Month: April 2020

For the first time, I went out wearing a mask and it’s becoming very common here in the U.S.  I think it’s much more common in most of the rest of the world and who would’ve thought that the Chinese would have been fashion trendsetters when they started wearing them years ago after another Corona Virus was circulating there.  I even saw a Pilgrim in Spain wearing one in 2017.  I guess it’s the new normal.

I’m hopeful that there may be some seasonality to CoVid-19.  While Italy and Spain may have reached the top of the bell curve naturally, here in the U.S. the peak seems to be coming a bit sooner than I’d seen a week to ten days ago.  Here in Dallas the projected peak is a couple days sooner than even a week ago.  Now this may be totally wrong, or it’s skewed by the lack of testing or, maybe, as it’s beginning to warm up, maybe that’s contributing to the change.  For now, though, we can’t let up. Some interesting links if you like numbers or want to know how much Google spies on you: http://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america (covers most countries and https://www.google.com/covid19/mobility/

I was reading on the Casa Ivar blog and someone posted some pictures from a book written in the mid-50’s called The Great Pilgrimage of the Middle Ages by Vera and Helmutt Hell.  I think it’s long out of print, but I find it fascinating.  There are approximately 170 photos with detailed information about most.  As I look at these images, I’m instantly transported back in time.  Then, I remember how they appeared when I first saw them.

I liked the book so much; I found a retired library copy printed in English on Amazon.  It was less than $6 so, I bought it.  I suggest that if you liked your Camino or just love history, you try to find one to look at.  It also offers a glimpse of Franco’s Spain in the early to mid-50’s.  It could easily have been 50 years earlier.

A very warm and humid day here in Dallas.  I hope we get to enjoy spring before we finally have to stumble out into the dog days of summer.

Be safe, stay healthy.

Today is definitely a Two Buck Chuck (TBC) kind of day.  For those of you who have no idea what Two Buck Chuck is, it is the cheap red wine, a tinto, of Spain but not as good.  It’s better in volume.  TBC comes from a store that started in California called Trader Joe’s, now owned by Aldi’s I think. They started out selling good products, often organic before it was a “thing”, cheap.  Wine was one of them.

TBC was from The Charles (Chuck) Shaw winery and it originally sold for $1.99.  Rounded up, that was $2.00 or two bucks and it all became known as Two Buck Chuck (now it’s $3 but who’s counting?).  In the US, we classify our wines by the type of grape so there’s chardonnay, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and a pinot noir.  All known as Two Buck Chuck.

So, today is a TBC day.  Besides the ongoing CoVid-19 drama with the resulting near lock-down, yes, even Texas finally started getting more stringent, it’s also raining, as if it really makes a difference except psychologically.  Right now, I can use some help in this area, lots of stress.

On top of that, my grandchildren are acting just like 2 & 4 year old’s that don’t get to play outside enough.  I didn’t know that a 2-year-old could screech at such a high pitch…I do now.

On the bright side, we had a virtual happy hour with Leighton & Renee last night, we’re getting quite good at it (the virtual part, already good at the Happy Hour part).  It’s not the same but, it’s better than no interaction at all so, we look for new and creative outlets.  If you haven’t tried it, I encourage you to give it a shot.

I wrote on the Casa Ivar blog about our Virtual Global Camino Reunion, I think Ivar ripped me off (just kidding) as he is now hosting them on a regular basis.  The first was yesterday and another is planned next week.  Glad people are breaking out of their isolation.

As it’s not 5:00 PM/17:00, no TBC for me…yet.  I hope everyone is doing well, as well as we can anyway.  One step at a time and one foot in front of the last.  This whole thing really started with my revelation that there’s always another hill.