COVID-19 Doldrums

Another week past in the COVID-19 shutdown.  Alex, you're now wearing a mask to work at Gerrity's (yeah!).  A batch of disposable, anti-viral masks that I ordered 2 months ago arrived this week.  I'm so glad you, of all of us, have them since you're at the greatest risk working in a grocery store.  Starting on Monday, Gerrity's will require all customers and employees to wear masks.  That is a relief.  It feels like this shutdown will Never end, though in fact we are so lucky to be healthy and not have young children at home (which creates the huge challenge of taking care of them and working, as many of my friends at Prudential are doing).  Federal and state leaders are just starting to plan for re-opening, but that certainly won't be for a while (testing must be readily accessible - seems like the Mohegan Sun Arena may be a drive-in testing site).

Rob, you hear that Wyoming Area will begin instruction on new material by the end of the month.  That will be great, as life is getting quite boring.  On a related note, SATs have been cancelled through June (however, College Board indicates there will be plenty of testing opportunities in the fall).  One super good thing happened this week...  Mr. Butler, a WA guidance counselor, let us know that Wyoming Area nominated you for a University of Rochester award for high school juniors - the Fredrick Douglass Award.  This is so exciting!  We are SO proud of you!!  On the University website, I found information about the award program including this description:

Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award

• Demonstrated commitment to understanding and addressing difficult social issues
• Leadership and dedication to community action
• Strong grades and rigorous courses taken in the humanities and social sciences

One more unique event of the week (a "first")....  Grandad and Aunt Julie organized an Easter Vigil via Zoom on Sunday morning, including music that Julie played (french horn and piano).  It worked fine with one person speaking, but didn't synchronize well with everyone talking or singing together.  Alex, you went fishing at Harvey's Creek from 6:30 on, and Rob you were not up by 9 so missed it.  Really enjoyed seeing my whole family, which included Uncle John, Aunt Fran and the boys from Doha as well as Meghan, Anthony and Julian from Phoenixville.  Noel and Larson looked great (Noel read a lesson so clearly) and Julian of course is adorable - waved at everyone and said "Uh Oh" for good measure.  I have been thinking all week about how I can contribute more to my community, prompted by this one sentence prayer from the conclusion of the service:  "Pray that we may have grace to glorify Christ in our own day."

The weather has been cool and on the rainy side this week, which has contributed to being in the doldrums (no walks around West Pittston).  Rob, we went driving on Thursday night and hit a massive pothole on Wyoming Ave. in Forty Fort - which amazingly, Steve had hit driving the Silverado on Wednesday night.  The truck came through unscathed, but the Maxima immediately had a completely flat tire.  We called AAA - thankfully, I have not yet changed a tire - and the donut spare was on in about 45 minutes.  Now the car at Jack Williams for tire repair...  waiting to hear how bad the damage is.  On top of that, today Steve and I were supposed to see Fiddler on the Roof at the Scranton Cultural Center - but the show has been cancelled.

Alex, you've mentioned that "Dad Music" is playing on the speakers at Gerritys all the time.  Well, this song probably falls under that category since the Bee Gees are a band from my younger years.  They are world famous, and this week I discovered a contemplative song performed beautifully in concert by Robin Gibb.  It was 1989, when he was 39 years old (I was 24).  I just know this is going to be a favorite song I'll enjoy on YouTube for a long time to come.