Several things

We have done a number of special things over the past few days. Sunday afternoon we finally got to a poetry group session after more than a year of absence. They are. held at Kathy and Tom's house and this one was held out under the big trees, with appropriate distance between chairs. Couples could sit together. There were ten of us in all, and the theme was Lost and Found, which proved to be a rich theme for bringing out  good poems. We take turns reading a poem out loud and sharing our reactions to it. A poem often kicks off an intense discussion.

Our hosts, Tom and Kathy

Mary Alice and Peter Amidon, and Will Danforth

Admiring Kathy's beautiful garden

Monday morning I  arranged for four of us - Shawn Bracebridge (our Dummerston Church pastor), Eliza Bergh, Ellen and myself - to sing hymns for a couple of members of the Dummerston church who are residents of a long-term care facility in Brattleboro, Thompson House.  Althea is a sprightly 93 years old. Not sure of Fran's age, but they both very much appreciated our coming. There were fairly strict protocols to observe (Thompson House has had no COVID-19 cases thus far and they want to keep it that way).  The four of us were outside the fence surrounding a patio where Fran and Althea (and a few others) were gathered in wheel chairs. We were a good twenty feet away from them, and we observed social distance from each other. We did not wear masks while we sang - that seemed unnecessary.  We were competing with an air conditioning unit somewhere behind us, so we had to sing fairly loud to be heard, and unison singing seemed more effective than 4-part harmony. It was a lovely day, and I think we brought some light and spirit into their lives - being locked down in a nursing home for weeks with virtually no visitors is no fun!

Fran and Althea at Thompson House

Shirley's nephew, Jim Harris, her brother Ladd's son who is now retired and living in New Jersey, sent me an old video that had been taken at Lake Winnepesaukee, NH about 60+ years ago. It features Shirley and me, Betsey as  a babe in arms, Shirley's dad, and Jim's family -- his siblings and his dad.  I was able to access the video through Google Drive. It brought back a lot of memories.

Betsey with Grandpa Harris

Me with Betsey and Jim

Shirley with Betsey

Then Monday evening, John and Cynthia came over for an early supper on the deck. We are really enjoying our deck this summer! Ellen made a beautiful platter of cold vegetables (which, sadly, I forgot to take a picture of!). Topped off with ice cream and strawberry/rhubarb sauce. A perfect summer evening meal.

Ellen showing Cynthia and John her little squash garden she has started.

Tuesday evening we had our final River Singers rehearsal via Zoom. No more until fall - so that was a little sad, but we enjoyed singing and now on Tuesday evenings we can rejoin the Dummerston Church Zoom sessions. Today, Wednesday, we came down to Shutesbury to spend time keeping Brendon company while Savanna is having back surgery and Katie is at the hospital. Savanna was having problems with numbness in her hands and arms, and the surgery is to free up some vertebrae. We just got a report that the operation lasted longer than expected but the doctor was pleased. Savanna will spend the night there to make sure she can do everything she needs to be able to do before she comes home.