Dan turns 69

A giant Thank You to George for my "chocolate-proof" shirt. Yep, according to George, while wearing this shirt I can eat chocolate without worrying about spilling it ... as opposed to my traditional white golf shirts that would show chocolate stains. Thanks, George. I love it.

This Birthday is my 69th. Wow, where did 7 decades go?

It is also Inauguration Day. Today, amidst 20,000 National Guard troops, Joe Biden will be sworn in as our 46th President. Kamala Harris will be sworn in as our Vice President.

Today's date is also a palindrome. 1202021 backward is 1202021. 69 upside down is 69. A lot of things seem backward and upside down right now.

It couldn't look worse.

"There is nothing to lose, it couldn't look worse."  

After repeating that mantra over, and over, and over again, I finally convinced Helen to pick up the scissors and cut my hair. As a consequence of COVID social distancing, it had been more than 4 months.

After watching some YouTube videos, Helen reluctantly agreed. "There is nothing to lose, it couldn't look worse." 

An hour later, Hair By Helen was born.

My barber of 40 years has been furloughed.

Speaking of hair, the No-Shave November campaign caught my attention early in the month. I lastest for 3 weeks.

I like razor blades.

Family Zoom Christmas - 2020

Well, it is what it is.

Merry Zoom Christmas 2020 from Topeka, to Springfield, to Independence, to Minneapolis, to Redwood City.

42,000 Push-Ups

When COVID took over our lives in March, I decided that being physically fit was more important than ever. Strength. Flexibility. Balance. Good heart health, too. Since late March, I've been doing 8 sets of 25 Push-Ups every day. To date, that amounts to more than 42,000 Push-Ups.

Combined with some stretching, some balance exercises, a good diet, and occasionally lugging my golf bag around, I've been able to gain strength while losing 10% of my body weight. Who needs a fancy gym? Push-Ups only need a floor.

Father's Day 2020

As per Dad's wish, we visited Mother's grave this Father's Day.

At 94, he is doing remarkably well.

Dad turns 94 amidst Social Distancing

Social Distancing - noun, medical definition: "the avoidance of close contact with other people during the outbreak of a contagious disease in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection." (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

A short 3 months ago, I had never heard this term. Now, it dominates our lives. Case in point ... please see the photo of Dad's 94th Birthday Party below:

Dad sits in his driveway between 2 (of his 3) loyal and dedicated caretakers, Lynn and Susan, as Nancy, Helen and I bring him birthday wishes while wearing our COVID-19 face masks. No hugs. No cards. No giant birthday luncheon at his office. Instead, we practice Social Distancing of 20 feet.

In hopes that Dad could see it, I created a crude 3 foot by 5 foot Birthday Card and laid it in the driveway.

Sigh ... maybe we can have a real Birthday Party later.

The World Turned Upside Down

April was COVID-19 Stay Home month.

Based on Orders issued by our former across-the-street neighbor, and County Medical Officer, Dr. Gianfranco Pezzino 

as well as one issued by our former down-the-street neighbor, and current Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly

we stayed home all of April.

Helen cooked. We both did laundry and cleaned the house ... sort of. Except for a few brief trips to our offices, and some walks and bicycle rides, we stayed home. Whether Constitutional or not, we complied with their Orders. Most people did. Oh yes, I occasionally attacked the Crow Links in the back yard ... 

but was still not able to improve my putting.

Fortunately, at least so far, COVID-19 has only impacted a small percentage of Kansans. Regardless, we will remember this as the time our World Turned Upside Down. I think most people will.

COVID-19

On Leap Day, Jonas and Teresa left in a blur to return to Barcelona to rescue their RV. They made it just in time.

The next day, on March 1, 2020, I saw this at the local Walmart Neighborhood Market.

A smart person would have run home and sold all of their stock. I'm not a smart person. Two weeks later, the paper products and cleaning supply shelves looked like this:

Ten days later, I moved my office to our basement.

March was all about COVID-19.

February ... Jonas and Theresa visit - California for Valentine's Day

We jetted to California to give Valentine hugs to the 3 cutest grandchildren EVER.

We had a blast!

On our flight home, we saw our first Coronavirus (COVID-19) mask. It was February 18, 2020. Little did we know how much our world was about to change.

Lucky for us, Jonas and Theresa had decided to visit. They had arrived on January 28th and planned on a long visit as they worked on their Masters' Thesis. They are always fun and interesting. They had parked their RV in long-term parking in Spain, feeling it was safe and secure. Their trip was cut short when they learned their RV parking lot was going out of business ... in three days! Bummer. Since they left in such a hurry, I only got a few photos.

February was a blur.

72nd Wedding Anniversary

Today would be my parents' 72nd wedding anniversary. In their honor, here is a short musical video of them during our Father's Day visit to Branson in 2011.

The video was taken on a moving Dinner Train and epitomizes their joy of life ... at 86 years old. Happy Anniversary to them.

Thanks to Andy Crow for the video.