Yesterday: Big warning for a severe thunderstorm with the usual: take cover, large hail, wind damage. Normally not a fan of severe storms, I was nonetheless excited because we would get some desperately needed rain. Thunder in the distance. Skies very dark. More thunder. Lots of humidity.

Nothing.

This is the way it has been for two weeks now. Forecast for rain, sometimes a warning, and then, crickets. Today it is very gray, not as hot but very humid, and what is the forecast? Scattered thunderstorms this afternoon.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

In the meantime, I’ll have to water everything because I can no longer trust the weather forecast.

We watched Maddow last night because we wanted to get up-to-date on the state of the pandemic. It was not good news. As a former Trump  official said, “We are in trouble.”

And we are. Normally, we do everything we can to avoid this sort of thing before bedtime, but we really felt compelled to watch last night. I’m glad we did. But it’s utterly heartbreaking and it didn’t have to be this bad.

Let’s see, what else? I started putting together a little kit from the long-defunct House of Miniatures. It’s a desk. The main reason for assembling it is to see how it looks in the Folk Art Dollhouse. Is it too big? Or could I make it work? I’m not sure, but I’ll have a nice piece of furniture either way. I meant to start in on the stonework for the third and final side of the dollhouse but I got to it too late, hence the fiddling with the kit instead.

The garden is beginning to look overgrown and I need to fix that, but it’s been so hot and humid that I’ve been staying inside.

Though I’m usually pretty positive, today is one of those days where I feel depressed and angry and worried and despairing. I’m sure we’re all having those days during this crisis. I want my life to go back to normal but that isn’t going to happen for a long time. If anything, we’re going to be doubling down on our social distancing and self-isolating. It would be far too easy to let down our guard and we can’t do that. We need to have our kitchen door fixed by a carpenter, for example, but that would involve someone coming here and working in our house for a prolonged stretch of time. That’s not going to happen. So we use the front door instead. Every decision is now made with social distancing in mind.

The truth is, as you know, I’m an introvert and a nester, so much of this isn’t any different than my normal everyday life. But the fact that I can’t just pick up and go somewhere in the course of a day is different. I’d like to drop in at a local antique shop. I’d like to browse in a bookstore. Some of those shops are open now and Oblong Books is opening (with social distancing in place) next week. But my immediate reaction to these bits of news is: Nope. I’m not letting down my guard. We’re still in the middle of the first wave of this virus, extended and prolonged because of selfish fools. So, I won’t go to the antique shops or bookshops. I’ll order online. I have enough to read here. I really don’t need to buy anything decorative for the cottage. Those are just activities that bring me joy. And that’s why I miss them.

My thoughts today.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Since the news is ever horrifying; treason, COVID numbers shooting through the roof, idiots not wearing masks (you know I could go on and on,) let’s look at a photo of two little beings dining together for a brief moment:

And it was  a brief moment. The moth was there first, then the bee landed and then…

The moth got worried about the lack of social distancing and took off.

I put in another three hours or so on the dollhouse stonework. I’ve reached the window, so one more session for this side of the house should do it. It’s so tedious. When I stop for the day, my muscles ache and I feel as if I’ve been released from hard labor. An exaggeration, of course, but it’s not my favorite thing to do. Nevertheless, I am determined to finish it.

Today is grocery pick-up day. I think our slot is at 3:00. More rain is forecast this afternoon with storms, etc. We ended up only having a light rain yesterday that lasted about 10 minutes and that was that. It’s very humid today, so I’m hoping we have more of those thunderstorms on the way.

But maybe not while we’re driving.

We’re watching Frasier  now. We watched it several years ago on Netflix in its entirety. We are craving excellent writing, acting, and storylines written with wit and style. Cheers  had that. Frasier  has it. Both shows were blessed by wonderful cast members who created a strong ensemble. I grabbed my laptop yesterday to re-watch the final episode of Cheers,  as it was disappearing from Netflix today. Impeccably executed, written, and acted. It hit the perfect note. and once again, I teared up as I was watching it. Almost every series I’ve written about lately, including Will & Grace, was shepherded and directed by the great Jim Burrows. Don worked with him onstage many, many years ago and Jim always remembered him and cast him in several of his television shows. He was also the force behind Taxi, and Friends. He is the son of the great Abe Burrows, known for his work on the books of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (for which he won the Pulitzer Prize) and Guys and Dolls. Talk about a talented family!

We’re saddened by the passing of the great Carl Reiner. There was no one like him. May he rest in peace. We are thinking about his family, about Dick Van Dyke, and about his best friend, Mel Brooks.

And finally, we are saddened to hear it officially: Broadway won’t reopen until 2021. We are not surprised, but hearing it announced by the Broadway League was depressing. That means that major regional theaters will also be dark until next year.

That means neither of us have work until well into 2021, nor have the hundreds of thousands of people who work in theaters, from set designers to box office staff. Unemployment benefits are running out here in the state of New York. What will my colleagues do? How will they survive? Actors can’t work from home. Singers can’t work from home. Dancers can’t work from home.

If I let myself think about this too much, my heart breaks into a thousand pieces.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.