Labor Day, COVID and photos of happier times

Today is Labor Day in these United States and many people are flooding the lakes, rivers and beaches to gather with friends and families.

With COVID-19 still thriving everywhere, I can't imagine going out where there are crowds of people, but some people are in denial about the danger of this virus. One man said to me recently while I waited, social distancing in line, " I'm so tired of all this. It makes me mad that Bill Gates made this virus and sold it to the Chinese." Where on earth did he get such a wild idea? I am sorry to say that many in my area seem to think the virus is not real, not dangerous to them and only affects old people. These people will not take any precautions to help stem the spread. So, I stay home hoping to avoid people like this man. Of course he was not wearing a mask. 

We have been fortunate that the death rate from this pandemic in our small county in North Carolina has been two so far. Both were older people like me. I'm sorry for their families. In other counties around us many more deaths and positive tests have been recorded. 

All summer I felt I had very little to look forward to as restaurants closed, we could not meet in person for our writing groups, and I was leery of even being with family. But I feel more positive now. Fall will be coming soon, I hope, although it is still quite warm here. I always feel better,, mentally and physically, when the weather is cooler. 

This morning I awoke earlier than usual and took my little dog, Lexie, for a walk. Because it was in the low seventies at that time, I enjoyed being outdoors. I saw more traffic than usual and know tourists from south of us are here this weekend because of the lake. I hope they did not bring the virus with them, but we are warned that this weekend could cause a surge in the coming weeks. 

In some parts of the country, autumn has already begun coloring the leaves. In Canada, fall is upon them. Oh, how I wish I could be in Nova Scotia at this time. I can almost feel the cool breezes and smell the ocean.  Isn't it great to have such an imagination? My memories are spurred by photos of places I have visited and enjoyed. Thanks to a husband who never went anywhere without his camera, I can revisit trips we made over the years. And thanks to Stu, my sister's husband, I still have photos taken when I travel with them.

 Nova Scotia

Near Estes Park, Colorado

In Front of Bell Museum - Nova Scotia

 Hawaii 

Coastline of  island of Oahu Hawaii

My favorite photo from vacation in Colorado - Barry Beall

 So many photos fill boxes and albums, but they are not on my computer at this time. 

Let me introduce you to Kathy

I have a new blog URL listed on the sidebar under Great Places to Visit. The blogger is Kathy Rhodes who edited a great southern themed online journal, Muscadine Lines; a Southern Journal, until she ended that venture last year.

I was happy to have a couple of my pieces accepted by Kathy.

You can read them here:
http://www.asouthernjournal.com/Ezine/Archives/2009/2009v27beall.html
http://www.asouthernjournal.com/Ezine/Archives/2011/2011v36beall.html
I see where we can order a copy of the anthology of all authors who have been published on Muscadine Lines. My work is in that book.

Kathy writes about a trip she is on similar to the one I call the cruise from Hell a couple of years ago. I went with my sister and brother in law on a cruise that would take us up the New England coast and on to New Brunswick Canada and to Nova Scotia. It would have been a dream trip except I became ill standing in line for hours waiting to get on the ship. The computers were down.

And, on the ship there was a perfume shop that sprayed the crew members each morning with "fragrance of the day" so the entire inside of the ship was polluted with chemicals that I had to breathe. One day I'll write more about all that. But Kathy is enjoying her trip and I'm happy for her. 

Reading Kathy's post today reminded me we did have a couple of days when I was able to leave the ship and enjoy the fabulous countryside. I still go back in my mind to the drive above Fundy Bay and along the shoreline dotted with white houses and buildings that begged to be subjects for a large painting.

I learned also that Kathy lost her husband, Charlie, five years ago June 27.  So she and I have much in common. The anniversary of Barry's death is July 21. She has written a memoir,
Remember the Dragonflies, which she tells about on her blog. I want to read it. 

Visit Kathy at /http://kathyrhodes.wordpress.com/