This year, 2020, is the strangest year! I posted this 2020 version of the calendar on my Instagram account, and we’re all just hoping (but not holding our breath) that December will be like that…nice and normal! But the quarantine days in the middle there are exactly what it has felt like to me. One big jumble of days!
But I’m checking in here to say HI to everyone, and report that we are all well here, although the summer has not been without stresses and anxieties. I am so grateful, though, for our wellness, our resilience, and all the love and support of family and friends!
Some time in April, my oldest brother tested positive for Covid-19. It was such a shock to hear that news. But he was without symptoms, and couldn’t believe that he had tested positive. He was in isolation (at home) for 10 days, then in quarantine for 24 days beyond that. He never developed any symptoms that he could discern, and at the end of the quarantine time, he and his wife were tested again and both results were negative. Also, he requested an antibody test, and that returned negative, as well. We will never know if he was simply one of those asymptomatic cases, or whether his test was one of the 5% false positives. We are all just deeply grateful for his good health.
Our summer projects are moving along slowly. I ended up not planting a vegetable garden this spring/summer, but the butterfly garden is doing really well and looking quite pretty. I’m getting ready to plant some autumn veggie crops in the raised beds, and look forward to planting lots of bulbs for the spring. Byron has been working on the patio cover next to the new shed in backyard. Our pace on these usual projects seems to have really slowed down. I think it’s due to what I call “quarantine fatigue.”
My reading, however, has NOT slowed down, but sped up. I finished Deborah Crombie’s mystery series, and read a number of books for my anti-racist self-education. And then, at a friend’s suggestion, I tried out the first book in a “romance” series. I hardly ever read books from that genre, but I thought I’d give it a try for some lightweight summer reading, and now I’m already on book #9. I got completely captured by Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series, which takes place in a very small town in the mountains of northern California. Once I met the people of the town, I was hooked. Robyn Carr does relationships (and sex) very well, the men are all decent and kind, the women (almost all get pregnant) are strong and independent, and everyone cares about and helps each other. So Virgin River has not been a bad place to spend this crazy summer!
I hope that you and yours are all healthy and safe this summer, and I hope you are enjoying your summer reading.
Stay safe, my friends.
A Fondness For Reading 
Robin! So good to see a post by you. Glad you and yours are doing well now. So sorry about your brother’s experience, but happy he is well now. How fun that you read all the Crombie books and I wanted to say that the Virgin River books came into my life at tough time several years ago as well. I just checked and it was in 2011, kind of spread out throughout that year. It was after my mother had passed away in 2010, we sold our house in Austin and were building this new one further out from the urban area, living in an apartment for a while, moving into this house and settling in. I missed my mother and life was in an upset state because of moving. I loved that series. It suited me perfectly for that time. Glad you are liking it too.
I guess we’ll see what the end of 2020 will hold for us. I’m thinking it’s likely that all of the ‘staying home’, etc., will continue into 2021 for a while, but who can predict? Take care and enjoy your reading!
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Thanks so much, Kay! I think you’re more realistic about it being well into 2021 before there’s much of a return to “normalcy.” My husband tells me that the 1918 flu was a three-year ordeal. Even though I’ve been quiet here for a few months while trying to deal with the anxieties of life right now, I’ve enjoyed reading your blog posts (they come by email, which I love!), and keeping tabs on friends on Facebook and Instagram. Hugs!
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Beautiful flowers and I also do not read the romance genre. I have so many books yet to read from other themes! They are finding more and more that testing is inaccurate. Both positive and negative. I am hoping we can fix that soon!
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Tabor, my brother’s doctor told him there are about 5% of these types of tests for Covid-19 are false positives. We, his family, think it was one of those false positives, but his doctor didn’t think so. We’re just so glad that he and my sister-in-law are both well. Also, I’ve heard that the antibody tests are still quite inaccurate. I hope they make quick progress with it all!
Happy reading!
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Oh, Robin! Somehow this post didn’t show up in my Bloglovin’ feed and I am just now seeing it. I’m so sorry you and your family had to go through all the worry and stress associated with your brother’s positive test result! How scary for everyone. I’m so glad he and his wife are alright. Do they live in Utah? It sounds like the Carr books are perfect reading during this unsettling time. Kind of like Rosamunde Pilcher’s books. I’m just about to wrap up the Louise Penny series (just in time for her new book next month) and will probably start in on the Deborah Crombie series. Be well, my friend!
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Thank you, Les. The anxiety of the wait through my brother’s isolation and quarantine was really terrible. It helped that we are having weekly “Famnet” Zoom meetings during all this time, so we had frequent updates and could support each other throughout the endless wait. This is my oldest brother and his wife who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.
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Robin so good to see a post from you. Yes, that calendar is the perfect example of this year. Glad to hear your brother and his wife are doing well now. If they did have Covid-19 then they were lucky to not have experienced symptoms but still it’s just makes you wonder why. Which just makes me think again about how much we don’t know about this virus still. Stay safe Robin and glad to hear you are finding a lot of time for your books.
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Thanks, Iliana. It’s scary how much we don’t know about this virus, and even scarier how many people don’t take it very seriously. Enjoy your reading, too, and stay safe and healthy!
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I love how accurate that calendar is. I fear December will be more of the same but I am hopeful. I actually started to watch the Hallmark Christmas movies yesterday because they are so simple, cheerful and happy.
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Ti, I’m afraid you’re right about December and the virus. But what a great idea to start watching the Christmas movies! I’m going to watch some, too!
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