Happy Birthday, Covid-19 Style

Well. That was something.
 

I had a birthday this week. It’s OK if you feel you missed it, because I typically celebrate a week or so. My family says it’s “or so.” And because I typically plan my own party, usually a surprise party, this quarantine business was not cooperating with my typical celebration. 

I have been beyond blessed-I’ve planned trips and the Good to Go Group Travel gang has celebrated my April 29^th birthday in South Africa, in Switzerland, and in Italy, to name only a few. 50 in North Dakota was my age then, not my 50^th state. Yes, I’m very blessed to have had birthdays all over the world, but this year the Good to Go Girl celebrated in… her driveway. A first.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been my usual  peppy Patti self these weeks. No travel, no entertaining gigs, no speaking engagements, you know, I’m “unessential”. I could care less about the birthday year number (59, if you’re wondering) but the huge, sudden change in my busy life-that has done quite a number on me.

Niece Jena Beth and the Much Older Sister knew I needed a dose of my own medicine and planned a surprise birthday party parade. They arranged for me to be given laughter and joy by the car loads. Our driveway and yard were decorated with balloons and a giant birthday sign. I had an empty suitcase (curious?) and the neighbors started to gather. I heard it before I saw it. Here comes the Grove Fire Chief and the big, beautiful ladder fire engine. Dang! This IS a parade!

And here they came, people I love from all the corners of my crazy life, in their cars and trucks decorated with balloons and garlands and flowers. Many stopped with cards or something fun to go in that empty suitcase that didn’t stay that way long. Who knew Grove had so many convertibles? And even though the wind was a gale, the music blared, and the queenly waves and wishes made my heart soar.

Social distancing was respected, even with live musical performances from Broadway show tunes (thank you Ron Young) to country hits with complete sound systems (thank you Susie Niehus) to original rewrites (thank you George Fracek). From Lori Klickman and her sister Cindy's dancing (the choreography that accompanied was brilliant!) to arriving in a Jeep Kaiser military troop vehicle. I was moved to happy and thankful tears.

Toilet paper rolls with tiny treasures tucked in the tubes were tossed for me to gather. Candy, (good stuff) was thrown out just like the Christmas parade. One car sported a jolly fellow that looked a lot like Santa Claus but this Santa dropped off wine! Cars, trucks, SUV’s, a military vehicle, a stroller with the cutest baby ever and that one rather plain woman. Oh wait, that was Bob Carlson sporting the dress he put on to surprise me on a girls’ only trip. (And he can still fit in it after quarantine!) What a lovely surprise and effort. Not to be outdone, Superman and Wonder Woman also made a pass by.

A couple of the vehicles even had their own masks over their front grills and David Adzigian/Patti Demier handed their gift to me on a 6’ pole! So caution was not thrown to the wind, even if some the decorations were.

I heard another familiar horn and I looked up to see… a motor coach. Yep, there’s our favorite driver/pastor Donnie making his way down Sunset Circle in a coach with his two darling grand-girls and a hound dog. Homemade cards and signs are all over my quarantined living room, waiting to be sprayed with sanitizer. And I can’t say “thank you” enough about the greeting cards that came my way. As the queen of repurpose and reuse-I was amazed and moved at how my clever friends could edit Get Well cards and cross out lines in used Christmas cards to make them PERFECT for my birthday! Price was NO object, I loved it!

The worst part of the day? I couldn’t hug everyone and show them how much it meant to me.

The best part of the day? All the laughs and memories we will have now for birthday 2020.

Once again, I have been blessed. I was in the driveway instead of out on the road, but I’ll remember my birthday party parade and all the fun it delivered.

Thank you to everyone that gifted me with joy and laughter. The best birthday present ever.

On Fire to Go

I’m weary. I’m weary of work, worry, wonder and a few other words I’m too tired to think of right now. I’m not complaining of anything that others aren’t experiencing during this pandemic. What started out feeling like a few snow days without the snow, that turned into more of the being grounded vibe, and now, well, it’s just old. We all so want to be over it.
 

I’ve always been a busy girl. Papa Paul used to tell me I was burning the candle at both ends. I usually responded with some “But look how much brighter it is with both ends going!” I was probably the only girl in high school whose mother made sure I took my Geritol tablet each morning. I’ve never really ever wondered about that until just now! 

You are getting the picture that I’ve been a go-girl long before I was Good to Go. So now when the brakes are on without a departure for months, I’m kinda lost. I’ve tried to continue in the “hair on fire” mode, making lists and doing jobs that I don’t usually have time for. One of those jobs does get close to hair on fire….I’ve been obsessed with burning the downed timber on our family farm. That terrible storm last fall took down about 100 trees, and the Much Older Sister’s husband has been pushing up these burn piles that range in size from a Volkswagon to a semitruck. I’m on fire number 17. I take pride in my fire starting skills and refuse to use any kind of fuel except paper. And I get a little cocky if I can do the whole pile using only one match.

I get in some good thinking time breaking twigs, feeding the fire and watching the flames. I miss traveling. I’ve planned and offered many (what I thought were) great trips down through the years. Like some of my fires, they didn’t catch. I advertised and fanned the flames, but I just couldn’t get a fire built under folks to get them on the bus.

I’m keeping up with peers and partners in the travel industry. There are a lot of opinions of how travel will come back once we have weathered this storm. Of course, everyone will have personal outlook on what they will want to do. Some people will be ready to get on a plane and go! Some may be ready for travel but will decide a motorcoach trip in the USA is a good idea. Others may wait on bigger trips and just enjoy some family get togethers. How the economy is fairing, how the presidential election is going, these will be a few more things that will determine how the travel fire will ignite.

You can expect me to stand on my stump and say, “Don’t wait! Go while you can! You never know about tomorrow!” I’ll take my own advice and pack Big Red, my suitcase, and go as far as my budget will allow. I hope there are many out there that like to have trip on the calendar, and enjoy the spark that being somewhere else gives us. You can count on me to fan the flames.

Positive Plan

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Mike Tyson said that. He probably knew a little about getting punched.  The entire world has felt like it has been punched in the face. Some are feeling it quite a bit harder than others. But amid this reeling and reaching for the ropes, there have been some bright spots. Let’s look at some replays.
 

Have you driven by the hospital and seen the big HEROES sign?  Did you hear about the pizza being delivered to the police department? Gift cards to the fire fighters from Rotary? Small gestures can mean big things, and kindness is big.

When the call came out for the need for homemade face masks, we could hear the whirl of sewing machines around the county as fabric was donated, cut, crafted and put into use because our community asked for help.

Folks have taken to social media and instead of using it as a battering ram to beat up those with different political views, we are seeing more reports from the home fronts. Pictures of pets, and flowers and clever sayings are getting “liked” and “shared”.  I’ve watched enough cat videos to last the rest of my life, or at least this quarantine.

I love the creativity that people have embraced.  TV hosts, broadcasting from their living rooms, are using their raw talents without the aid of special effects and camera tricks. We soon discover who is entertaining to watch. Singers, coming together from a distance to perform. That’s tough. You can either do that... or not. Plus it’s a risk. There’s probably a reason we enjoy  some and don’t hear a note from others.

Even the NBA players got into the game, of H.O.R.S.E., that is. Maybe not as exciting as the Final Four, but pretty down to earth and humbling. For anyone that has shot some hoops in the driveway, it was a great idea and kinda fun to think these guys were being creative to entertain sports fans.

For all those parents with students at home that have suddenly added teacher, cafeteria worker, and principal to their duties, we know there is new found appreciation for those professions. One mom joked that she was “trying to figure out how to get a kid transferred to another class”.  Another parent posted that their son called from the bedroom to say he’d “missed the bus, and won’t be at school today”. I hope these parents are keeping a journal of this experience! Taking on the responsibility of making sure your child is learning at home is a punch in the face.

Churches! Let’s give an AMEN! to all the churches, large and small, that have stepped up their outreach to use different forms of media to make contact. I can only imagine that it is very difficult to shepherd a flock when you can’t even see or hear the herd. This may change assembling in a great way, now that we have learned we can do it in our PJs. 

We aren’t sure how long this bout with our quarantine will last, but we’ve got to keeping fighting. But let’s keep our eyes open for positive stuff until there’s a better plan.

Circle the Wagons

Whatever day this is, whatever week this is, (because they are starting to blur,) I’m beginning to mark time passing by the food supply being depleted and if it’s time to wash clothes.  Unless I accomplish a project that can be a landmark, the miles of these days look very much the same.
 

I’ve been lucky to have spent time along the Oregon Trail, the expedition of Lewis and Clark, and other historical routes that our forefathers trekked to discover “somewhere” else. I’ve stood and  viewed museum displays that offered a glimpse into those wagons and what life might have been like on “the trail.” Momma’s wore  their treasured sewing needles in a tiny case like jewelry.  She  knew she would need a needle  to make and repair clothing for her family and most likely, stitch a wound or two. Men always had a pocketknife and it was a heirloom to pass down. There is a trail across America of large pieces of furniture that were considered essential when the wagon train left the east, but discarded along the way as unessential. The weight, the bulk, the impracticality of pianos, chairs and stylish clothing  was left behind as they pushed on. 

My imaginative self like to step into their sturdy shoes for a bit and try to picture what that life was like. No real direction, maybe occasional wheel ruts of those who had passed this way before to mark the way. But of course, those gouges in the dirt don’t signpost whether it was the best way or not, they just say someone else was here before you.

Keep imagining with me, and realize we are on a similar route right now in our world. No one really knows the road, and we hope we can learn from those that are ahead of us to mark the best way. There are many things that have been discarded because it’s just impractical or too much of a burden. We’ve discovered in our crazy, fast lives that we can actually slow down, and not attend an event every night, or need sports and celebrities to fill our time. We’ve decelerated enough to see some beauty along the way. Those homesteaders had time to smell the grasses of the prairie and recognize the different songbirds trills. We’ve taken more walks and listened to our family members in conversations that wouldn’t have taken place this time last year. 

The wagon trails worked together as a community crossing the wide, unknown. Tales were shared about the dangers that might be ahead. Of course, Hollywood has given us lots of images of how dangerous life was with wild animals and attacking Indians. But the thing that is worth noting, when it came time to build camp and be safe, what did they do? They circled the wagons. Why? Of course, it was easier to protect each other if all were within the boundaries of those wagon walls.

We are headed down a unknown trail. We are hoping and praying those leading this expedition are watching and listening for all the markers to keep us on the right and safest path  possible. We trust our city and state leaders, our hospitals and medical experts as they give us instructions of how to follow along. 

I  hope and pray that we “circle the wagons” and protect our community from outside dangers that might harm us. We are headed into what we Grand Lakers know and love as tourist season. People coming from who knows where to bring who knows what into our place. 

This is going to be a tough on our area’s economy, but “safer at home” will mean, don’t come into our camp. How will our leaders handle tourists, second home owners, and relatives that want to slide  into our area? “Safer at home” means circle the wagons. We’ve got to protect each other. Stay safe on the trail.

We Saw and Smelled

Our trip to Peru and Ecuador back on January 27^th of this year wasn’t affected by the travel bans that are grounding everyone now. I count it as a blessing that the multifaceted tour of two countries over three weeks was everything we hoped it would be. Husband Doug, edited hours of video footage and thousands of photos to put together a beautiful video that reminds us of what we saw and experienced. (it’s on our www.goodtogowithpb.com website if you would like to do some armchair traveling) Doug and I often comment that it’s a shame you can’t capture the smell and the feel of the atmosphere in places. However, many  times we can see the picture and our brain brings the rest of the memory in place, the aroma, the temperature, the sounds. We just needed that prompt of a visual image. 
 

I once visited a museum in Scotland, the first that I had ever been in that used the sense of smell to bring the exhibits to life. It was really more of an attraction than a museum. We got in these little roller coaster-like cars and rode through a medieval castle and the cobblestones of a  period village. The realistic displays of everyday life were well done, and there was a soundtrack that added the noise of the street and the sounds of the animals, but there was the smell. Yep, the scene became alot more realistic when we rolled through the area of the castle where the horses and sheep were kept. The smell of the burning peat fires was always present. And I’ll never forget going through the market where the fishmonger had her pile of dead fish… and what that smelled like! Some of the travelers didn’t care for the experience at all, but it certainly made an impression. For the life of me, I can remember the name of the place or the exact city, but I recall the experience.

We made some memories with our senses in Peru as well. Of course, most everyone is familiar with the amazing scenery that says Macchu Pichu. But we added a few layers to those images. We learned about the various types of llamas and alpacas. Each one is bred for a different purpose. The quality of their wool in the textile market has quite a range in price. We pet them, felt them and yes… smelled them.

We visited a traditional Peruvian  home. The small cooking fire in the tiny mud brick room certainly made everything from the blankets to the hostess smell like wood smoke. Dried fish and meats hung from the rafters adding to the aroma, even though they looked like they had been there awhile. But there was the  bouquet of fresh grass in the room. That’s because the home had a large pen of Cuy in the corner. We know “cuy” better as guinea pigs and these colorful rat-like creatures are a source of food -- not pets. They live in or near the home and are fed grass which they nibble on like rabbits. Cuy aren’t eaten on a regular basis, they are expensive and saved for special occasions or to offer the tourists. They are roasted whole and served on a stick or on a platter. Head, feet, teeth and all in place. The taste is something like rabbit or wild game with lots of small bones. The smell of roasted meat comes to mind as I look at the pictures.

Maybe with some extra time on your hands you might take a trip down memory lane. Look through some photo albums of past trips and see and smell your way through some memories.