I can’t believe that it has been more than half a year since we have been dealing with Covid. That said, the days still feel mostly normal. We are being careful, but we also have done some socializing in the last few weeks.
We invited our neighbors, Chloe and Marcus, over for dinner. This was long over-due, as they are our direct neighbors and we have been to their backyard for a few parties. We actually share a fence with them and when we installed our fence, we placed a gate between our backyards, which has been great. They have a gate with our other neighbors, so we can all easily socialize between our yards. It was wonderful to really get to know Marcus and Chloe. We hit the neighbor jackpot by moving to Sterling Ranch.
The next morning, I was quite hung-over, but I crawled out of bed to go with a bunch of women in the neighborhood for a Sunday brunch at Cafe Terracotta in downtown Littleton. This was so much fun. I met new people and had a delicious veggie omelette. Dan had gone golfing with several of the guys in the neighborhood on the previous Friday, so this was the women getting their time out of the house. I couldn’t have imagined that I would have been able to do this during Covid, but our strict state measures have made it feel somewhat safe ( not completely risk free, of course) to have small gatherings and dine out. I appreciate this normalcy, especially as I see that my home state of California is still struggling.
That same day, we were expecting our friends Valerie and Bryan from California for a three-night stay at our house. I had taken Friday off to clean the house and by the time Sunday rolled around, I was frantically doing last minute prep. Since this is Colorado, they got stuck in a snow storm near the ski resorts and didn’t arrive until dinner time. With the house clean, we looked for a “new-to-us” coffee place near our house for a much needed latte break. We discovered Lost Coffee in nearby Castle Rock. It was the perfect fall afternoon treat.
Here I am, waiting for Valerie and Bryan to give us an update. I was a zombie at this point. I can’t remember the last time that I did so much cleaning, so much drinking, or so much socializing.
Valerie and Bryan were here to help their daughter Stephanie move from California to Colorado to live with her boyfriend. They crashed at our house with their dog, Shely. Shely and our cats had a few encounters, but everyone stayed safe. We kept to our work routine, but had dinners together in the evenings, including two meals out- sushi and Italian. On the final night of their trip, they cooked a delicious mac and cheese with the cheese coming from a special creamery in Utah.
We had mentioned wanting to decorate for the fall season with bales of hay. Bryan and Val surprised us with two bales of hay, some decorative dried corn stalks, and a pair of perfect winter gloves for me. It was such a surprise and so nice of them! We have added a few more bales of hay, but we still trying to figure out our fall decor scheme. Here’s a picture of our hay and of the cows in the nearby field.
Tom is cow watching.
And a pretty picture that Dan took of the new houses going up in our neighborhood. The houses are built so quickly that the neighborhood is constantly changing.
We were Boozed! This is a game that has been going around our neighborhood, where you secretly drop a bucket of alcohol on your neighbor’s doorstep and they pay-it-forward. We are 99.9% certain who Boozed us and they created a perfect bucket, with my favorite Swedish cider and even toys for the cats. It was very thoughtful and fun.
I proudly voted for Biden and Harris! Colorado makes voting a breeze with ballots sent by mail and a secure drop box in my neighborhood. I actually noticed a second drop box not more than a few miles from my house. It boggles my mind that some states make it so difficult for people to vote and I’m grateful to live in a state that makes the process simple. Now, I anxiously await the arrival of November 3rd and what follows. I have a terrible feeling that no matter which way the election goes, there will be violence. 2020 has not been easy.
To end on a happy note, here is a cute picture of Tom. Slinky continues to do well, but I haven’t captured any pictures of him in the last few weeks. As you can see, Tom has decided that a wine cork is the best toy. You know he likes a toy when he gives it a wash in his water bowl.
