Little Whale Cove
Depoe Bay, Oregon
June 2020
I probably say this every year about this time, but I can't believe we are already halfway through the year. How is it possible that the days continue to fly by when we're not really doing much of anything?
My routine continues to be the same as it's been since we began sheltering-in-place a little over a hundred days ago. I try to get outside and walk 3-4 miles a day (the above photo shows one of the paths in our neighborhood) and I get together once a week with my girlfriends for a socially distanced visit. Other than that, I continue to go grocery shopping only twice a month (I used to go at least once a week), drive into Salem (90 minutes away) for my mom and husband's monthly eye appointments, help host my monthly book group Zoom meeting, work on puzzles and watch movies in the evening. I'm sure if I look back on the past three monthly summaries, not much has changed. I'm still trying out new recipes, but thankfully, my jeans still fit. ;) My hair has always been slow to grow, but my husband's is getting quite bushy. I think it looks great and he's not complaining about it, so he may hold off on a haircut for another month or two.
We did make reservations with a small campground in Washington and hope to get away in September for a couple of weeks. We'll wait and see how things go with the pandemic, but it should be relatively safe and maybe by Labor Day, folks will start heading home and the parks won't be quite so crowded.
I'm not sure how I wound up only reading three books in June, but my current audio is super long (almost 23 hours!), so that's slowing me down just a bit. It's probably no surprise that Glass Houses was my favorite this month. I do love that series!
Books Read (click on the title for my review):
The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson (4/5)
Glass Houses by Louise Penny (5/5)
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (3/5)
First Lines:
"Hello there," she said.
I looked at the pale, freckled hand on the back of the empty bar seat next to me in the business class lounge at Heathrow Airport, then up into the stranger's face. (The Kind Worth Killing)
"State your name, please."
"Armand Gamache." (Glass Houses)
Even in death the boys were trouble. (The Nickel Boys)
Movies and TV Series:
The Next Three Days - Russell Crowe is very good in this suspenseful film. We enjoyed it.
No Offence - We watched one episode of this series and didn't care enough to continue.
The Laundromat - This was a odd movie. Based on a true story, I thought it was pretty good, but quirky!
The Bankers - Another movie based on a true story, which we enjoyed quite a bit.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette - Cate Blanchett is great, but I didn't love the movie and I'm surprised my husband sat through the entire thing.
1917 - This was quite good, but very intense.
Knives Out - This is probably our favorite of the month. We loved all the twists and the cast was fantastic.
New Tricks - We are just about finished with Season Two and have enjoyed this series, but not enough to continue with the remaining seasons.
Puzzlemania:
Social Distancing:
Gathering together with friends on a weekly basis makes this global pandemic just a little more tolerable. We just need to figure out a way to get back to our Mah Jong games. Outdoors with gloves and masks??
Friday Afternoon Club (formerly the Mah Jong Club)
Be sure to check out the sidebar links for Rod's music videos (posted each Monday) and the new recipes I sampled this past month.
Have a safe and Happy Fourth and please, please, please wear your mask!
Pretty pics! Like the walking path -- how far is that from Portland or Eugene? The puzzles look nice -- the wine one is big. I'm finishing my 2nd pandemic time puzzle these days, almost done / I'll take a pic after. I used to play Mah Jong as a kid / but it's been awhile. We enjoyed Knives Out. I hope you have a nice peaceful 4th. It's getting crazy in some areas of the States ... but I hope Oregon is staying well. take care
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan. We love our small community. We get the benefit of both oceanfront and forest paths. We're about 2 1/2 hours from Portland. Probably the same to Eugene. It takes us 90 minutes to go to Salem or Corvalis (where we shop at Trader Joe's and Costco).
DeleteThe puzzles have been a lot of fun. Since moving in with my mom (3 years ago), we've been doing a lot of puzzles. We just leave them up on the dining room table (leaving space for the three of us at the other end) and work on them at our leisure. I look forward to seeing pictures of the one you've been working on.
Ah, Mah Jong. I love this game. My grandparents taught me (and my siblings and cousins) back in the late 60s. They bought their set in Hong Kong and we play the traditional game (not the one with the cards). I taught three of my friends how to play about a year and a half ago and we're addicted. We try to play every week, but took a break (almost 4 months!) once the pandemic hit. We just played, for the first time since then, outside with facemasks and lots of sanitizer. It was so wonderful!
We're enjoying a very peaceful 4th. Fireworks are not allowed here (we live in a forest!) as they were when we lived in Lincoln. No noise for a week prior and after the 4th. No pollution from all said fireworks. No trash on our sidewalks and streets. It's pretty nice. The birds and squirrels are happy, as are we.
Take good care. Our numbers continue to climb, but we're hunkering down.
Strangely, I've had more trouble "watching" than reading during the last couple of months. It is hard to believe we are half way through the year...and what a year. It is such a shame that your Mah Jong group and others like it have been sidelined, but your substitute seems like a good alternative in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteJenclair, we are watching more tv than ever before. We usually get sucked into a British series, but we also watched a lot of movies this month, which surprised me.
DeleteGuess what?! We played Mah Jong yesterday. Outside with masks and plenty of sanitizer. We all felt very safe and it was great fun. Whoohoo! :)
It's amazing that the months still pass so quickly even though we're not doing all that much! Things are out of control in Florida and we're back to only grocery shopping. So many people here just don't take it seriously. Can't imagine what will happen after this holiday weekend!
ReplyDeleteGlad you can get together weekly with friends, it makes such a difference. We've hosted a few socially distant happy hours with the neighbors... it keeps us all sane. I've been able to read a bit more, but can't seem to watch anything other than news on TV. Trying to limit that, but sometimes I just can't look away.
Happy July!
JoAnn, I'm sure part of it is due to retirement, but the days really do fly past, don't they? I'm sorry Florida is seeing such a surge, but we're trying to stay safe here in Oregon, too. We really don't go anywhere other than my trip to the grocery store. There were so many people in town this holiday weekend and I'm sure our numbers will skyrocket in two weeks. Sigh.
DeleteI'm glad my friends are continuing to shelter-in-place so we can have our little COVID social bubble and get together for visits over drinks and Mah Jong. I'm not really an extrovert, but I can't imagine not seeing anyone other than my husband and mom for the next year or so. I'm glad you're able to get together with neighbors (and your father-in-law), too. I think our tv/movie viewing provides a great escape in the evenings. New Tricks is pretty light, so it's been nice to watch it every night after dinner & dishes. We're ready for something new, though, and may give Bosch a try. We watched Hamilton last night and thought it was very good. Thank goodness for captions, though! ;)
I've gotten behind on my blog reading because we're now in the midst of a remodeling project. Since we're staying put in Florida for a while, we figured we might as well tackle my folks' house and update it. I'm looking forward to being done so that we can just relax and enjoy it! And then I'm hoping to have soothing days like yours. I always enjoy your month-in-review. And I get some good ideas for entertainment! The Laundromat looks like just our kind of film. And I agree with you about Where'd You Go Bernadette...the movie wasn't anywhere near as good as the book (which I loved).
ReplyDeleteLaurel, remodeling your folks' home sounds like a good project during this pandemic. I'll bet it's going to be lovely once you're finished. I hope you'll share some photos on your blog. Thank you for your kind words about these monthly posts. They tend to be fairly lengthy, but I enjoy being able to look back and see what we were doing over the past few years. Stay safe and be well. xo
DeleteI'm sure your walks help keep you in shape! What a wonderful place to go for walks. That's so good that you still get to meet with your friends even if it's with new social distancing norms. I'm going to look for The Next Three Days. Sounds like the kind of movie we'd enjoy. Wasn't Knives Out fantastic? Totally loved that movie. Hope you guys get to go on your trip later this year!
ReplyDeleteIliana, well I'm not losing any weight from all my walking, but I've only gained a pound or two since March, so I guess it's helping since we're eating so many carbs these days! Yes, Knives Out was great! I could watch it again and still enjoy it, even though I know the outcome. We're on a tiny little trip right now. Had to bring the RV over to the dealership in Junction City (which is just north of Eugene), so we're spending a couple of nights in their RV park. It's quite nice and it's nice to have a change of scenery, if only for two days. We'll get out on the road for a real get-away after Labor Day. Counting the days!
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