Hello Everyone, well another week has come and gone and here I sit and wait. I can’t believe it’s been 18 weeks since I got home and started writing these particular weekly posts to temporarily replace my This Week on the Road column. When I got home I was still hoping to be back to work guiding tours by the end of the summer and to be starting to think about what states I would spend the fall and winter in. Eighteen weeks later and my company has closed for good, my industry is basically dead and I don’t feel safe getting too far from home because the response to this pandemic has been horribly botched across the country. Cases and deaths continue to rise at ever increasing rates as states push ahead with reopening plans despite all evidence that we are making things worse instead of better. Meanwhile those who are complaining the loudest about reopening businesses are the ones who seem least likely to wear a mask which will let these same businesses stay open. I find myself frustrated because week in and week out I’m trying to keep from slithering into a pit of despair, and every week it’s nothing but more bad news with no end in sight. I find it more frustrating because my Facebook friends list stretches to all 7 continents (yes I have friends working in Antarctica), and everywhere seems to have done a better job of containing this pandemic than we have. While other countries are reopening safely and managing outbreaks properly, we push forward boldly and stupidly in a time when brashness and ignorance are costing lives. My patriotism lives strongest in my love of my countrymen and I wish everyone would think about others instead of only themselves. I’ve never seen America as a selfish place and have found kindness and generosity at every turn in my travels around the country and I hate to see the ugliness that plays out every day across the nation. I know in my heart that the people we are seeing on the news are outliers and most people are doing the best they can, but it’s still sad to watch.
Meanwhile I’m trying, as I have from the start, to keep going and keep looking towards that distant light on the horizon which will eventually come. I continue to treasure being able to spend this time with my family. I continue to work on my projects and myself with the hopes of coming out on the other side healthy, organized and ready to face the world again with an open heart and mind. In that new world I will set aside more time for reading, for international travel, for making music and for friends and family. If nothing else, I am coming to a better understanding of what matters most to me and remembering that time is precious.
I’ve continued to work on my book this week which is great, and it’s starting to gain some momentum. I’ve continued to play my violin and guitar and I’m actually playing full songs on my violin now which is pretty cool (it still sounds terrible, but it’s coming along). I’ve decided to try and double up on some of my walks each week despite the heat. I got up at 6:30 this morning and, with my Camelback loaded with water, set off on a two hour walk around the neighborhood. I miss the gym terribly, especially in the middle of summer, but I can’t keep carrying around this extra weight and I can’t wait until fall to get working on it. Waiting to go back to the gym is now officially over and I am moving ahead in my own direction for the sake of my fitness. And also this week I’ve continued to explore the area with my mom and continued to keep my folks somewhat entertained as we go. So on that front it’s been a good week.
Last week I wrote about a Gullah meal I was going to cook that night and it came out smashingly. A delicious shrimp gumbo and some shrimp & okra with a delicious fresh peach pie for dessert! We loved it. I may not be good at a lot of things, but cooking is something I can always enjoy and usually do well with.
Thursday my mom helped me get Shadow Catcher into the shop out in West Virginia. The places around here all charge way too much for shoddy work, so the hour’s drive will hopefully pay off. This place gets great reviews, so I hope they’ll take good care of her and I’ll get her back soon. While we were out that way, we stopped and saw some of historic Williamsport which had some cool historic buildings related to the C & O Canal. Then we ducked over to Hagerstown, Maryland to have a look around there. There were some great old mansions just outside of the city center harking back to a more prosperous time, and some cool historic buildings downtown as well. It was hot as blazes out, so we didn’t stay too long, but I hadn’t spent much time there in the past and was glad to see it. It definitely looked like the kind of place I could wander around for a day or two when the weather cools off.
Over the weekend, we got together to celebrate Christmas in July in a big way. Yes, it’s silly, but with the 4th of July behind us and with no really fun holidays before Halloween we decided to make it a big deal. My mom brought down some Christmas decorations and I put together a great menu for the weekend. We had drunken shrimp, shrimp bread (a nod to a New Orleans Jazz Fest favorite), and delicious baked cheese squares on Friday. Then on Saturday I made us some delicious eggs Sardou and an amazing bananas foster coffee cake as well. I spent most of the rest of the day cooking dinner which was also excellent – sea scallops in a cream sauce, collard greens gratin, a mushroom medley and a Brussel sprout salad with a warm bacon dressing. It all came out really well. It’s always a real treat to cook in my mother’s kitchen. It’s well stocked with all the spices, gadgets, pots and pans that I need, and we have fun preparing the ingredients and then cooking together. If I had had kids I would have tried to involve them in the cooking process because it’s a wonderful skill to have and there are few things in the world that can bring you together better than sharing a meal. It was a tiring but incredibly fun weekend and a much needed break from the dreariness of summer in the city and the pandemic. I was also thrilled to be able to watch and listen to so much baseball over the weekend. Even though my defending world champion Nationals are not starting off on a great foot, I’m enjoying the heck out of listening to the games.
Tuesday my mom and I took off for Annapolis in the morning. I wanted to take some photos of the State Capitol building and have a wander around if it wasn’t too crowded. The capitol was beautiful, and the area around it had some wonderful colonial buildings. I haven’t spent much time in Annapolis in the past which is a real shame since it’s so close. We enjoyed a wander, but the day heated up quickly and there really were too many people out (many not wearing masks) to feel safe with my mom with me. We hopped back in the car and started off on Maryland’s Roots and Tides Scenic Byway. It was better than some scenic byways I’ve been on, worse than others, but it was nice to be driving around some rural areas again. I’ve missed it. We saw some pretty marinas and some cute little churches – one of which had the oldest known marked graves in the state in their adjoining cemetery which dated back to 1665. We ended up in North Beach and Chesapeake Beach on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. We sat on a bench on the boardwalk there under a tree in the shade and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch and then a stroll down the main drag and out onto the pier. The crepe myrtles were in full bloom and looking good, and we saw some jellyfish in the water. My mom had spent some time there as a kid so it was fun to hear about some of her childhood memories of the area. These beaches were definitely a throwback to another time, especially to before the Bay Bridge connected DC so easily to the Atlantic beaches we went to when I was a kid. I loved being by the water and with enough imagination I could pretend I couldn’t see the other side of the Bay from there. It was a nice day out of the city.
And that’s about what’s been happening this week. It’s been kind of quiet as it usually is here in July. I’ve been enjoying working on a post on some of the most historic homes in Washington, but it’s opened up a rabbit hole of history that I’m slowly making my way through. August is within sight, and my van will be back to ship-shape next week. I will definitely be doing some overnight and long weekend trips after Labor Day and am really looking forward to it. My mom and I hope to trace the escape route of John Wilkes Booth this week into Southern Maryland as our weekly trip which we’re looking forward to. Tonight we will finish our Christmas in July festivities with some holiday favorites for Dinner and a Movie Wednesday, and tomorrow we may get our next batch of beer brewed. Other than that, I’m going to keep walking, keep playing and keep throwing house parties for the family. And I’m going to keep hoping and praying that we can turn a corner with this pandemic sooner rather than later. Stay safe and stay healthy out there and enjoy the summer as much as you can, the leaves will be changing soon enough. And thanks, as always, for reading.
-Mike