It’s coldish today. Tonight and Saturday night it’s going to go down below freezing. For all of our hoopla about an early Spring, Mother Nature decided to show who’s boss. The month of April has been fighting Spring tooth and nail.

Somebody asked me to show the cover of Modern Nature, one of the books I received from John Sandoe Books. So here it is. Coincidentally, I just finished The Lost Pianos of Siberia, so I’m contemplating my next read – this may be it. Pictured is his garden in Dungeness, with the nuclear facility in the background.

Don took his early morning walk. I finished the book. Now we’re in our respective areas – he on the sofa in the living room, me in my chair in the den. Some of you may know that Don has been sober for – I’m trying to remember the exact number of years – around 44 years. He works his program, going to frequent meetings, sponsoring several people. He’s done this the entire time he’s been sober and he never wavers. He has helped so many people and, of course, has been helped by many. Obviously, physically going to meetings is not possible, but he’s discovered a meeting that he goes to every day at 9 am via his phone. He really likes it. So our morning routine is a bit different these days. Instead of sharing our second cup of coffee together on the sofa, I make our coffee in time for him to sip it while he’s attending the meeting. And then I come in here to write this blog and sip mine.

For someone who grew up with an alcoholic father, Don’s longtime sobriety was incredibly comforting when we first started dating. I knew he was committed to his program. Both my sister and I made the decision long ago not to drink, so it wasn’t as if Don had to deal with alcohol in the house or me ordering a drink when we were out and about. And I didn’t have to deal with it. After so many years with the fallout from my dad’s alcoholism impacting my life – well into adulthood – Don’s wisdom helped me. More importantly, he taught me to forgive. I’m so proud of Don. And I’m enormously proud of my dad, who fought his demons, and was a good and kind and loving man who helped everyone he knew. Gosh, he was a good guy.

I miss him so much.

Didn’t mean to get into all of this, but this is the way the blog often is. I get a thought and start to write about it and, suddenly, I’m off. I feel such profound love for my husband and my parents. My mom spent the last years of her life in a nursing home. I can’t imagine how worried we would be if she was still there during this pandemic. Or how worried we would be about my dad. And I know there are so many people out there with parents and loved ones who are extremely vulnerable. It’s so heartbreaking.

A reminder that during the Spanish Flu pandemic, people got tired of self-isolating and when the First World War ended, went out in huge groups to celebrate. Unfortunately, the virus was still there and many died because of their impatience to get back to normal. My grandmother lost two sisters within a week of each other; she had gone home to nurse them. Adored sisters/aunts that I never got to know. So, stay safe. Stay home no matter how frustrated you feel. Don’t listen to that man. Listen to scientists. Listen to Governor Cuomo – that’s who I’m listening to. Don and I have already discussed this; we’re sure that, even when we get the all-clear, we’ll probably stay in place for a good deal longer.

Happy Thursday.