Friday, May 1 through Friday, May 15 :
5/1 – 5/7
I drove to the nearby Dollar General Store to buy some Mothers’ Day cards to mail to those shut-in ladies that I had been visiting before restrictions were put into place. Then, I drove just down the block to the Parrish post office where I mailed the cards to ensure that they will be received prior to May 10. Dad and I watched the on-line church service Sunday morning without Emma as she was joined by her parents in a drive-by birthday parade for her 1st grade teacher, Mr. Kelly. On Monday, I learned that the lady that has been my visiting partner, Shirley Myrek, will be moving to North Florida to live near her granddaughter on May 15th.
5/8, Friday – 5/14, Thursday
Our friend, Ken Sosville, went by ambulance on Friday to Sarasota Memorial Hospital with a broken hip. Because of coronavirus, Jackie is not allowed to go into the hospital. His room has such a bad telephone connection, she is not able to even talk to him. On Saturday, I received notice from the IRS that they are auditing my 2018 tax return (contributions). Late that afternoon, Jackie called to let me know that the doctor told her that Ken needs a hip replacement. The doctor said that because he has a terminal illness (some kind of blood cancer that was treated and now the side-effects of the treatment are worse), he will give Ken the choice of whether he wants to have the surgery or not when he talks to him in the morning. Jackie says if he does not have the surgery, he will never be able to walk and will always be in pain. (Saturday was not the best day ever!)
Sunday, 5/10, was Mothers’ Day. Emma came over in the morning and brought me a nice card. She ate Sunday donuts with me and PaPa and then returned home to spend the day with her mother. In the afternoon, JP and Kellie gave me flowers and a card. Jackie let me know that Ken was having the hip replacement surgery this afternoon. She was going over to her daughter, Angie’s, to spend the afternoon with her and granddaughter Kira, a Florida State University student currently at home thanks to the coronavirus.
On Monday, the monthly cleaning service came; and we took our walk. I called Jackie shortly after noon. She said that Ken came through the surgery OK, but they think he had a reaction to the anesthetic because he woke up being mean to everyone. She said the same thing happened after his emergency appendix surgery a number of years ago. When I asked her if she wanted my company this afternoon or just needed some peace and quiet, she opted for the quiet. I hope she got some rest. Later in the afternoon, I got a surprise visit from the pastor’s wife, Krystal along with her two oldest children, Connor and Ainsley (who are both in Emma’s Sunday school class). The kids had fun together. The purpose of their visit was to deliver to me a hand-made Mothers’ Day card (shown above) which I appreciate very much. Today was JP, Kellie and Emma’s dog, Theo’s, one-year birthday. He dressed up for the occasion as you can see below.
Tuesday was a little busier than usual. I did my early morning shopping at Publix then waited for the air conditioning technician to come for 6-month servicing of the two air conditioning units in the house. We decided to take a different route for our afternoon walk ( a little farther) and went to a new pond where we saw a baby alligator (less than 2 feet long). Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a picture of him. Naturally, eagle-eyed PaPa was the one who spotted him. That was the highlight of our day. While we were walking, JP took Theo, the dog, to get his nails cut and a few other things.
The governor announced that all barber, beauty and hair salons could open as of yesterday but still no walk-ins. I called Dad’s barber shop to make an appointment for him but was told that they were booked solid until next Tuesday. I took that appointment!
On Wednesday, we returned to our regular walking route. While we were gone, JP went into Palmetto to get his hair cut and beard trimmed. When we returned from the walk, Emma and I got in the car. We drove through CVS pharmacy to pick up some of Dad’s medicine, then continued on to a Dairy Queen where we both got some ice cream through their drive-thru. On the way home, we stopped by the cemetery to put out new flowers (red, white and blue) for Memorial Day through July 4 at “Papi’s rock”. We got home just before JP who got us a pizza for supper from the place next to the barber shop. Thanks son.
After our Thursday afternoon walk, I called our Homeowners’ Insurance agent and told her to change our hurricane coverage. For a relatively small increase in annual payment, our hurricane damage deductible will decrease from $16,000 to $1,000 per occurrence.
Friday, May 15 through Thursday, May 28:
Impotency is such order cheap viagra cute-n-tiny.com a health problem which should be treated at its outset.
On the 15th, I took my car, Kia Soul, to the new Kia dealer in Bradenton for an oil change and some other maintenance. Since the business is just a few blocks away from Jackie’s house, she came and picked me up and we got to spend a couple of hours visiting this morning. As I was driving home, I saw a KC-135 Stratotanker from MacDill Air Force Base that flew over the 12 major hospitals in the Tampa Bay area to honor health care workers in the coronavirus pandemic. It was on its way to Sarasota Memorial Hospital. I couldn’t take a picture, because I was driving, so I copied the picture below from the web.
The governor announced today that restaurants can now serve at 50% capacity and gymnasiums can open at 50% capacity. Dad and I have discussed our participation in some of these newly opening businesses and we have decided to limit our participation for a couple more months, until we are assured that the cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) is in fact decreasing. On the 16th, I received a notice from the YMCA that they would reopen two gyms in the county on Wednesday. One is near us in Lakewood Ranch, but Dad and I feel it is too soon to return, so we will continue our walks for the time being.
Sunday, 5/17 through Saturday, 5/23
The Sunday morning news announced that the first tropical storm had formed over-night and has been named Arthur. Everyone who lives in Florida knows that the hurricane season officially starts on June 1st, but this one came early. At this time, it is not expected to make any landfall. Dad and I watched on-line church services at 10:30, once again without Emma. She and her parents were on a 5-mile kayaking trip with one of her friends from school along with his brother and dad. Since this was the 3rd day in a row with temperatures in the 90s, Dad and I decided not to walk today. On Tuesday, I took Dad to get his hair and nails cut. We were excited to get a visit from my brother, Bill on Thursday. He spent the day with us while his wife, Mary, was helping her mother who is recuperating from back surgery. Friday, I gave myself and early birthday present and enjoyed a manicure and pedicure with Christina at the Nail Nook in Palmetto. To end the week, JP and Emma took me for a golf-cart drive-by 90th birthday parade for a friend and neighbor (and past commodore of the Bradenton Yacht Club), Rick Shaurette.
Sunday, 5/24 through Sunday, 5/31
We were able to go for our walk after Sunday’s on-line service but there was off and on rain showers the rest of the day. Monday was the Memorial Day holiday. Vanessa came over around noon to swim with Emma. Then Kellie’s parents came about 2:00 to spend the afternoon. I joined them for a Memorial Day cookout in between more rain showers.
While JP played golf on Tuesday, the 26th, I took Emma to the beach where JP and Kellie were married on Anna Maria. We enjoyed the sun, sand and surf for a couple of hours.
On Wednesday, 5/27, I got my haircut and Emma had her final on-line class conference. Tomorrow is officially the last day of school. Next year she will be in the second grade.
After our afternoon walk on Thursday, Emma and I got in the car and ran some errands ending up at Ola Mae Sims Park in Parrish where we she played on the slides and swings for a short while until summer thunder clouds let us know it was time to go home. She had a good time and it gave her father a few hours’ break.
Friday, 5/29 – Vanessa called tonight to say that she lost her job and is looking for another one.
Sunday, 5/31 – Five days ago, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a black man was arrested for suspicion of passing a forged bill. The arrest was filmed, both by those standing by as well as police cameras. While handcuffed, he was held to the ground by white officers – one with his knee on his neck – he died. All four officers involved were immediately fired and one has been arrested and charged with murder while the others are still being investigated. Since then, protests have turned to riots not only in Minneapolis, but many other large cities around the United States. Last night, protests turned into riots and looting in Tampa and several other cities in Florida. On this Sunday – the Lord’s day – I am praying for peace. I have no doubt that many people are frustrated and want to see change in our society, but I cannot imagine that destroying businesses, burning and looting, is an acceptable way to bring about less violence. The news this morning reported that at least 110 cities throughout the U.S. had protests and/or riots last night. This is on top of the reports last week that more than 100,000 people have lost their lives to coronavirus and more than 40,000 have lost their jobs. This morning, the minister advised the listening congregation that we will start to have in-person church services next Sunday morning. But, he cautioned all that were in the “at-risk” category (which includes both me and Dad) should remain home a little longer. That is our plan.
Our journey has been inspired by Joy and Steve Fredrick. You can see more of their story at