The cats were running low on necessities, kibble and litter, so a trip to Tractor Supply Company was in order. Like many essential retailers, TSC offers online ordering with curbside pickup, so I went to the website last night and secured a bag of their preferred crunchy food at TSC in Smithville and the last 28 pound box of Arm & Hammer Slide at the TSC in McMinnville.
Of course neither item was available at both stores, so we had to drive all over kingdom-come but managed to avoid the thunderstorms which popped up all over Middle Tennessee this afternoon. We had Josie along for protection and also to keep her from holing-up on/in our clean bed while we were gone. She's a good road dog, though she was disappointed she couldn't go into TSC this time.
Because we were heading to McMinnville on the second leg of the journey, I suggested a trip through the drive-thru at Captain Ds for a couple of boxes of greasy fish and fried potatoes. On Tuesday when we picked up our grocery order at WalMart, we'd considered going there for late lunch, but a line of more than ten cars snaked from the back two corners of the building around past the front entrance, and we had perishables in the trunk.
Today was better for satisfying our Captain Ds craving. We planned ahead and coordinated with Mom and Dad to have an appropriately socially distant late lunch/early supper at the farm.
The line of cars was considerable. I think we were either twelfth or thirteenth in the string, but the staff was very efficient in getting orders through the window timely. None of our orders were anything out of the ordinary - fish with fries and slaw. We had to wait a few minutes at the window for fresh food to come out of the fryer, and even though we carried everything all the way back to the farm before eating, the fish and fries were still pleasantly hot and as good as any fast fish I've had in awhile. It felt like a splurge and a treat.
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| Mom fixed us up with a socially distant cafe in the garage since it was rainy and wet outside. |
I claimed it as an early birthday celebration since I hit fifty-five on Monday and all.
Mom and Dad have invited us over to have socially distant cake on the real day, which will be nice, but I miss the Vernon family so bad I could spit. I can't remember the last time I wanted to hug my whole family this badly. Maybe never.
Beatrice's birthday was Thursday, and we used Zoom to conference together like all the cool kids are doing during COVID. We all managed to stay visible and nobody's internet crapped out like it did the time Mom and I tried zoom the first time. Seeing Sis, Chris, and the girls was wonderful, there's no substitute for the real deal, and I think we all felt a little down when it was over.
I didn't really think about it until Sis mentioned later how tired the girls were after the Zoom. At first I kind of dismissed it because they'd had a big day with the celebration of Beatrice's birthday and the inclusion of Lucia in the festivities, because that's how our family rolls, especially during tough times like COVID19, then I realized that I'd been emotionally exhausted when our free 40 minutes were up. The act of engaging with people online is convenient, and we're all fortunate to have such technology for connecting personally and professionally, but it's strange. For me, it would be much easier to use Zoom in a business situation to meet with a set and timed agenda, but I'm an old-school fan of the OG conference call with a pass-code and a live operator to connect everyone and keep track of who's on the line. I kind of prefer it without the camera, though. The visual is almost a distraction from the conversation.
I did love seeing the faces of my most loved people in real-time, so I'm not going to gripe at all.
I did love seeing the faces of my most loved people in real-time, so I'm not going to gripe at all.
