Week Twenty-Eight felt like regular summer vacation, not COVID-19 summer vacation. Perhaps it’s because people are being more careless with everything (myself included) even though the threat is still very real. And perhaps it’s because I did regular summer vacation things: I read and drank wine and swam and chatted with friends. Weird, right?
I also attend a virtual writer’s workshop, which was quite lovely. The Murphy Writing program through Stockton University offered sliding scale tuition ($0 – $95) to enroll in a one day, three hour course. I was a little nervous — the email had a PDF attached of readings I was supposed to do ahead of time and it also specified that I needed to be “camera ready” because it was an interactive workshop in which I’d be asked to share thoughts and writings. My first thought: Oh god, I have to share something I write?? My second thought: Oh god, I have to brush my hair??
But it ended up being a lot of fun. At one point we were put in breakout groups of four, and the three people I was with were all wonderful to chat with. There was Staci, a teacher in Dayton, Ohio and a proud black woman with hair that’s starting to grey in that dignifying way. There was Hanna, a woman from the Czech Republic who has lived in California for the last thirty years and recently lost her parents. And there was Ilma, an international grad student who is back in her home country of Pakistan, unsure what her future is going to look like and if she’ll be allowed back. They were all so kind and delightful and… refreshing.
None of our lives would be labeled perfect right now, but we found joy in connecting. The resounding thought I had after the experience: My tribe.
Sunday
Oh, Sammy. My little companion. He follows me everywhere and it’s the sweetest thing. Here we see him waiting at the top of the stairs, trying to figure out if I’m staying upstairs and he should get comfortable, or if I’m just grabbing something and we’re about to go right back down.
Monday
Sometimes I make mistakes. No, this wasn’t a COVID-19 social distancing violation (I don’t think)… We hung out outside and it was just Jess and Allie and their husbands Jess and Dave (Yes; as in Jess and Jess). And all of us have been mostly at home for the last four months, not going into work… No, my mistake was drinking too much. So much, in fact, that I threw up a little. What am I, twenty-two??? Although I don’t think a twenty-two year old would have gotten drunk of a bottle of good red wine. I know my twenty-two year old self preferred a good Sex on the Beach or shot of cheap liquor.
I don’t drink that often and apparently I’ve forgotten my limits. Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to blurt out things and not give a shit.
I turned my keys over to Allie at the end of the night and she drove my car home, with Dave trailing us. After she pulled it into my driveway, I stayed sleeping in Ozzie (my car) for who knows how long. She asked if I wanted to go inside, but I didn’t trust myself to move. I heard her knock on the door to let Brian know I was out there, but I tried to tell her not to bother. I was fine right where I was and I knew Brian wouldn’t hear her knocking anyway. Plus knocking upsets my cat.
I guess Brian was sent a text though, because a little while later he came out with a bottle of water and informed me that police were on our street with flashlights looking for a neighbor (domestic dispute?) so I should probably come inside.
The next day I remembered why I don’t drink that often. I remembered Wednesday, too, because it took me about forty-eight goddamn hours to recover.
Tuesday
Went to White Lake with the rents, because apparently I can’t remember that I don’t want to spend time alone with both of them together anymore. But I swam the bay with my mom and read a book on the beach (not the beach pictured here — we were on the sandy beach around the bend for most of the day). We left when families with boat loads of children arrived. The families didn’t care at all about social distancing and were all really fucking annoying (Some devil spawn appropriately named Dante was EVERYWHERE).
Wednesday
I usually struggle to read about thirty books in a year. I love reading, but I’m not the fastest reader and time and energy are not always on my side. Plus, as a reading teacher, often the majority of my work day is spent re-reading stories with students, leaving my reading energy sapped for the day.
This year, though? Thanks to COVID, I’m already on book number 28!
This batch of orders arrived with some kidlit books I’m looking forward to reading (AND the books were signed AND there were free bookmarks!) Whenever I read books for younger audiences, I pretend I’m reading them to see if they’re books I could use in class — and I suppose that’s not a complete lie — but really, I just enjoy YA and middler (I don’t think that’s actually a term, but that’s what I have just now decided to call middle level reader books) stories. #nevergrowup
Thursday
Tyson (neighbor’s cat) begging me to brush him because his family never does (Don’t worry. I did).
Friday
I spotted a deer on my walk. Couldn’t really get a good picture but enjoyed watching it for a few moments.
Saturday
These fools. Haha… Lynn is in town for a few days and so naturally Amanda brought her and Delayla over to visit for a little while. We hung out in my backyard until the bugs got too bad and when we came out front, these two got very distracted by Tyson (who decided he was done getting pet and ran up on the porch for some food/water right before I snapped this pic).
Context: Delayla is Amanda’s younger sister and Lynn is their cousin. Lynn moved to Utica just in time for her senior year. The students Amanda and I worked with in the grant program were juniors at that point (Extra context: Delayla was a sophomore then). Lynn only had a half day of classes, so she would get volunteer hours with us as a tutor. And when she wasn’t tutoring, she was just hanging around. Her parents aren’t super in the picture (she lived with her grandmother), so it was Amanda and I who drove her to college and moved her into her dorm (and there was one semester’s end when I made the three hour drive and loaded up all her crap myself).
Lynn has just graduated from SUNY New Paltz and is about to move to Brooklyn with a friend. I envy the life of a young person like her who has heeded our advice and taken advantage of opportunities to go where the wind blows her.