In these Black Swan times I have a long long ago connection.  When I was a young boy my mother told me that her father died in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.   I mentioned it to Nancy and, of course, it was news to her and her first impulse was to Google him.  Later she told me she found nothing.   Yet, it was Nancy’s impulse to probe Google that resulted in one of the greatest WOW! moments of my life.  

Our local supermarket follows the guidelines for masks and social distancing. In addition to monitoring the number of people inside, masks, and providing disinfecting wipes when you enter, the supermarket has imposed “one-way” aisles. A good idea from my perspective.It is annoying to me that some people don’t respect the designated direction of the aisles.

Here’s one for you! Have you ever wondered why chickens became such a hot source for the use of idioms? Thought we might have fun with chickens today. Write down a chicken idiom and encourage a friend to do the same. I’ll go first. Cock And Bull Story Meaning: a story that has been made up or extremely exaggerated. Example in a sentence: I didn’t believe her cock and bull story for one second. GO!!

  You walked into a bank – even pre-COVID.

This year my husband and I celebrate birthday milestones. My husband's birthday is in October 2020 and mine is July 2021. To celebrate, we had planned two big trips, the first in October, 2020 and the second in October 2021. The first trip was for my husband’s birthday, ten days in Hawaii. The trip in 2012 would have been for mine, a week in Tuscanny. We choose those destinations, in part, because hotels in both locations were available through our time share, thus making two trips very affordable.

The other day one of my young (yes young) basketball (Our school gym has been closed since schools closed in March and we remain without any word on a possible re-start.) players texted he is part of an outdoor summer “free, socially distant” concert in downtown Jamaica.

A giant art mural located in Warsaw, Poland is helping people breathe a little easier. Made up of sun-activated, smog-cleaning pigments, the mural attracts airborne pollutants and converts them into harmless nitrates that purify the surrounding air equal to 720 trees using photocatalytic paint with titanium dioxide.   

This blog is inspired by my wife Joanne who I overheard riffing “I used to hug my grandchildren” (see photo) and on and on and on...I asked her to Guest Blog, but if you know Jo you know that was not in the cards.