In spite of COVID-19, we had a very nice summer. Compared to most other people, our sacrifices were pretty minor. Is was pretty easy to isolate and yet do most of things we normally do.
Our April consisted of a month of daily commutes from our RV to the Belloni house to help with the grandkids near Dulles airport in Virginia. We then left for the Islands in Early May with the grands and arrived to a couple inches of snow – a fitting arrival after the March and April we all endured.
By late May, our kids and other grands started arriving due to boredom and school closures. There was remote working for adults and some remote learning for the kids, but it was something of a “bonus vacation” for all. For much of the summer we had a full house with every bed consumed. On some days there were as many as six people working remotely – all on PCs and in virtual meetings. Often, every spare room, porch, and patio on the compound seemed to be occupied. My favorite memory is several people wandering around the property with headphones on and verbally engaged in some sort of meeting. High tech zombies.
We had the usual assortment of pesky critters: geese on the lawn, nesting birds, bees, raccoons, chipmunks getting in the house, and skunks. Also, there were regular sightings of ospreys, coyotes, turkeys, turtles, loons, eagles, minks, foxes, cormorants, diving ducks, woodchucks, and mute swans. We loved the best of nature and endured, if not defeated, the pests.
The water level was pretty good all summer and never reached the (still deployed) sandbags. As a result, we spent a lot of time on, and in, the river, loving every minute of it. We took the four “Elder” grandkids camping off of our boat. We had hoped to take them on the Rideau Canal System in Canada, but with the Canadian border closed, we had to settle for Canoe Point. This is boat-in-only campsite on Grindstone Island just across the Bay from our cottage. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a great trial run for a more rigorous trip next year.
To sum it up: we had a great summer with more “family time” than ever. We have nothing to complain about and count ourselves as extremely fortunate.
