Tuesday, August 25, 2020

As summer fades...


Every year, around now, I'd tell Phil, we should have done more summer things. He'd always laugh and list the "summer things" we did: Tiger games, picnics, trips to Northern Michigan, to Pennsylvania, to Ocean City, NJ, attended art fairs, carnivals, went swimming at our local park, sat outside until the mosquitoes got us, hiked, went to fireworks, outdoor concerts, an occasional trip abroad. So many things. And, of course, this year there was none of this. It's a long winter in Michigan and not much to do so there will be less to miss than in summer. But that's little conciliation.
What did you miss most this summer? What's the first thing on your list for next summer--if we get one?

 

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18 comments:

Jeff Meyerson said...

Live concerts, outdoors at Jones Beach and indoors at Westbury and the Beacon or St. George's on Staten Island (for which we take the ferry from The Battery)
Theater (on and off-Broadway)
Short trips - to Connecticut (and this year was going to be Boston) with my cousins, and to Bethesda & Washington in August or early September
Eating in a restaurant!

Our days of travel to Europe are probably over. But we've been to the last five Bouchercons - Raleigh, New Orleans, Toronto, St. Petersburg and Dallas, and some of them were late summer. (And we drove to two of them, Raleigh and Toronto, which was a nice change.)

10:22 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

I can't imagine going to Bouchercon again. Maybe things will feel safer but by then I will be too old.

10:33 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...

We hope to be able to get back to New Orleans, but right now the idea of getting on a plane is a definite no no.

10:46 AM
Rick Robinson said...

Not much, because I'm a homebody and staying in the house and garden is what I usually do. We did miss the big Spring Garden Show in May, but that was about it beside a few friends coming over. I did miss watching college basketball in March-April, but don't watch much other sports on TV, so didn't miss that.

10:56 AM
David Cranmer said...

Being in bookstores packed with people with the same passion, all quiet and devoted, lost in their newly discovered worlds. That and being in restaurants.

11:14 AM
TracyK said...

Not much for us either. There are several events in Santa Barbara that we like to attend and photograph... In March, the annual Orchid Show, which was canceled at the last minute because of Covid-19. Memorial Day weekend, the I Madonnari chalk paintings at the Mission. And Santa Barbara has a Solstice Parade and celebration. We don't like parades, and it was always super crowded, but we would go early and photograph the floats and the preparations.

The only outing we have had since March was to the Rose Gardens across from the Mission, and we photographed lots of roses. The only people we saw were one woman caring for the roses (a volunteer) and joggers running through the area. And some sort of small gathering on the steps of the Mission, but we were too far away to tell what it was.

Summer temperatures last through October and sometimes into November in Santa Barbara. We just had our first really hot week of the summer, and we are still having a good bit of overcast each day.

11:28 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, I miss restaurants so much too. More from socializing with friends than for the food really. I am definitely not a stay-at-home type of person nor a loner. I need lots of people around me. Being alone with myself is not good because I am in my head too much. Phil was the same way. The best weekends for us were when we had something to do every night. I have friends here in Michigan that love being home and also haven't minded this period for that aspect. For me, it's the worst and I may have to get a roommate if this goes on much longer. THE GOLDEN GIRLS situation seems like paradise to me.

1:06 PM
Jeff Meyerson said...

That's bad. We are the opposite, I must admit. Most of our socializing these days is just the two of us. The staying at home part is not that big a deal for us at this stage. Twenty or thirty or forty years ago would have been a different story, I'm sure, but as far as I'm concerned, we've done plenty of traveling. Yes, I'd like to go to concerts and shows and restaurants, etc. but I consider myself very adaptable and can easily stand this...at least for now. We'll see how much longer it goes on.

1:38 PM
TracyK said...

I do miss restaurants, although we are saving a lot of money. We used to go out every Saturday morning for breakfast and then doing some shopping or a photo excursion locally. And I really like breakfast out. It is hard to picture now ever enjoying that experience again in the same way.

1:41 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Hopefully this will be the only summer like this.

2:22 PM
Jeff Meyerson said...

What about the winter? We missed one winter already when I fell and broke my shoulder (2018-19). And even though we have made plans for this coming January-March, I have barely more than zero confidence that we will ever get to Florida. (Jackie is the positive one here, I'm the negative.) Considering how things are here, and how much worse they still are in Florida, it will have to improve a lot before I would risk it. As far as I know, their testing is still over 20% positive, their Governor is an odious slug about on a level with the President whose butt his tongue is up. If I wouldn't go to a restaurant here where we are at under 1% positive, would I in Florida? And what about the movies? And shopping? To sit at home and watch Netflix and eat take out food, I don't need to spend thousands of dollars to go to Florida. I can put up with another winter here and feel safer.

We'll just have to see how it goes. We have until November 6 to decide if we are ready to commit or get back our deposit.

2:30 PM
George said...

Diane and I miss visiting Patrick and Katie (and having them visit us). That would be at the top of our list of Summer activities if a vaccine (one that works, not one of Trump's concoctions) becomes available.

4:33 PM
Jeff Meyerson said...

Oleander vaccine! Maybe mixed with a hydroxy chloroquine chaser.

6:34 PM
Jerry House said...

God, I miss the Fourth of July. And family celebrations. And the occasional sit-down restaurant. And bookstores and libraries. There's very little in this area for concerts, plays, and exhibits that interest us, and we no longer do movie theaters, so we don't miss what we really didn't have.

I do miss having an opportunity to tell Jeff's "odious slug" to his face just how odious he is.

9:25 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

I don't really have a good bookstore near me. I wish I did.

8:40 AM
Old Fan said...

A big family 4th of July cookout, fireworks, open air concerts with old 60's and 70's rockers doing their thing.
Next year!!

11:44 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Fingers crossed!

2:32 PM
Steve Oerkfitz said...

I miss a full season of baseball. And going to outdoor concerts. Not looking forward to a long stay at home fall winter spring. You can only read and watch tv so much. And my apartment building is keeping the activity room and exercise room closed. I'm not a big social person but I still enjoy the company of others.

5:09 AM

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