A nice surprise

CROWN CARE PACKAGE

I was playing a lazy game of Solitaire just after 10:00 this morning, when someone knocked on the door and yelled, "Maintenance."  I jumped up, since I hadn't yet bothered to get dressed or even brush my hair.  It was Floyd, already two doors down, leaving something at each apartment door.  Galina, across the hall, was wearing a robe when she opened her door.  With nowhere to go and nothing much to do, we are in no hurry to "look presentable."  I reached down and picked up...

...a cellophane bag with several items in it:  a small of bag of Cheez-its, a fresh orange, Planters peanuts, small package of trail mix, a single pack of Quaker Oats (maple and brown sugar), a sealed cup of juicy cut-up peaches, and one small piece of Hershey's Krackel chocolate, like the ones Donna gives people going by the link desk when she's the volunteer on duty.  It isn't much, really, but it brought tears to my eyes.  (That surprised me!)  Then I unfolded the paper that was in the goody bag.  "You've Got This!" it says.  It's a Crown Care Package (Bubbe Approved!) to send us support from the staff.  "It's just a small way to let you know we are thinking of you and know you can do this.  Stay positive and, if you have time, call a friend and make their day a little brighter."

On the back of the sheet is a Word Search puzzle.  Crown usually puts out stacks of Word Search pages every weekday in the library, so seeing this didn't surprise me until I read the list of words.  There are names of twelve staff members on the list:  Amy, Donna, Floyd, Katie, Laura, Megan, Nikki, Randi, Scott, Theresa, Tim, and Yoram.  Ha!  The first name I found was FLOYD, who delivered this care package.

Oh, yeah, Clawdia enjoyed the pretty green ribbon.  I bounced it in front of her, and she tackled it.  She batted it around.  Then she bit it, getting it stuck on her teeth when she chewed through it.  I had to almost tackle her to take it away when she couldn't spit it out of her mouth.  But she had FUN with it.  She thanks you, too, Crown Center.

LAUGH A LITTLE

Before you leave, I'm going to send you to a 2012 blog post I entitled "Monday Madness ~ you can't fix stupid."  If you read on down into the comments, you'll find the "stupid" thing I did on the day I got my first computer.  (Hmm, I need to tell Andy it was his dad Joe who was my computer gugu back in 1984.  Andy probably needs a laugh today, too.)

April foolishness? Not much of that around here

Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)

ACTIVITIES

Google has assembled links to many, many museums all over the world in their Arts and Culture collection.  You could spend days exploring the world.  Even just looking through the list of places could take hours.  Pleasurable hours.  Take a look.  I noticed that the World Chess Hall of Fame here in St. Louis is on the list.  Clarence House in London may be of interest to my Brit-loving friend Joy.  One called Frogs and Friends in Germany may intrigue a child bored by having to stay home all day, every day — and it may be fun for the inner child in each of us.  You can choose to visit museums in the Netherlands, Croatia, Mongolia, Israel, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Italy (yes, it's safe to visit Italy online), Slovakia, Denmark, Brazil, Spain, Japan, Sweden, and (oh, yes) the United States.  And that's just a tiny sampling of what Google has put together.

View from one of my windows in 2014

CONNECTING

Once again, my neighbor Galina and I talked across our hallway when David delivered three meals to each of us.  The 2-page information sheet he also brought gives tips for getting through this time of isolation.  Here are a few, summarized:

• Washers and dryers are now free for us to use, but please take turns being in the laundry rooms in order to practice social distancing.
• Take turns using the elevators, too.  Not all jammed in together.
• Allow only one crucial caregiver to visit, not family or friends or other guests.
• If you have gloves and a mask available, use them when you must go out.
• Even if you're not already part of Crown's meal delivery program, this is a great time to participate.  It isn't exactly "room service," but you can sign up for it and start getting it from now on.
• The pages also had cheery notes from some of the staff working from home:  Theresa ~ "Isn't it weird that you can trust your dog to guard your home, but not your sandwich?"  Megan's 5-year-old ~ "Hi, everybody at mama's work!  I miss the cookies from your cafe.  I hope everyone is safe.  Miss you, love you, bye!"

Jenn and Bonnie

I love the shout-out from Megan's child.  I also chatted with Donna and Jenn on Facebook, two conversations going at the same time, with one person in the same complex with me and one who used to live in St. Louis years ago.  The only time Jenn and I ever met in person was at the end of 2010, when she and her family were returning to St. Louis from Florida and stopped to visit me while they were passing through my town.  It feels like yesterday.

Marie phoned and we chatted for over half an hour.  Susan called while I was on the phone, but didn't leave a message and didn't answer when I returned her call.  Faye Stickney "has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet," so I didn't get through to her.  Even while "sheltering in place," I'm in contact with a lot of people, including Laura, who called me earlier.

I've been chatting on Facebook today with Laurie, who was working on the puzzle I posted yesterday.  Then I got a friend request from Gina and chatted with HER for awhile.  She now has children about the age she was when I last saw her.  More people are home, and we have more time to reach out to folks we haven't seen in awhile.  And while talking to Gina on Facebook, I got an email from Joanne, which said:

"Trying to get in touch.  I hope this reaches you and that you are well!  It has been over 2 years since the last email I received from you, Christmas 2017.  Please forgive me for not keeping in contact.  I retired from the library in May 2018 and have been quite content in retirement.  If you receive this email, I would love to hear from you!"

I called and left voicemail for Joanne and also emailed her.  She called while I was still "talking" on Facebook with Gina.  And now it's almost an hour and a half later, and I'm finally going to post this on the blog.  I enjoyed talking to you, Joanne.  Catching up was fun to do.

Jane Eyre from the National Theatre in London

MORE ACTIVITIES

After Laura and I talked by phone, she sent me information to share with everyone about National Theatre at Home.  The website says, "Enjoy world-class theatre online while we're closed."  Click here for more about the shows being streamed.

• "One Man, Two Guvnors" ~ April 2-9
• "Jane Eyre" ~ April 9-16
• "Treasure Island" ~ April 16-23
• "Twelfth Night" ~ April 23-30

What have you been doing today?  Have you connected or re-connected?