Sunday, June 14, 2020

• 

Although Husband has visited numerous countries on four different continents, he has never been to Croatia, his paternal grandfather’s place of birth. I last visited Croatia in 1988, when it was one part of Communist-run Yugoslavia. (The beach was spectacular, as were the Roman ruins and the suntanned sailors. Ah, Croatian men…) For many years, we had talked about a vacation to Croatia once the kids’s college tuition payments were behind us. June 2020, we decided, would be an optimal time to go.

In January, I purchased airline tickets, reserved charming accommodations, and even booked a few private tours. We were going to start with three days in Venice, Italy, and then take a ferry across the Adriatic Sea to the Croatian coast, then venture inland to Zagreb, then pop into neighboring Slovenia for the day, then travel back south down the coast until reaching Dubrovnik. I spent hours researching our options and planning itineraries for our two week visit. Sure, some sort of virus was spreading in China, but I really wasn’t concerned. Our trip was months away, and surely that virus would be vanquished soon.

Well, now we know that I was wrong.

The last of the refunds (for all the pre-paid tickets and deposits) arrived this week, ironically, on the day we were scheduled to depart. My passport, sent off for renewal in early February, has yet to be returned to me, but it doesn’t matter anyhow.

And yes, I am grateful that we lost no money, and I am grateful that we still have jobs which will help pay for the trip sometime in the future. Millions of people have far greater problems than me. But I am nonetheless mourning this lost dream, so I have allowed myself to be petulant for a few days and to seek a bit of comfort in a cocktail made with Croatian Sljivovica.(I remember, 32 years ago in Split, buying a bottle to share with my British pal in our hotel room…)

This drink is my version of a recipe I found called the Slivovitz Sour.

In a shaker, combine 1 1/2 ounces Slivovitz plum brandy, 3/4 ounce lemon juice, 3/4 ounce simple syrup, and 1 egg white. Shake until well mixed, then add several ice cubes and shake again. Strain into a coupe glass and add 4-5 drops of Angostura bitters to the top of the foam.

Živjeli!

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

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I’m baaaaack, sort of. I am calling this next part of the summer a “quasi-quarantine,” because here in central Virginia, we have entered Phase 2 of our re-opening in response to the CoVid-19 pandemic shutdown.

School is officially over for the summer, so now I am legitimately “on break” from my job. However, I am trying to stay busy with my resurrected “to-do” list, so daily cocktails are not happening–but occasional cocktails? Yes, please, and I would like to share them with you.

I read yesterday that researchers are estimating that the ordered shutdowns prevented about 60 million cases of coronavirus infection in the USA. Wow.

But we are hardly out of the woods yet. Phase 2 does not mean we can become sloppy and irresponsible. So here is some sage advice from me (and a multitude of experts):

1. Keep wearing those masks.
2. Wash your hands often.
3. Maintain a generous physical distance between yourself and non-household members.
4. Don’t visit crowded places.
5. Keep an extra bandanna or mask in your car or purse, just in case.
6. Keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in your car.
7. Keep a small bottle of hand sanitizer in your purse or pocket, just in case.
8. Get tested if you exhibit any signs of infection.

Husband, Daughter, and I went to a local brewery on Friday afternoon. We sat outdoors gazing at the mountains while we sipped. The staff was masked and gloved, the tables were all at least 6 feet apart, and the patrons were all wearing masks when going inside to purchase beer. I felt comfortable enough, but it was weird being “out” after so many months. We are going to make a concerted effort, in the upcoming weeks, to venture out into more of these lower-risk places.

My dear friend, Stephenie, dropped off a bouquet of fresh herbs from her garden. I couldn’t resist incorporating the sage into a cocktail.

Today’s drink is my version of a Honey Sage Bourbon Cocktail.

Make a honey-sage simple syrup with 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup honey, and 5 large sage leaves. (I used the crystallized honey from a long-forgotten jar in the back of the pantry.) Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Let syrup cool.

In a shaker with ice, combine 1 1/2 ounces of bourbon and 3/4 ounce of honey sage syrup. Pour into a low-ball glass filled with fresh ice cubes. Rub an orange rind around the rim of the glass to release some oils. Garnish with a twist of orange rind and a few sage leaves.

• 

Throwback to June 9, 2014.

1. He banged on his snare drum.

2. He chased the weird white bugs that were flying around the mailbox.

3. He checked his email.

4. He found a snack.

5. He tried to destroy the never-again-needed Spanish binder.

6. He wanted to talk to me about re-arranging the furniture in his room.

7. He checked his Facebook.

8. He l i n g e r e d over supper on the deck.

9. He studied the vegetation growing under the deck.

10. He l i n g e r e d on the deck after supper and actually appeared to be enjoying the time with his parents.

11. He helped to clean the table after supper.

12. He looked at his bookmarked “cool cars” websites.

13. He moved his study materials to the living room.

• 

Throwback to June 7, 2016

1. I will learn another foreign language.

2. I will lose 20 pounds.

3. I will send all the home videos out to be converted to DVDs.

4. I will clean out every closet in the house, even those in the kids’ rooms.

5. I will organize my recipe files and maybe even purge those “Baking with Toddlers” and “Fun with Jello!” cookbooks.

6. I will cook every evening and use vegetables from the farmers’ market.

7. I will catch up on reading all those National Geographic magazines that have piled up into tottering yellow towers.

8. I will finish that cross-stitch project that I started during the Bush era. The first Bush, not Dubya.

9. I will finish the kids’ grade school scrapbooks. Don’t judge me, I have been busy.

10. I will explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no man has gone before.

• 

Throwback to June 6, 2014

1. Other people’s children are just as demanding as my children.

2. The volume of a cone is 1/3 times height times area of the circle at the base.

3. The word “hypotenuse” inspires wise cracks about being high on pot. And inappropriate cracks about putting necks in a noose.

4. I enjoy offering individual help to students.

5. I do not enjoy students who continually try to get my attention by saying my name over and over again.

6. Students who say they need their earbuds to listen to a math video are actually listening to music off their playlists.

7. Catapults made from Popsicle sticks need incredible amounts of tape in order to stay intact.

8. When you tell a student you will phone the school nurse for a house call, versus letting the student leave class to go to the nurse’s clinic, the student will scowl at you for half an hour.

9. Almost nobody wants school to still be in session in June. Not students. Not teachers. Maybe just the parents.

10. Teachers are under-paid.

• 

Throwback to June 6, 2013

1. pleonasm
2. noddy
3. whipsaw
4. edentulous
5. navel-gazing
6. flibbertigibbet

(Please reply to this if you have used any of these words in conversation in the past year, and we will have a confabulation during which I will spew spume about this inane blarney. Or whatever.)

Still, nothing beats last year’s best vocabulary word: CALLIPYGIAN.

Thursday, June 4, 2020

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This is my final daily post of CoVid Cocktails. Today is the last day of the twelfth full week of quarantine for Husband and me. I need to re-focus, and my liver needs a break.

My home state of Virginia is entering Phase 2 of re-opening tomorrow. Curves are flattening, and more (but not enough!) people are getting tested. Many stores are selling masks, and many people are wearing masks out in public. Many retailers are re-opening, and restaurants and bars are serving patrons in person (though mostly outdoors). Some jobs are returning.

We’ve got this.

I have started to go out, once a week, to run some errands. (My local WalMart had plenty of toilet paper the other day, but still no disinfecting wipes.) I am getting my hair cut in 2 weeks, going to the DMV to renew my license in 3 weeks, and seeing my dentist in 4 weeks.

Our Zoom meet-ups with friends are being replaced by driveway meet-ups. The daughter that we haven’t hugged since mid-February is coming home tonight, and we are actually going to let her into the house. (We will hug the stuffing out of her, of course, and undoubtedly serve her a cocktail.)

And I now know people who have survived CoVid-19, and people who never had any symptoms but likely carry the antibodies. (The latter should be regarded as a super-hero strength, said a friend.)

We’ve got this.

I am still overwhelmingly humbled by the health care workers and essential employees who keep putting themselves at risk. And I am overwhelmingly grateful to all scientists looking for cures and vaccines.

I am still anxious, and worried, and disappointed. I am still hoping that the most difficult days are behind us, and that we don’t experience a second wave of outbreaks.

I am still watching the social and political unrest in our nation. Today, our governor officially announced that Richmond’s statue of Robert E. Lee would be removed from its current site on Monument Avenue. When I first moved to Virginia in 1988, I didn’t understand the need for statues which glorified leaders of the Confederacy. These guys led the secession from the United States, right? And then these guys lost the war, right? Years later, I now better understand why these statues were erected, and why their prominent display sends a painful message to so many people. I am certain that similar monuments will meet a similar fate in the months ahead, and I am encouraged by the large numbers of Americans–especially young Americans– who are protesting the status quo and racial injustice.

We’ve got this.

Stay strong, everyone. Go vote, everyone.

Today’s drink is my version of a Cucumber Mint Gimlet. My sweet friend, Debra, sent some fresh mint my way, so I had to take advantage.

Cut a 2-inch slice of peeled cucumber into quarters. Place the cucumber, 10 mint leaves, and 1/2 ounce simple syrup into a shaker and muddle. Add 1 ounce lime juice and 1 1/2 ounces gin. Add ice to the shaker, then shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with mint leaves.

Please remember to drink responsibly.

• 

Throwback to June 4, 2012

1. I am so thankful that you have kept checking the Parent Portal and reminding me of my grades.

2. I played too many videos games when I should have been studying Spanish.

3. I will do so much housework for you this summer in gratitude for all the help you gave me with my homework.

4. Mom, it’s about time I “friended” you on Facebook.

5. Yes, I would be happy to begin studying for my SATs this summer, or doing any kind of review packets, because I don’t want my mind to turn to mush in the next 3 months.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

• 

Dear Husband (DH) has been “working” from home since mid-March. He keeps telling me that this is what retirement will feel like, and that he cannot wait.

DH does have a man-cave of sorts set up in the basement, and I have converted a child’s former bedroom into my own little “pink room,” so we can retreat to our corners on separate levels of the house when the pandemic togetherness becomes a tad too much. DH is making incredible progress on his model railroad, by the way.

And in terms of household projects, DH has been equally productive. Just Monday he replaced the 24 year old garbage disposal, which gave up the ghost last week and left a huge puddle under the kitchen sink. (This, of course, forced me to clean the soggy mess–I threw out raggedy dishtowels, long-expired plant food, and stray plastic grocery bags. Eww. But this was still less disgusting than his task of replacing the disposal and cleaning out the goo in the pipes. Double eww.)

Since our quarantine started, DH has fixed, painted, mowed, weeded, sawed, assembled, disassembled, scrubbed, hammered, washed, ironed, and disinfected. He has proven, yet again, to be a great catch.

Today’s drink is my version of the Brandy Fix cocktail.

In a cocktail shaker, combine 2 ounces brandy, 1/4 ounce anisette, 1/2 ounce lime juice, 1/2 ounce pineapple juice, and 1/2 ounce simple syrup. Shake and strain into an Old Fashioned glass. Add a large ice cube and garnish with a twist of lime peel.

Throwback to June 3, 2013

• 

1. Understood necessity of producing an ID card vs. chuckled at necessity of producing ID card

2. Waitress same age as us vs. waitress same age as our daughter

3. Checked out the beautiful people around us vs. actively noticed how many people were balder and grayer than us

4. Regarded older men with young dates as disgusting sugar-daddies vs. regarded older men with young dates as lucky bastards

5. Band played for the money vs. band played to promote a social justice cause (Save the Wetlands!)

6. Encore was glowing with cigarette lighters vs. encore was glowing with I-Phone screens

7. Smoke came from cigarettes vs. fog came from machines

8. Paid the bar tab with cash vs. paid the bar tab with a platinum card

9. Went to work the next day vs. took the next day off