After a scary and confusing winter and spring, I never expected to have such an excellent summer. My sisters and friends welcomed me into their homes, into their “pods” up in the North Country. I dropped in on their lives for a week or two. I love those kind of visits, the day-to-dayness of it. So great to be with friends, run errands, go swimming or fishing. I felt like a kid again. Summer. Nothing particular I had to do. There was nowhere else I needed to be except right here. Right now.

Sue and I practiced our knots, and did some fishing. I caught this little one. We do catch-and-release in any case, so size does not matter.

Jane and Leeann were refinishing the interior of a vintage Scamp, sprucing up their new-to-them Jayco Escape motorhome, and doing all the other things that need doing every day. I did a lot of reading and woolgathering while they were working. We had meals together, went swimming and fishing. Early one morning before the heat of the day, we went out to pick raspberries—a fun thing I had never done before. In the evening, they turned the berries into jam. It was a perfect retreat, very healing after all the uncertainty and internal chaos of the year.

The brilliant Roz Chast sums up New York City’s spring 2020.

I spent a weekend near Watertown, with my pal AJ and her mom, Marta. We had and excellent visit. took walks, played Rummykub, and Marta cooked fabulous food for us.

Liz designed an excellent patch about the pandemic and I had it produced by our embroidery company.

I drove across the top of New York State from the Adirondacks to Buffalo, to spend a couple weeks with pal Liz after she had back surgery. I didn’t want her to be alone overnight as she began to heal. I met two of her daughters and grandkids. Debbie also came over from Grand Island and brought subs for lunch. Of course, we played some Rummykub.

After months stuck in the house, I was so hungry for a bit of Mother Nature.

Like most other things, the Renaissance Faire was cancelled this summer. A bunch of sisters who had campsites reserved at Fair Haven Beach Campground nearby the Ren Fair site kept our campsites and turned up there to camp together. Jane is extremely fond of the Renaissance period. Even made her daughter a Ren Wedding! She had some costumes in the attic, and we made a couple more. Leeann and I were her backup singers for a goofy rendition of “Five Constipated Men in the Bible.” It’s a “Hey Nunny Nunny” skit often performed at the fair. I baked some loaves of bread and we served them up with wine and sparking cider. So in the end, a little bit of the Ren Fair came to us. Sisters have more fun than anyone, even in a difficult year like 2020.

At the end of the day we sat outside the pavilion to chat and watch the sun set over the water.

A couple of us shared a cabin at the campground that was built by the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Excellent construction. Unfortunately they built the cabins on a road down by the swamps. I joked that our loop should have been called Pond Scum Drive. The mosquitoes drove us indoors immediately in the evenings. Fortunately, we were able to visit the sites up on the bluffs where the women who tow campers were situated. We shared the communal campfires, laughter and and lovely breezes. And we spent some wonderful days on the beach. The water was perfect.

Today I am back in NYC. Back to my mask wearing, socially distant city. Many more people back in town now. Teachers, administrators, and counselors are back at work for the Board of Ed. NYU students all over the place. Our Covid numbers were pretty good for the last 30 days. Let’s hope they stay that way.