Welcome to Weddings in the Time of COVID

 This past month, I participated in two weddings. For one I attended in person as a bridesmaid. For the other, I was able to watch the ceremony via a Zoom video link. 

I was equally thrilled to attend both. 

I've seen a number of my friends celebrate major mile stones on Facebook recently. I've seen posts about engagements, marriages, baby showers, major birthdays, graduations, and, unfortunately, even a few funerals. Some of these events are in-person, some are only over the internet, others are a mix.

The wedding I attended in person was outside and everyone (except the bride, groom, and officiant) wore masks the entire time. We were able to dance, but, again, masks were always on and we kept our distances. The favors included hand sanitizer and another mask. 

No flowers were thrown. Sparklers couldn't be lit. But the wedding planner provided everyone a stick with colored ribbon to wave as the bride and groom left the ceremony. It still felt like a normal wedding, just with a lot less people and a few minor changes that Instagram or Pinterest might list as a new wedding trend.

Which a lot of this might become. 

Weddings (well any event really) can be expensive and a lot of personalities can cause unnecessary drama. Only allowing a limited number of people at the actual event would likely help the happy couple out a lot. 

Attending a wedding ceremony via Zoom is also really nice. 

I felt included and honored to be a part of my friend's big day. I'll admit that the lack of stress trying to get to the wedding on time was really nice (I've been late to many weddings, coming in just as the bride walks down the isle). Certainly, I'll miss seeing them in person, but I can call them later and mail them a present.

I did something similar for a baby shower I was invited to (though there I was having some technical difficulties and missed most of it).

We as a society want things to go back to "normal" - whatever that means to you - but the reality is, "normal" isn't coming back any time soon. We likely adopt some of these new practices for future events (especially the Zoom stream option).

It's good for us to have these celebrations, even if there are a number of limitations. 

Many years into the future, we'll be sitting down with the next generation or the one after that and looking at our old Facebook timelines when a memory will annoyingly pop up. The kids will see the pictures and they might ask us why everyone at the wedding was wearing fancy masks that covered their mouth and nose. And we'll tell them about the virus that stopped the world in it's tracks and likely changed the course of history.

These pictures are going to end up in history books. They'll be right next to the ones showing the doctors and nurses working hard to save lives. Adjacent to the protestors in masks marching in the streets demanding justice and change. Below the ones of long lines at the polling stations. 

COVID-19 isn't the end of our way of life, but a new beginning that allows new adaptations when we are faced with the toughest of times.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to Lawn Signs

Lawns have long been a place for self expression in the areas I grew up in. Holidays like Halloween and Christmas always had people out doing each other to see who could have the best decorations. Year round, I knew plenty of Catholics who had a statue of the mother virgin in their front yard. People hang flags, do amazing landscaping, and will put up political signs near election time. 

This year, political signs are everywhere. And no wonder, it's a controversial time in the USA. Which brings me to the reason I write this post.

This is a story about two neighbors - well, maybe three or more - and their epic battle of political rivalry using lawn signs.

Sorry guys, for safety sake, no actual pictures of the houses will be shown.

The Saga Begins in Mid-September...

Since moving back to Virginia, I have been driving Lewinsville Road quite a bit to visit my dad. It is on this suburban street - used to avoid Tysons Corner - that we have the prime example of political rivalry and epic pettiness. 

While driving, I would check out the neighborhood and fantasize about owning a home there (something I am extremely unlikely to achieve, even with a more modest house). 

I noticed these two houses early in my travels. Trump flags in Northern Virginia are a rare sight and this one was next to a house with a peace gay pride flag. 

My first thought was: they must get along swell. (Please note the sarcasm)

And for months after, that's all I thought about the two houses.

The September rolled around and political signs for our upcoming election begin popping up everywhere. The house with the Trump flag invests in one of those giant Trump/Pence signs that takes up half their tiny front yard. 

I was unsurprised by this, however my interest became piqued when the next week, the next door neighbors had moved their peace gay pride flag from the pole by the front door to hang from one of their trees right by the road, lit up with fairy lights.

An update on my thoughts: this might get interesting. 

Another week goes by and the giant Trump/Pence sign is vandalized (it's not the only one in this area). The Trump House - as I've taken to mentally calling it - puts up a dozen or so smaller lawn signs. Some say Trump/Pence, others are for one of the other Republican candidates on the ballot, and two handmade signs with arrows pointing at the giant sign saying: "is this law and order?"

The neighbors, at this point, seem to have had enough. They buy a dozen or so small signs for Biden/Harris to stick all over their front lawn. They also add more fairy lights.

As Halloween Draws Near...

It's now getting to be that point in October where most houses have Halloween decorations up. I must admit, the people in Mclean are fantastic decorators (can't wait to see what they do for Christmas). But between the humongous spiders and blowup ghouls are a few lawn signs thrown in for flavor.

Except at these two houses, who have now completely covered their lawns with political signs. The Trump House continues to have problems with vandals - though I notice that the smaller signs get replaced after awhile. The giant one continues to stand, spray paint addition et all.

This past week, I noticed two hilarious additions to the displays. The first isn't all that glamourous, but it did cause me to start giggling. The other next door neighbor to the Trump House put up their own handmade sign reading: "Republicans for Biden". It's got little blue and red stars dancing around the border. 

However, the truly magnificent addition to all this is a newly erected giant Biden/Harris sign that towers over the tagged Trump/Pence one. It's up on stilts and at the top of each is a pink flamingo looking right over the Trump House's.

It's amazing. Truly a chef's kiss.

Three Weeks Until...

We are three weeks from the election and I have no idea if things will continue to happen around these two houses. However, once the flamingos went up, I knew I had to tell this tale to you my readers. 

For this isn't just a tale of the political landscape in America (though it totally is), but the lengths people will go to out do each other in the most petty of ways.

If there are any developments in this on going saga, I will try to provide an update. 

In the mean time...stay safe, stay sane, and laugh as much as you can.

If you enjoyed this post, or it really pissed you off, please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to Reoccurring Dreams

We all know about the most common dreams people have. The ones buzzfeed and other clickbait sites like to use for their top ten lists. They usually include flying, teeth falling out, or being late to an exam for a class I’ve never taken a day of. Sometimes you’ll be somewhere having fun and suddenly realize that you have no clothes on.

I have my own set of reoccurring dreams...and one that has only recently started.

Like in the top tens list, I get the ones where my teeth fall out (with the added bonus of my braces stilling being in and wire jutting out from my mouth). I’ve had the ones where I have no clothes in a public place (those aren’t that traumatic for me). I’ve even been late for an exam or two for classes I’ve never attended a day of. 

The more common ones aren’t too worrisome. Even my dream self is typically more confused than scared or anxious. There’s always one or two details just off enough that, even asleep, I know aren’t really happening. Take for example the teeth dream. I’ll start losing my teeth, while I have my braces and still attending university. The wrong detail - I didn’t wear braces in university, only high school.

However, it’s the dreams that I don’t hear about other people having that I find most distressing. Maybe I’m the only one who has dreams like these or maybe they’ll start to become more common as time keeps moving forward.

My most common reoccurring dream is probably having weird things happen while I’m driving my car. For example, I might be driving and suddenly the light changes to red, but the breaks won’t work and I’ll slide right through the intersection no matter how much I want to stop. My dream self will cringe away, ready to be hit by another car. Nothing bad ever happens.

A similar dream involving cars has me either in a passenger seat or driving two cars at the same time - one behind the other with me in the second car. I hate this one because my body might float away and I’ll still be in control of the car and have to drive it without crashing. Sometimes I can’t see where the car is, but I know it’s general location and do my best to steer it from wherever my body was left.

I hate these dreams.

I feel like I’ve lost control of the situation and terrible things are about to happen - which is probably why I’m having these dreams in the first place.

I’m curious if other people have dreams like this - especially where they get to drive a car Mario Kart style while in a separate car. 

Or if more people will have weird dreams about driving their cars if/when self driving cars become more common.

My latest reoccurring dream is directly related to these trying times and has only recently started. I’ll be out and about, sometimes on a tour, other times in a store and suddenly everyone but me will have a mask on. I’ll freak out and start looking for my mask. Or the people around me will start telling me off because I’m inconsiderate of the others (especially elderly) around me.

I wonder if our generation will start having this dream more and more until it becomes one of the top reoccurring dreams. How long will the pandemic last and how many generations might have this or a similar dream?

Have you, my reader, have had this dream? What about any of the others I mentioned. Let me know in the comments.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Welcome to the October Surprise

 Are y'all as exhausted as I am from this past week. The nomination for the new supreme court justice was announced, taxes were released, a debate happened, I got endless joy from the phrase "just shut up man", key people in the current presidential administration came down with coronavirus, and that's just what's been written in the headlines. This week has been insane...and I'm just plain exhausted. 

We are less than a month away from the election.

Are you registered to vote?

Yes, I am. Please stop asking me Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and all the other social media platforms that don't have an "off switch" button for these pop-ups. I feel for the users under the age of 18 (and lied about their age) and the non-citizens who can't opt out of them. No one needs to be reminded a million times about an election they can't participate in. 

The polls all say this, that, and another thing.

None of it matters. Four years ago we were all being told that Hillary Clinton was going to win the election - that didn't happen. 

To be fair, the October Surprise for that election was the report from the FBI. A report that kind of went no where and hasn't stopped anyone else from doing the same thing. 

If you haven't ever heard of the October Surprise, it refers to a last minute event that throws a huge curveball into the US election season (seeing as we vote the first Tuesday of November). It began as a conspiracy theory during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979 that ended with the hostages' release the same day Regan was inaugurated. The majority of the events that enabled the safe return of the hostages occurred in October 1980 - right before the election. 

I think we've had almost a full week of October Surprises...more than most elections anyway (even 2016). 

Me. It was me.

I'm not surprised, though, that the president caught The Rona. I'm not happy, sad, feeling schadenfreude, or any other emotion that's been shared the past few days. If anything, I am indifferent to the situation. He's been acting so reckless that it was inevitable that the president and those who surround him would catch the virus. 

I still feel nothing.

I don't even feel like this is an "I told you so" type of situation. 

I think I'm too exhausted. 

Life is kicking my butt right now. It's kicking a lot of people's butts right now. I won't go into details. I'm uninterested in putting my whole life on the Internet. Needless to say, that when I do read the latest headlines and watch the most buzz worthy clips, it's with the intention of keeping myself informed while I have a blank expression on my face. 

Fires are still raging in the west. Corona virus has killed more than 200,000 Americans (over a million deaths world wide). Climate change is still happening. My cat bit me this morning because she didn't have any water in her water bowl.

"It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine."

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until the next surprise next week.

Welcome to Knowing Where You Are..

… And How to Get Where You Are Going

For people outside of the DC area, they might not be familiar with a somewhat hidden parkway that stretches from Mclean in the North to Mt. Vernon in the South. This is the George Washington Parkway - known as the GW by nearly all locals. It's part of the national park service, and it's the only access point to see Teddy Roosevelt's memorial on Roosevelt Island. There are dozens of places to turn off and see Washington DC from across the river (nearly all of which require you to be driving north to access). And the Potomac Heritage Trail hugs one side of the parkway - with plenty of pedestrian crosswalks to further annoy the local drivers. 

If GPSs didn't exist, I doubt anyone but locals would drive the GW. Or at least any sane tourist would try to stay clear of it. 

See the GW has very few street lights, and even few signs to tell you where you are or where you're going. Road markers are pretty much non-existent. The signs that are on there, aren't well lit and are only useful if you already know where they are located - otherwise, you're doomed to miss your exit.

Basically, people should only drive the GW if they know where they are and where they are going. 

There have been dozens of times were it was pure luck that I got to my exit. There have been just as many times where I have zoomed right passed where I needed to go and been known the wiser until I hit 495 (it meets up the GW in the north and south). 

And remember how I mentioned that you'd need a GPS to navigate it. Well, that's only have true. See there are a couple of exits so bat s%!t insane, that I've made it a habit of ignoring my GPS in favor of taking one of the other "hidden" roads that circle the Pentagon to my destination. This particularly awful bit of directions happens most often when you want to go from the GW to Rout 1, but have to jump on 395 and cross 5 lanes of traffic in under a quarter of a mile to pull this off. My dad likes to curse the Penn State traffic engineers who were hired to create this monstrosity. I've learned to take the Memorial Bridge Exit (which, again, only exists if you know about it because the sign is hidden behind the bridge), hop on 101, and then hope to merge onto Rout 1 instead of ending up on 395 North.

The GPS won't tell you to do any of this. 

This analogy is relevant, I promise. 

I've thought I was at this life stage before. The one where I think I know where I am and where I might be going. However, life loves to throw me some mean curve balls and I sometimes pass an exit without known I have. I've also come up to an exit without knowing it and have had to cross four lanes of traffic, hoping against all hope that the skills I learned driving in New Jersey will get me safely off the highway.

Because life isn't exactly like a highway (no matter what Meatloaf might sign). You, me, and the guy next door whom you've maybe seen twice probably don't know where they are. We think we do, but the mile marker we were hoping for, disappeared from the side of the road. There's no GPS and the map is at least ten years out of date. 

There are very few lights on the GW. It's overgrown with trees and vines that look beautiful when it's full bloom in spring, but creepy as all get out on a foggy night in November. The roads haven't been paved in forever and there have been a couple of times I've been worried about going over the bridges. And don't forget the pedestrians. 

Anyone new to the area, should stick away from the GW unless they have a lot of time on their hands. 

However, that doesn't mean it's not a beautiful road to travel. It's a little slice of nature in an otherwise built up area. I always feel a little disconnected from the real world as I'm traversing under the thick trees. There are amazing views of Georgetown, the monuments, and the capital that seem almost unreal. 

Which again, is a lot like the many stages of life. Its intimidating, confusing, but also beautiful. 

One day, I hope the parkway is repaved where I hop on at the Chain Bridge. Right now, I keep worrying that a pot hole might finally take out one of my tires (or a bumper). Or maybe they'll build a few more pedestrian friendly bridges. I'm always worried a pedestrian will step out into the parkway crosswalk at the wrong time (like at twilight or dawn).

The George Washington Parkway is a lot of fun to drive, but caution must be taken and it's best to know what you are doing. Don't take the 395 South exit if you want to go down Route 1. Most exits are on the right hand side, unless you want to take 66 from the north, then be in the left most lane before Memorial Bridge.

And stop at one of the scenic pull offs or parks. They're worth visiting.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to the Fall of 2020

 Fall starts on Tuesday. That's the equinox. 

In my area, the weather is already cooling down and the air has that rich smoked meat and wood sent that I closely associate with home.

Last week, I was a little ticked off when I wrote my blog post. I still am. Thankfully, things are getting better in the Northwestern United States and my family is out of danger. As fire season dies down, we'll have to start preparing for 2021, though it's probably already too late for that. 

We're also at Tropical Storm Beta in the north Atlantic. It's also going to hit Louisiana - along with Texas. Teddy and Wilfred are also still hanging out in the ocean. Two more storms are likely to form. Peak hurricane season continues until mid-October.

Fall can represent the later years of a person's life. Some people might associate that with dying (they're not wrong). Trees loose their leaves. A lot of animals go into hibernation or die because it gets too cold. The days are short and the nights turn long. These patterns are eerie and foreboding.

But there's another side of fall. 

Fall is the time of the harvest. Where all the hard work of Spring and Summer pay off and there is an abundance of food to share. People want to celebrate with their communities in the Fall with festivities like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Bond fires are frequent and who doesn't love to snuggle up to someone on a cool night with a hot drink to share. 

However, to have a good harvest, the right conditions and hard work need to be done. Luck plays a part of it too. Crops can fail even for the best farmers. But even with bad weather, the community can still prosper if they plan right and are willing to make some hard choices to benefit everyone.

This harvest season hasn't started off the most positive. 

On Friday, the world lost one of the most iconic women of this age. The loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is tough. I feel both saddened and fearful for a future without her. She was one of those people who seemed invincible. 

RBG may be gone, but she won't be forgotten. She continues to inspire those who wish to take action. 

The season has only just begun and I find myself dreading it's end. A lot can happen in three short months. A lot can change. 

What we do this fall with have consequences for many more falls to come. Like a farmer who needs to prepare for the next Spring's planting, we have to be ready for what nature has in store for us. If we don't have politicians and leadership that can prepare for more violent storms and wild fires, then more people will be in harms way. If we don't address the social hurts of society, we will grow further divided. 

The harvest has begun, but it is not the time to rest. The future is within reach and our actions now will mold it for better or worse. 

I hope you, my readers are staying safe. 

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Nature's Fury

 So if you guys haven't noticed, the western coast of America is on fire. 

Right now, my family out there is relatively safe. Though one of the major evacuation routes has been cut off by the fires, air quality is beyond poor, and every picture I see looks apocalyptic. Things, of course, could be worse. There could be a major Earthquake or storm to also hit that coast and really mess things up for the people living there. 

I mean it's not like the pandemic is making things any easier. 

To add insult to injury, it has been confirmed that at least one of these fires was started because someone needed explosives to announce their child's genitalia. I honestly feel that the judge for this case needs to throw the book at them. Though it probably won't do much to help stop this stupidity.

I get that climate change and protecting the environment are touchy subjects for some people. Sure, climate change is a natural occurrence that has been recorded throughout history. However, humans are definitely not helping the situation (see my earlier note about the fire). One could argue that since humans are a part of nature that this is still a natural thing to happen to the Earth.

Heck, this isn't even really the end of the world, just everything living on it.

Am I sounding bitter or annoyed? 

That's because I am. Since the I've been around, environmentalism and taking care of the Earth have been major messages in the media. I grew up watching shows like Captain Planet and Bill Neigh the Science Guy. Movies like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer even reference the issue un-ironically. 

We're just now starting to really see the consequences of not doing enough. I mean there are four major storm systems currently hanging out in the North Atlantic with another three on deck. Oh and the west coast of the United States is on FIRE.

Wait...wasn't Australia also on fire earlier this year?

The pandemic's cause my sense of time to warp so badly, it feels like the past nine months have actually been a full decade. Yes, Australia was also on FIRE at the beginning of 2020 and might go up in flames again in 2021.

To quote one of my favorite Broadway musicals: "it ain't right and it ain't natural."*

It's great that we're teaching kids about climate change because the kids really are the ones leading the charge for change. Greta Thunberg might be the most well known climate rights activist child, but also Jamie Margolin, Mari Copeny (also known as Little Miss Flint), and Xiye Bastida (to name a very few). 

We'll listen to these kids, maybe give them a high-five for a job well done, but are the adults in the room doing anything productive?

Not really.

Because it's all about the money y'all and a lot of very wealthy people have their money tied to how things are right now. 

Again, I'm a little annoyed that there is still a debate about what to do about the environment. I mean it's not like we're facing crisis after crisis that has ties to climate change. 

Oh wait we are.

Fires, flooding, massive storms, A PANDEMIC, crop failures, murder hornets (whatever happened to that plot point anyway), and messed up seasons all have ties to environmental factors. We're seeing what happens when you ignore scientists for 50 years.

And for the people who think that God will keep the Earth as it is for another couple of millennia, I would like to point you back to the book of Genesis where it clearly states that the big guy told Adam and Eve to take care of the Earth.

But what do I know?

It's not like I've been on social media and seen pictures of a post-apocalyptic sky hanging over California, Oregon, and Washington. It's not like every couple of days another 1000 people pass away from a disease we barely understand. It's not like Louisiana isn't partially destroyed or anything with another hurricane on the way.

Also, there was an Earthquake in Jersey recently...weird right?

We only have 3 and a half more months to get through this year. Things can still get worse and the only thing we can do is prepare the best we can. Have a "go" bag ready with essential items like bottled water and a first aide kit. Make sure you have an emergency route planned out. Don't forget your pets!

2020 ain't over yet.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me. 

*The musical in question is: Hadestown. I can't recommend it enough.