This past year of pandemic lockdowns and social distancing has left many of us missing our family and friends. For the safety of our elderly parents, they have often been the most isolated. John and I are very fortunate to still have all 4 of our parents living – some in the same house and others not too far away. Living with John’s parents this past year has been wonderful – we often comment on the fact that we both love our parents and in-laws. We share dinner duties and always sit down together for our evening meal. So far, reports are they they enjoy having us here as well. My mother lives in a small assisted living residence on the other side of town. She was in complete lockdown for quite a while last year – not everyone was happy with that, but no one in the residence got sick. Visits to her were from the sidewalk looking up to her second story window. Then we graduated to scheduled short visits in the garden for the summer, moving indoors for the winter. Now that the nice weather has returned, and residents have been vaccinated, we can have spontaneous visits in the garden – still being careful to wear masks and keep to 6′ apart. My dad lives in NH, and while video calls are nice, we hadn’t seen him in person since late last summer. Once he was 2 weeks post final vaccine, I decided it was time for a visit – and we could bring our bedroom and bathroom with us!
Dad was a great campground host! We had a nice spot under the trees and even had an electrical hookup. His road is really quiet at night, and the only thing that kept me awake one night was a pair of owls chatting overhead.
The weather was great, and we helped do a bit of yard work. Dad has a big milestone birthday coming up this summer (divisible by 9 and 10), but he still keeps very active outdoors. We let him get started on the tilling for his flowerbeds, but then John took over to finish up (fun for both of them). We hear there will be hollyhocks all along the front of the house.
Once the tilling was complete, John and I took a break to sit and admire the work, only to turn around and see dad raking the debris from his stone wall. Back to work! This time we got to drive the John Deere mower with dump trailer – worth all the work! Now he has the cleanest stone walls in town!
When we weren’t working in the yard, dad has lots of toys to play with. This weekend it was cameras. We did take a walk over to Copp’s Pond, but there wasn’t anyone close enough for a picture. There were a lot of mergansers and a few geese way out in the pond. It can be a great spot for bird and turtle sightings, but some days they don’t show up at the same time as you.
Close to home, the bird feeders are a constant source of photo ops. We had 3 kinds of woodpeckers at the same time! Here’s a shot I took with one of the cool cameras, testing out the back button focus feature – great for setting the focus and then waiting for your prey subject to arrive.
Our Scamp is proving to be a great acquisition – easy to hook up, super easy to tow, and getting more and more comfortable as we learn how to live in it. We’ve done a bunch of quick weekend trips, and never feel like it’s a lot of work. Our next planned outing is our first fiberglass camper (egg) rally in May. It will be fun to meet up with other owners and share stories and ideas. It will also be our longest stay in one spot, so we’ll break out all of our outdoor amenities and settle in for a long weekend. Stay tuned…