Day 221- Day 227 The One with all the Feels~ Sad About America

 Life during the pandemic is a roller coaster of emotions.  I've been fortunate to have more ups than downs but that doesn't make me immune.  This week had me feeling pretty low.  To quote one of my favorite bands LulaWiles, "I was sad about America."

First, a friend of a friend posted something that really got under my skin.  She blamed teachers for using kids as pawns in a political game.  This really got to me.  I don't know a single teacher who is doing this.  Teachers aren't the problem here.  Do you want to know why your child isn't in school?  It's because our fearless leader isn't doing a damn thing to control the virus.  You want kids back in school?  Get the virus under control.  Wear a mask.  Make lots and lots of testing available and easy.  Limit gatherings and put in place effective, science based policies.  Teachers around the country are killing themselves (I worked at least ten hours this weekend) to reinvent their practice, to make connections with students and families, and keep kids engaged.  Yes, the Boston Teachers' Union put out an endorsement of Biden/Harris.  That's what unions do.  The BTU didn't close schools.  The administration doesn't feel it's safe to be in school right now.  That's not a political decision.  It's a safety decision.  Teachers are not the enemy and school administrators aren't using children as political pawns.  

Second, Covid numbers are soaring again, even here in Massachusetts.  We had over 1,000 cases yesterday.  The positivity rate is over 5%.  This is not a good sign.  More and more restaurants in our neighborhood have had to close because staff members have tested positive.  Our governor doesn't seem to have a plan for this except closing hockey rinks, which shouldn't have been open in the first place.  JO and I went out and had dinner a few times this week but that's probably it for us.  We've decided to shut things down for a while because it's getting too risky.   The case count in our country is abysmal.  The virus is completely out of control and our president doesn't care at all.  I watched Mark Meadows on CNN today basically say as much.  I can't believe I live in a country that allowed the pandemic to get so out of control.  We couldn't even unite as a country to wear a damn piece of cloth over our faces.  

And tomorrow a woman is going to be confirmed to the Supreme Court who will drastically change the progress of our nation and we can't do anything to stop it because there aren't any republicans with a spine.  (Susan Collins doesn't count- she just doing this for show.)  Women's rights, gay rights, healthcare are all going to change and it just doesn't seem fair, mostly because it's not.  

I'm going to end on a positive.  The strawberry margaritas at Ole are delicious!

My neighborhood looked lovely with the sun shining on these yellow trees!

The latest in fall fashion, patio edition 2020!

We also got to the new Mario Kart game and it is super fun.  It will give us something to do all winter when we are shut in because Covid got out of control again.

Day 213-220- A Return of Some Favorites

The weather was really gorgeous this week, and I made a point to not waste the bonus free time I have this year.  I made sure to enjoy the Inman Patios with some quality coffee and reading time at 1369 Coffee.  It's the perfect spot to enjoy fall in Inman Square.

This week also saw the return of same favorites.  On Thursday the weather was gorgeous so we planned a picnic featuring Hotbox Pizza.  Our plans changed a bit though when we went to pick up our pizza because we saw this table available for us at Remnant Brewing.  The last time we had been to Remnant was in January.  Bow Market has done a great job pivoting to a reservation only system for their tables.  It does take away from the spontaneous nature of the place, but it's much needed now to keep everyone safe.

On Friday, we enjoyed a Passim show.  Even if it was live from my living room, it was so nice to see some live music happening.

We also enjoyed another gorgeous fall night on the patio at Noir in Harvard Square.  They even upgraded their fire towers to heat lamps and it made a huge difference in being able to extend the evening when the temps started dropping a bit.

On our walk home we enjoyed this Halloween display!  

I guess it was a bit of a slow week around here but it was actually really nice to not feel rushed.  

Day 206-212 Goats, Pumpkins, Fall Nights, and Fall Colors!

 Two goats walked into the Finals...

and won yet another championship!  I loved getting to watch Sue, Stewie, and the Storm take home another WNBA Championship!

Later in the week we had another lovely dinner on the patio at Moona.  They recently got heat lamps and we're pretty excited about the extended patio season because neither of us is ready to eat inside a restaurant any time soon.

On Friday night we headed over to Union Square to enjoy dinner at The Independent...

And drinks at the "Brass Lodge" at Brass Union.  I love a good theme and they have absolutely nailed the Twin Peaks theme.  So much so that when the evening was over JO and I fired up Netflix and started watching the series.  I love the creativity that has come out of the pandemic.

On Saturday night we took advantage of the beautiful weather with dinner on the patio at Sulmona.  It's been a long time since we've been here, and even without the beautiful mojitos, it was simply lovely.

Sunday was a delightful fall day. Temps were in the high 50s and the sun was shining, so we decided to have a fun, fall day.  We started with a walk around Fresh Pond.  I'm embarrassed to say I have lived in Cambridge for more than ten years and not taken advantage of this place.  It was a lovely way to start the day!

I extended my time outside with a coffee and a book at 1369.  I love, love, love the Inman Patios and never want them to go anywhere.  

We spotted some more fall fun later in the day at Ricky's Flower Market.

And of course the week was filled with lots of eye rolls, much like this one from Kamala Harris during the VP debate.

What we witnessed last week by this administration was just pathetic.  Our president's Evita stunt on the balcony, the crazy tweeting, the complete rejection of science, the reckless behavior putting innocent people around him in jeopardy was just plain embarrassing.   VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE! 

Day 200-205 Anniversary Fun and Trump Has Covid!

Seriously.  Each week seems crazier than the one before it, because it is!  

Let's start with the great stuff!  This week we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary.  We always do the same thing on our anniversary~ we get drinks at the Kendall Hotel, where we got engaged, and dinner at The Commander Hotel where we got married.

This year, it looked slightly different.  The Kendall Hotel isn't open for drinks so we spent some time on the deserted patio reminiscing about our engagement.  I'm glad we kept up this part of our tradition, even if they weren't open.  Then we headed over to The Commander to have dinner at Nubar.  Each year since our wedding we've had our picture taken in the lobby.  That really wasn't an option so we grabbed a selfie outside and found our seats on the patio.  Nubar has done an awesome job with its patio. It's beautifully decorated and very well spaced out.  They even have acoustic music on Wednesdays and Thursdays!  And the food was just delicious, as always!  It was a lovely way to spend our anniversary and a night out in the city.

On Friday, we continued our anniversary celebration by renting out The Brattle Theater to watch the movie we saw there on our first date.  It was so fun to be in the theater all by ourself, to be in a theater again, and to watch Asphalt Jungle on the big screen!  JO also surprised me with roses from The Brattle Florist, which also holds a special place in our relationship.

After the movie we headed over to Noir to enjoy some drinks and snacks on their patio.  The host saw my big box of flowers and asked if we were celebrating something.  It was really nice of the staff to treat us to a dessert plate and drinks to end the night. 

We also caught some live streaming shows by some of our favorite artists.  It was so nice to hear Mark Erelli and Lula Wiles singing live again.

Today, we headed up to New Hampshire to check out the leaves.  We hiked Gunstock Mountain, our favorite easy, day hike!  The leaves were lovely and it was nice to get away from all of the news.

And as we watch cases in Massachusetts rise dramatically, news broke Friday morning that Trump has Covid.

I don't want anyone to be sick.  I don't wish illness or death on anyone but his reckless behavior, his flaunting of rules, has now put our country at risk.  He put innocent people, like the reporters, at risk.  He's been saying for months the virus is over, we're turning the corner.  Well guess what?  The virus turned the corner, and walked right into the White House, where their only safety protocol is a rapid test that is only 70% accurate and doesn't detect people who are asymptomatic.  Seriously, my pizza shop has more safety protocols in place than the damn White House and that's just sad.  The president of Notre Dame has Covid after he went to a large gathering and didn't wear a mask, something students at his school have been disciplined for.  I'm so sick of the blatant disregard for rules.  You had to wear a mask to sit in the audience on Tuesday.  Trump's family didn't wear them.  You had to show up early to get a Covid test, Trump didn't.  He got on a plane on Thursday and attended a fundraising event fully knowing Hope Hicks had just been diagnosed.