So, that previously mentioned element in my town that believes the pandemic is a hoax and that a certain self-professed millionaire (or is it billionaire this week?) is the second coming of Christ has reared its ugly head again, this time in a very public manner. There's an intersection just up the road from me that is the focus of all kinds of signs - political in season, yard sales, information - that this morning sports a hand-lettered entry that reads "Just say no to creepy Joe and the ___". I'll leave you to fill in the rhyming word. I truly believed my town was better than this despite all our differences. I'm disappointed and saddened to see that we are not. What has happened to civil discourse? Can we not just agree to disagree? Are we all so dead certain we are right that we can't even consider another point of view, another reality? I'll admit, there are time when watching the news that I mutter unflattering things about people but I don't post those things on Facebook to Twitter or post signs. People, show a little restraint, keep the peace and we'll all get through this crazy time. 

Well, the mask demand has definitely peaked. I can go 2 days without restocking at the town office. I broke down and BOUGHT (!) fabric for the ones I was making for the folks at Belmont park as I was out of horse-themed fabrics. (So much for the Saratoga quilt I had planned to make "sometime".) Fortunately I live less than 10 miles from a great source of quilt-shop quality fabrics at a reduced price so it wasn't hard to find more fabric. The hardest part was holding my tongue and not berating all of the people I encountered who were not social distancing or wearing a face covering. I know from a Facebook encounter last month that there is, even here in Maine, a segment of the population that thinks this is all a hoax, that they are immune and that wearing a face covering infringes on their rights. I get it - but again I plead for those people who CAN but choose not to comply, to please think of others. Imagine if you went out and about without a face covering, came in contact with someone who had the virus and before you could show symptoms - if you ever did - you infected your 80 something grandmother or your father who had heart disease. How awful would you feel?

So I posted about making masks. I've been steadily supplying free masks to the citizens of Sidney for the past month. I leave them in the town's little free library, which is located outside our town office. Any where from 10-20 per day have been taken - usually they are all gone when I go to restock in the morning. Some people on Facebook have offered to pay me but I make these available for free. I have had several people who happened to be there for masks when I restocked give me money which I did accept as I have been spending money to purchase elastic and cellophane envelopes for packaging. And I was fortunate to have relatives and a friend also send me money. But I'm not in it for the money. I'm in it to protect myself, my loved ones, and my friends and neighbors. It was so gratifying to find this note in the Library box last week when I went to restock:

This is from the town clerk and her staff who are keeping our town running while having to reinvent the wheel to do so. Every operation has changed with social distancing.

I also have been sending masks to the Race Track Chaplaincy of New York at Belmont Park. Those who know me know that I am a fan of the Thoroughbred race horse. The RTCNY takes care of the spiritual and social and other needs of the backstretch workers - the people who groom, hot walk, exercise the horses. With racing not happening at NY tracks, these people have limited resources as they are not earning any extra money from horses winning races. As of today, I have sent them 11 dozen masks. Here's a photo of a happily masked family:

My thanks to them for caring for the horses I care about!

Back to why I do this: I'm in it to protect myself, my loved ones, and my friends and neighbors. So when I see people putting me and my neighbors and my friends at risk by not wearing a mask or social distancing or insisting that not being allowed to eat in a restaurant is infringing on their rights, I have to say "What about MY rights to not get this insidious disease?" Your behavior is taking away my right to health and safety. Leave the politics out of it, please. No presidents or governors or other issues. Don't confuse the issue with politics or your agenda. Please, think about someone other than just yourself. I have friends who are immune compromised, I am in that age group that is at risk. And I'm certain you have people you care about who are in the same situations - please, think about them. I am not unsympathetic to the small business people who are hanging on by a thread - I am one of you, with now 3 shows cancelled so far. But is the risk really worth the reward?

Well, it's been years since I wrote on this blog - work, home, family, life - not in that order! - took me away. I'm still living in Maine, still quilting, retired from the Library life and loving it, and now find myself in the middle of a pandemic. Not how I thought retirement would go but it's what we've got. I'm finding it easier to shelter in place than some as I've been practicing for a couple of years now, hiding in my basement studio, sewing and quilting and creating lovely things for people to buy at a regular schedule of artisan craft shows. This year, not so much - I've already had one show cancelled this year and several others are in limbo. Who knows what the future brings? I don't pretend to know beyond some wishes, like us all.

I was musing the other day that as wide-spread as the deaths have been that someone I know had not been infected. Well, word came yesterday that the husband of a cousin I was close to in my younger years has passed away after being diagnosed with COVID-19. He was not someone I kept in touch with as his wife (my cousin) had succumbed to breast cancer in the late 80s or early 90s. So, as of yesterday, we have been touched personally by this insidious disease. It makes me even more determined to wear my mask when I must be out and about and more determined to get masks into the hands of those who need them. I have been stocking my town's little free library where people can grab one any time of the day or night. I have been mailing them to family and friends. And I have been sending them to an organization at Belmont Park racetrack in New York that tends to the social and health needs of the backstretch community there. The grooms, hot walkers and exercise riders are the ones who work most closely with the horses on a daily basis and because there is no racing at Belmont (and most other tracks) right now, they have no way to augment their limited incomes to allow for even basic necessities. This is one small way I can make a difference to someone, anyone. And I don't expect anything in return. I see folks on Facebook Marketplace selling the same masks I make and I scratch my head. I see these masks as an investment in MY good health and the good health of those I care for.

So, wear your masks, social distance, stay home and stay healthy. Wash your hands, disinfect your high-touch areas and keep us all healthy. We'll get through this. Life may not ever be like before but it will be.

Curmudge - Goodbye Karl - Ithaca in all 4 Seasons

Okay, it’s 5:30 Sunday afternoon and I’ve just taken the 3rd call of the day from the “No on 1” campaign. If they don’t stop bugging me. I’m going to vote “Yes!”

Just back (yesterday) from an emergency trip back to Ithaca. The emergency was the hospitalization and subsequent recovery of a dear friend who loves there. While I knew before I left that it was no longer a dire need for me to be there, I went anyway so that I could attend the memorial service for my second boss, Karl Jaentsch. Karl owned an independent VW garage outside Ithaca and I worked for him for about 5 years as a service advisor, scheduler, parts runner and general office manager. He appreciated my organizational abilities and my desire to do things the right way. While I worked for him, I took and passed the test to become a certified New York State Motor Vehicle Inspector, one of the few women at the time who held such a position. Karl taught me so much about the world outside of Ithaca. And he was the best mechanic. I have been searching for 25 years and haven’t found one as honest and trustworthy.

I have to thank my dear friend referenced above for providing me the opportunity to see my homeland in all four seasons this year...the snows of early January, the promise of Spring, the lush green paradise of summer and the golden glow of autumn. I’ve seen them all! The view from Route 81 just south of Syracuse yesterday was spectacular!

What I don’t understand...this week.

While I believe in second chances in some cases, I cannot in any way support the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to hire Michael Vick. The man bankrolled a major dog fighting ring and I have my doubts about his change of heart. I hope I’m wrong. Any dogs who lost their lives as a result of his actions will never get a second chance, so I hope Mr. Vick appreciates what he has.

From the Garden

I spent a couple of hours this morning puttering in the garden beds, doling out TLC to the flowers and veggies that have been neglected of late. We dug out the stump of the Mugo Pine I lopped into oblivion a couple of weeks ago. (It deserved it!) Then I dead-headed and pruned my way around the front yard. It’s been a stellar year for the Hostas and the Daylillies. Most years my Daylillies have come and gone by the beginning of August but the cloudy, wet weather delayed and prolonged their bloom this year and that is just fine with me! I also whacked back the Spring pansy pots and will transplant them into the window box that formerly held the lettuce, which has bolted and is now compost. The pumpkin seems to have succumbed to the wet leaving the Hubbard Squash to fend for itself in the back. The tomatoes were sprawling way beyond the support I had provided so I tied them to the shed. I harvested 4 SunGolds the day we returned from New York and there are several more about ready.

So far, the deer seem to have only eaten the tops off the raspberries, an annual rite of summer. We had a brood of turkeys march through on Saturday, but they don’t disturb much other than the peace, which is how I knew they were out there! The skunks are doing a number on the SO’s precious lawn, another expected but disturbing rite of summer.

I find the older I get the more selective I must be about the weather when I attempt a gardening project. Gone are the days when I can work in high heat or humidity..I just wilt like last night’s salad! And I can’t devote an entire day to any one project. Oh, that I could! Then, perhaps, my raspberries would be weed-free and well contained. My asparagus and rhubarb would be well-fertilized with Rainbow Valley Farm compost. That bed by the telephone pole by the road would be long renovated and the Hostas and Daylillies currently residing there would have found homes elsewhere. And the bed in the back would also be weed-free and well mulched. But I figure no matter how much I do in the yard, there will always be things added to the end of the list. We are dealing with living things here!