My new car- a Mini Cooper Countryman with four doors and enough room for all three grandsons- is finally built and is being shipped as we speak. Hopefully, I will have it by next month. The bad news is I might not have any grandsons to ride around in it. More on that later.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Ferris Beuller

I do have something to look forward to and that’s a trip to Disney World with Wyatt and Zeke. It was Wyatt’s Birthday gift two years ago, at which time he picked his Mom to be his special guest. The trip was set for April 2020, then the Pandemic hit, the trip was delayed and now A.J. has little Phoenix in tow; Disney with a seven-month-old baby is a whole different (not always Magical!) experience, so Bop and Gigi will be taking Wyatt (hopefully in my new car) in early December. We’re staying at Animal Kingdom and I’m excited!

Zeke and I had really yummy grilled lamb chops, from Wild Fork, for our Sunday dinner last weekend. To go with it, I tried a Grilled Summer Squash and Red Onion with Feta recipe from Bon Appetit. It flips the switch on marinating, by grilling the veggies first and then dousing them with the marinade, thereby letting the flavors in the marinade soak into the vegetables, instead of getting steamed off. I served couscous to round out the meal; it was delicious.

Grilled Summer Squash and Red Onion with Feta

Recipe by Bon AppetitCourse: Side DishCuisine: GrillingDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

100

kcal

15 minutes to 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for grill

• 1 garlic clove, finely grated

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar

• 4 medium summer squash and/or zucchini, cut lengthwise 1/4″ thick
  

• 1 medium red onion, cut through root end into 8 wedges
  

• 2 bay leaves

• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

• 8 oz. feta, crumbled into large pieces
  

• 4 banana peppers from a jar, thinly sliced crosswise

• Generous pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

• Prepare a grill for medium-high heat; lightly oil grate. Whisk garlic, vinegar and 1/2 cup oil in small bowl to combine; set marinade aside.
• Toss squash, onion, bay leaves on a rimmed baking sheet with remaining 3 Tbsp. oil to coat; season generously with salt and pepper.
• Arrange squash and onion on grate. Grill squash, undisturbed, until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes.
• Turn over and grill on second side until tender and starting to release liquid, about 2 minutes. Transfer squash back to baking sheet.
  
• Grill onion, turning occasionally, until tender and charred around the edges, about 5 minutes. Transfer back to baking sheet.
• Arrange squash, onion, bay leaves and feta on a rimmed platter and pour reserved marinade over.
• Scatter banana peppers on top and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
• Let sit at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving.

Recipe Video

Notes

• I substituted pepperoncini for banana peppers.

The grilled vegetables went onto a simple sandwich I made the next day. I heated up a small flour tortilla in a cast iron pan, smeared it generously with softened goat cheese and topped that with the warm grilled vegetables, fresh cilantro sprigs and some middle eastern hot sauce. This was a perfect and delicious light lunch and I loved the idea of re-purposing those vegetables!

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.

Calvin Trillin

Tuesday night was my Book Club meeting. The book we read- The Great Circle– was 608 pages! It was a good book, which interwove two story lines about a Female Aviator and an actress who is playing her in a movie. After reading about the daring feats of Marian Graves and how she fixed and flew her own planes and became a bush pilot in Alaska, I decided the least I could do is learn how to drive our boat- ‘Bout Time- a bit. So, when we went out on the boat the other day, I told Zeke to let me start the engine and pilot it, which I did for a while. Then, I got bored with it and turned it back over to Zeke. Next lesson: Docking!

I had a delicious Beet and Lentil Salad at Zucca in Coral Gables for lunch recently, which I tried to replicate to bring to the Book Club meeting. The salad had two different beets- red and yellow- in it, so I tried two methods of cooking them. The first, I roasted in the oven in aluminum foil. The second I boiled on the stove. I much preferred the roasting, although the red juice did leak out the top of the foil, so place it on a cookie sheet when roasting. The boiling method achieved a cleaner taste and smoother beet, but it took a LONG time. I saved the beet juice from the boiled beet to make a smoothie with and added the tops from the beets in it as well. I even pickled the stems to use as a garnish. Waste not, want not!

The Beluga (black) lentils for the salad were hard to locate. They were small, black and did actually look like caviar! I ended up just getting the French Green Lentils from Whole Foods bulk area. To assemble the salad, I plopped down some Spring Mix on a plate, sprinkled on the lentils, sliced beets, crumbled feta cheese. and toasted hazelnuts. I brought a homemade orange vinaigrette to dress it. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it went well with the poached salmon and quinoa hostess Sumita prepared for dinner. Only half of us finished the book, but we all finished our dinners; it was nice to see everyone.

The Easy White Chili (see previous post) made an simple lunch, when paired with a quesadilla filled with sauteed mushrooms, red onions and cheddar cheese. On Thursday night, I roasted some Butternut Squash on a sheet pan with Chicken and Apple Sausage, with some sliced green apple on the baking sheet, as well. Although I find cutting hard squash a little intimidating, once I peeled it, it was pretty easy to slice in half, remove the seeds (I roasted them) and cut into 1″ chunks. I tossed the chunks in olive oil, fresh thyme, salt and cayenne pepper and roasted it at 375 for about 25 minutes. I roasted the squash about 15 minutes, before adding the sausage. Chicken sausage tends to dry out quicker than pork and I didn’t want it to shrivel up. Since it’s already cooked, it’s simply a matter of heating it up. A nice, easy, Fall meal!

The Roasted Butternut Squash turned out delicious, but the next day, I didn’t want it again, so put it into a pot, covered it with chicken broth and simmered it about 10 minutes, until the squash was tender. I added some curry powder, a 1/2 cup of apple cider and blended it into a puree for soup. I topped it with sour cream and butternut squash seeds and it made for a light and healthy lunch. I had it again for lunch the next day, but this time with the sliced sausage, for a heartier soup. I love when leftovers can be transformed into something different!

Thursday, when my babysitting gig with Phoenix fell through, I relished the idea of a whole day to myself and getting a lot of things done. A.J. asked if I wanted to go to the pool with Wyatt and Phoenix and I told her I had work to do. But, on second thought, it was a beautiful day, so around noon, I joined them at Riviera. I ordered sushi and chicken fingers (two things they do well) for lunch, along with ice teas for us and an apple juice for Wyatt; we spent a lovely day at the pool.

Christopher and Courtney are coming down at the end of the month, for a wedding in Key West and Liam’s First Birthday. Packages have been arriving every day from Amazon Prime (how did we ever live without it?) and Oriental Trading Company for the party. The theme is Western, since they are living in Colorado and, being the pack rat that I am, I still have Brad, A.J.’s and Christopher’s cowboy hats from when they were little.

So, what is there to do about all this change? Enjoy every day, love the one you’re with, cancel work to hang out with your kids and grandkids by the pool, toast big and small successes with friends at Happy Hour, dance like no one’s watching, plan dinners for those moving away, and trips to visit them when they’re gone. Carpe Diem baby, because all we have is the present moment. Buy the shoes, drink the wine, plan the trip.

The one thing that will change your life forever is accepting that everything is temporary. Happiness. Pain. Failure. Success. Your relationships. Your entire existence is temporary and the fact that you can’t be sure whether you will live another day is enough to show you that whatever it is you’re stressing about- it will pass.

ruby dahl

Up Next: Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce

“The boss took that truck to Miami and it isn’t back yet,” said the lady from L.A. (that’s Lower Alabama) at U-Haul.

“So what should we do?” Zeke asked.

“Let’s go to lunch,” I suggested.

It was lunchtime and I was hungry. We ate at Sharkey’s Bar and Grille (we split Thai chicken wings and Fish Tacos) and returned an hour later. The boss still hadn’t returned so the LA lady told us to come back the next day. I called Unique Marine to see if we could reschedule the appointment and Amy at the service department said: “No problem.” This is the Florida Keys, where time constraints and appointments don’t seem to matter as much as they do in Miami.

Since our place was rented, we stayed at John and Kelley’s house in Venetian Shores. That night we relaxed and saw a beautiful sunset in their tropical garden setting, while sipping our cocktails of prosecco and pinot grigio. Dinner was Chicken thighs, Rice Pilaf and sliced San Marzano tomatoes and our Murder Mystery as a nightcap.

The next morning, as Zeke was rushing me out of the house for our U-Haul pick up, I asked: “Do we have everything we need?”

He said “yes” and off we went. We got the truck at U-Haul and headed to the Sanctuary to pick up our boat from the boatyard. Mario, who works at our condo, hooked the boat up to the hitch but we had a problem. The electrical hook-up on our boat was the wrong size for the truck (it needed an adaptor), so he stuck the insert by the socket and we left, with no lights on the trailer hitch.

“Have you ever trailered a boat before?” Mario asked.

“No,” answered Zeke.

“Just remember to go wide on the turns,” Mario suggested.

Zeke went wide as we exited the Sanctuary, narrowly missing the exit gate and crunching on some coral rocks on the way out. He then stepped on the gas and we bolted out onto the Overseas Highway with a jerk. I said:

“Whoa! Have you ever driven a truck before?”

“No”. Never driven a truck, never trailered a boat; a lot of first times here. We held our breath as we made the short, straight jaunt to Unique Marine. The girl in the service department told us to just pull in and people would come out to greet us and get the boat, so we did as instructed, but all the employees seemed to be busy with other customers. A guy finally came up and said:

“Yes?”

“Were here for an appointment for our 20 hour service,” Zeke said.

“I don’t know anything about that,” he said, looking at us with a blank stare.

“I spoke to Amy yesterday and she said it was ok to come in today,” I said.

Thank God I remembered her name. The guy nodded, someone else came and unhitched the boat from the trailer and Amy emerged from the Service office to check out what needed to be fixed on our boat. After taking inventory, she got off the boat, clipboard in hand.

“I just need the keys,” she said.

“Oh s**t!” Zeke said.

He’d left the keys back at John and Kelley’s house, so we got back into the truck and headed to get them, at 79 cents a mile. It was 12:30, the Service Department closed at 1. We returned before 1, dropped off the keys to Amy, dropped off the truck to U-Haul and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“How much was it?” I asked.

They didn’t charge us a dime, due to not having the truck when they were supposed to. So that was good, but our thoughts turned to getting the boat back from Unique Marine when the service was done. But in the meantime, we were hungry, thirsty and dealing with frazzled nerves.

We went to one of our favorite spots, Key Largo Fisheries. A while ago, an employee there had been in line ahead of me so I asked her what her favorite menu item was and she said the Mahi Cuban Sandwich, so that’s what I ordered, along with a beer. I substituted the fries for black beans and rice and it came with coleslaw and was really good! Zeke got a Grouper Sandwich (grilled) with fries and coleslaw, also very good.

Sunday, after “my” show (CBS This Morning), we headed back to Miami. I was making a birthday dinner for A.J. and needed to pick up grocery items, set the table and decorate. We’d taken a French Cooking Class years ago at Aragon 101 (now closed) so I wanted to recreate that meal for her. I got the duck breasts and foie gras at Wild Fork and went to Publix for the rest.

Dinner was very good and started with the goat cheese lollipops I posted about in the last blog. An interesting Salad was the first course, with green beans, asparagus, soft red lettuce, artichoke hearts and topped with seared foie gras and a shallot vinaigrette. We all loved it; Wyatt just ate some green beans. The Roasted Duck had an asian spice rub and shallot sauce; I served it with French bread and Potatoes Au Gratin, another recipe from the class. Dessert was an assortment of sweets from Cecile’s Bakery in South Miami, so everyone could pick what they liked. And good news! Justin, A.J.’s fiance who is an actual Boat Captain, agreed to help Zeke retrieve his boat from Unique Marine after hearing our harrowing (and maybe hilarious) story.

Monday night we had Emma and Gui over for dinner and to watch The Bachelor. I had the leftover potatoes and asparagus, so just needed a protein. I picked up a steak at Wild Fork. They didn’t have our favorite flat iron, so we tried the flap steak, at the guy at Wild Fork’s suggestion. It was good, but I like flat iron better. I heated up the potatoes, Zeke grilled the marinated steak and asparagus and I made garlic bread out of the leftover French bread. We then watched The Bachelor and all agreed the bachelor isn’t “in it for the right reasons.”

Tuesday night I finally made the Beef Bourguignon I’ve been dying to try during all the cold weather we’ve been having. I made Ina’s recipe, which calls for a whole bottle of red wine! My quest for firewood was fruitless, with Publix and Home Depot sold out, but I was able to get some oak logs when I volunteered at Pinecrest Gardens on Friday for Helping at Pinecrest with my garden club. It was a beautiful day to be outside, working in the garden, with friends.

On a professional level, an article I wrote for Coral Gables Magazine on “What Can Revitalize Miracle Mile?” came out in the February issue. I am anxiously awaiting its arrival in my mailbox. On Thursday night I was able to present a short screenplay (Queen of the Wheel) and spec script (The Secret) on WAG, the Writers and Actors Group in New York City. It was on Zoom and I got many positive comments about both scripts. And, next week, Chris, Courtney and little Liam move to Miami! I fly up Thursday to drive back with Courtney and Liam.

A Chinese Philosopher I once met in a sporting goods store when I was seventeen told me I would be a late bloomer in life and I think he was right. A late blooming boater, writer and Gigi. Life is Good.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Anais Nin

Up Next: Beef Bourguignon

RED

In other good news, it appears that new coronavirus cases are leveling off, in the nation and in Florida. We’re still a “red” state, with a high volume of cases however, and last Thursday, Florida had a record number of deaths for the third day in a row. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me a lot of people are dying lately, not just of COVID, but in general. Celebrities like Regis Philbin, Olivia de Havilland and Wilfrod Brimley, the guy from Cocoon. A lot of babies being born are also popping up on my Instagram feed, so I guess it’s a circle of life kind of thing. And, in what’s really the most shocking news of 2020, Ellen DeGeneres, inventor of the motto “Be Kind to One Another” and America’s Golden Girl, is apparently mean. Or, at least her producers are.

BLUE

Denim Sales have fallen sharply amid the Pandemic, as people are becoming one with their yoga and sweat pants. The Pioneer Woman, aka Ree Drummond, referred to them as “hard pants” on her cooking show. Apparently, people are realizing it’s more comfortable to wear athletic wear amid the lockdown and are rejecting their stiff blue jeans, or “dungarees” as my Dad used to call them. Levis sales have dropped 62% and True Religion and Lucky Brand stores, known for their jeans, have filed for bankruptcy. Lord and Taylor and Men’s Warehouse are two other retailers that have declared bankruptcy amid the Pandemic retail free fall.

Let’s see, came home Monday for a quick pit stop. Zeke had bought steaks at Wild Fork, but had an online meeting at 7, so after waiting till after 8, I gave up and cooked the steaks so we could eat. I was going to reverse-sear the Flat Iron steak I seasoned with Montreal Seasoning, but cooked them too long in the oven, so we ate it as is; they were still very good. Flat Iron is a flavorful and tender cut of meat we first discovered at the now-closed Ortanique. I made baked potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, a green salad and garlic bread to go with it. It was a Meatfull Monday and there was a big mess to clean up afterwards. Is it any wonder I’ve been retreating to the Keys?

WHITE

While I was home, I threw away all my Sour Dough Starters that were clogging up the outside fridge. You have to maintain them by adding flour and water at least once a week and by the inch of dark sludge on the top of them, I could tell I’d killed them through sheer neglect. It made a white, floury bloodbath in my sink and, as I dumped them down the drain, my dreams of Pandemic Baking met a watery, sludgy end. The girls, Zeke and I were talking about how in the beginning of the Pandemic lockdown in March, this all seemed like a temporary adventure, with puzzle solving, long walks, yoga by the pool, Tiger King and endless whipped coffees on rotation. Cut to five months later and it’s sort of unbelievable we’re still dealing with this and it’s gone from bad to worse.

I picked up a breakfast sandwich from Cecile’s Bakery and Cafe in South Miami, since I had to go by my bank and it’s close by. I didn’t realize my bank’s lobby was closed, so I parked, picked up my sandwich and went to the bank’s drive-through instead. It’s little things like this that are disheartening to me in the bottomless pit of the Pandemic disappointments. Going to my bank, which is normally open except for Holidays and weekends, and finding it closed made me sad. I’m not one of those people who does online banking, I actually like to do it in person, even though entering a bank with a mask on does seem the opposite of normal. I even miss the cranky old man and cranky young man tellers who used to wait on me at my bank. Sigh-

My breakfast sandwich was very good- scrambled egg with cheddar cheese, crispy bacon strips, on a croissant. It came with a little side salad, which was wilted and sad by the time I arrived back in Key Largo, but I saved the dressing. Cecile’s Bakery on Sunset Drive is a neighborhood gem, with soups, salads, sandwiches, delicious baked goods and outdoor seating.

I made easy tacos (Taco Tuesday) that night, with leftover pork marinated in lime juice and garlic. Instead of a tomato salsa, I made a mango salsa (see previous post) which went perfectly with the pork and added some sliced red cabbage for crunch and a squirt of spicy mayo. I love using leftover meat, chicken or pork to make easy tacos! These were with flour tortillas, but corn would work as well. Cilantro is always a welcome addition to add a bit of freshness.

GREAT WHITE

Thursday morning, I figured the odds were in my favor, so took my paddle board out into Buttonwood Bay for a ride. I survived, but as I paddled off, was horrified to find the water was super cloudy and murky. I don’t like to paddle board in these conditions as I cannot see WHAT LIES BENEATH. Luckily, I hadn’t read the article that came out Saturday about a Great White Shark who fatally attacked a woman off the coast of Maine. Apparently, she was wearing a black wet suit and the shark mistook her for a seal and… the article said Great Whites are making a comeback. I’m not sure if this is Good News or Bad News. I’m guessing good for the sharks, bad for us bait.

Thursday I repeated my Grilled Cheese sandwich with Muenster for lunch, but this time added Fig jelly (I liked the Guava better) and whipped up a Fresh Tomato Soup to go with it. It wasn’t the best soup in the world, a little blah, but still better than Campbell’s (no offense to Andy Warhol). I added some avocado chucks to thicken it up instead of the normal slice of bread. The next day, I ate a salad with leftover soup and little teeny grilled cheese sandwiches, that was kind of genius.

And, since I had an abundance of parsley, I decided to make Pesto. Basil is usually the main herb in pesto, but it’s an adaptable recipe and I already had garlic, olive oil and Parmesan cheese, so I attempted to make it in my blender. I don’t have a food processor in the Keys, but soon discovered, pesto cannot really be made in a blender, so I ordered a new Cuisinart and will take my old one to the Keys. I justified this purchase by the fact that my old Cuisinart is REALLY old, like from 1985! I had it serviced once, but other than that, it’s original and has lasted thirty five years.

Thursday night I made Bay Scallops with Thai Red Curry Butter and Clean Out Your Fridge Fried Rice, since I had leftover take-out rice and lots of veggies that needed to go. This can be made with almost any vegetables, although onions, peas and carrots are typical. Mine was made from corn, Brussel sprouts, carrots, onions and jalapeño pepper. I used chopped bacon to sauté the veggies in. Tip: sauté the ones that are the hardest first, like carrots and celery.

Here are some other helpful hints for Fried Rice from Gimme Some Oven.

1) Use cold, leftover rice.

2) Use butter (like Benihana) to fry the rice and veggies in.

3) Use veggies, your choice.

4) Add sesame oil and oyster sauce to the fried rice. (I skipped the oyster sauce).

5) Stir fry on high heat.

6) Add extra soy sauce, to taste, at the end.

I added some cilantro, chopped green onions and sesame seeds to finish the rice. Chopped meat, like ham, chicken or pork can also be added and this also makes an excellent breakfast, with a fried egg over the top. See my latest post on how to make a perfect fried egg.

Zeke came down to the Keys Friday and we were on different wavelengths.

I was hungry for lunch, he wasn’t. He wanted to stay in and cook and I, after staying home all week, wanted to go out. We went to Lazy Lobster and sat outside, under a huge chikee hut. We’d been to Lazy Lobster (owned by the same people as Lazy Days) many times, but had never sat outside and were surprised to discover what a large and spacious space it was. Everything seemed very sanitary, tables were socially distanced, silverware in pre-wrapped plastic, paper menus and our waitress was great. We split Oysters Rockefeller and a bottle of wine and both got (what else?) a Lobster Dish. Zeke got the Lobster Lorenzo that came with a crab cake and hollandaise. I got the Lobster Islamorada, with shrimp, scallops, mushrooms, scallions in a a Key lime Butter Sauce. Thumbs up on Lazy Lobster and we had Banana Bread to take home for the next day.

Saturday the news was all about the Hurricane Isaias, but luckily, we were spared. In the Keys, it was just very windy, with white cap seas and intermittent rain. Saturday night Zeke grilled steaks, made baked potatoes and I made a salad of tomatoes, basil and balsamic vinegar. I was worried about our house in Miami, but we had Rachel there keeping an eye out, especially on our roof to make sure it wasn’t leaking. I did have a dream that the water from the Hurricane came up to the second story of our condo and there were fish, dolphin and sharks swimming all around in an aquarium type situation, while Wyatt and I just watched.

RED SAUCE

I’d promised the girls I’d come home to make my grandmother’s pasta sauce on Sunday, so that’s what I did. Here’s the thing about making my Grandmother’s sauce. It’s not even my favorite pasta sauce, but when I form the meatballs, sauté the salt pork with onions and sausage, pour in the the pureed tomatoes from the blender, add the sugar and bay leaf and let it simmer for a couple hours, it always reminds me of my grandmother and Spaghetti Sundays at her house. The funny thing is, it’s really the smell of it, more than the taste, that gets me. When we walked into her house as children, arriving with our parents in our 70’s brown station wagon, we were greeted by the smell of that sauce and my grandmother and aunts in the kitchen. They were always happy to see us, wanted to kiss us and feed us; we felt loved. Jeff Smith, aka The Frugal Gourmet, said on his show: “Sometimes we just need to cook the dishes of our childhood to remember.” I would venture to say, this is one of those times.

The memory of what we ate as a child forms a sort of patriotism that lasts throughout our life.

Jeff Smith

Emma made an Eggplant Parmesan for our meal, which was very impressive as it is a labor of love; it turned out great. I made penne pasta, served with meatballs and sausage (spicy and sweet), salad with garbanzo beans and onions and Italian bread. For dessert, I tried out my new ice cream maker (a late-arriving Mother’s Day gift) and made Pistachio ice cream. It turned out great and I’m already dreaming up other kinds of ice creams to make. Lemon, Coffee, lavender ice cream, Mango or Cherry Sorbet? Emma said her boyfriend Guillermo said my sauce was the best he’d ever eaten and wants to know when the next Spaghetti Sunday is going to be.

On TV, I’ve been watching reruns of Frankie and Grace, with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin and also binge-watched a show called Catastrophe on Amazon Prime. I discovered it when listening to Desert Island Discs, when they interviewed the writer/actress of the series, whose name is Sharon Horgan. It’s about an English schoolteacher who has a fling with an American ad man visiting and she ends up pregnant. He moves to England and they start a life together and the series is about their adventures, which are less catastrophic than relatable. There are 4 seasons and Carrie Fisher makes a cameo as his mother. The two lead actors co-wrote the series and I found it to be a hysterical, if somewhat raunchy show. I need a good laugh right now and this one fits the bill for me.

I finished sending my photo cards with the Emily Dickinson quote about Hope to all the Active members in my Pinecrest Garden Club; there were about 100 members. Then I had to decide if I wanted to keep going and send them to the Associate members as well. Like Forest Gump, I decided “For no particular reason, to just keep on going.” Of course, I did actually have a particular reason and that was to uplift and encourage my fellow garden club members to stay hopeful. And some of the Associate Members are actually good friends, like Tami.

BLUE WITHOUT WYATT

After waiting for months, I finally got refunded for Disney tickets I’d purchased for A.J. Wyatt and I back in February. We were supposed to go in March, but those plans got scrapped into the junkyard of broken dreams. They’ve been gone in North Carolina more than a week and I miss them! Face Time is no replacement for Face to Face, but while in the car the other day he did tell me: “Guess what? I got monkeys today. Not just monkeys, but Sea Monkeys!” Oh man, is he going to be disappointed! They have been staying at his other grandmother’s (Lela’s) house in Banner Elk and he also whispered to me: “Where we’re staying is kind of like a castle.”

We also got refunded for our American Airline flight to D.C. I’d gotten “fully refundable tickets” but according to the person I talked to at American Airlines, hardly any tickets are actually “fully refundable” and the only reason I got refunded is because they changed the departure time by more than two hours. We’re now driving instead.

RED STATE

Lauren found out last week that her Fall classes at Georgetown Law are going to be entirely remote, a real bummer. It’s hard to move to a new town to start a new school, but then to have to classes remotely where you can’t meet fellow students, very hard. I’m now planning our Road Trip to the surrounding states and had a couple of my old Book Club friends give me some traveling tips on Baltimore and Delaware, which was helpful. Thanks Beth and Mireya! Luckily, none of the states we’re visiting have restrictions on visitors coming from our bright red state of Florida, branded like like the Scarlet F. I probably just won’t mention where I’m from on our travels.

Hampton’s designer Tom Samet posted on Instagram: “August. The Sunday of summer” and I like that idea. June is frantic with end-of-the-year programs and school coming to an end (normally), July you’re in the thick of it (with vacations normally), but August is relaxing, mellow and fully into summer mode, even in these abnormal times. Instead of the Days of Wine and Roses, I think August will be my summer of ice cream making (and eating). Luckily, even if I have to wear a bathing suit, it will be in my own back yard and no one will see me. And, truth to tell, I didn’t dispose of ALL my Sour Dough Starters. There was one I’d kept alive in the Key Largo fridge that I started feeding again and now it’s back in Miami.

So I guess I haven’t given up all hope. And as Martha would say:”It’s a good thing”.

I used to rule my world from a pay phone, Ships out on the sea But now times are rough and I’ve had enough, Can’t explain the likes of me. But there’s this one particular harbor, So far and yet so near Where I see the days, As they fade away and finally disappear.

One Particular Harbor by Jimmy Buffet

Up Next: Who Knows?