they show up in the square every Friday to sell pizza  for $4 a slice and you can buy a whole pizza if you get there before 12 noon. So I thanked the NICE YOUNG MAN who was counting up the proceeds in the front seat and who kindly answered my pesty inquiries and who answered the critical question of "What Type of Pizza is It? New York or Chicago Style?" And when he said "New York Style" I was delighted and told him I'd be back for a slice next Friday.

Hot Times in the City Neighborhood

We've decided to forgo air conditioning as much as possible so we only turn the AC box on in the bedroom where we sleep if it's just too hot and sticky but the rest of the house we leave the windows open, fans on and wait for the breezes. And drink A LOT of iced tea or beer. This is partly because we are frugalistos but also because air-conditioning really dries you out and as we are aging, we don't want to speed things up.I don't know where we got this idea from but it seems to make sense.
Of course, I'm leaving out the car which is new and has the iciest full blast chill- you-to-the-bone-in seconds air conditioning. Any excuse will do: "Honey, do we need anything? I'll go get some milk (or chocolate, or ice cream or take some mail to the post office or return the library books early)?"
We're doing pretty well with this here in late June but things might change in the muggies of August... I asked hubster "What would God say?" and he said "Why of course, 'Welcome to summer!'"