Pandemic Diaries Weeks #17 & #18

12 July 2020

Our first weekend in our vacation rental in Ventnor City, New Jersey, started with Tropical Storm Fay.  We had pretty intense rain for a day, day and a half, and a good amount of wind.  Weather full of drama but no damage here, no flooding, just a rather boring day indoors because it was just too wet outside.

Not that we're spending a lot of time outside, it's a pandemic and all.  But still, somehow not being able to go outside due to the weather made it seem even worse.

Oh well, it gave me a good reason to binge watch my new television show addiction, "Person of Interest."  When we travel much of the time outside the US, it means we don't have access to new shows, or recent episodes of old shows.  Lots of catching up to do!


13 July 2020

So, we have this vacation rental here on Absecon Island.  This is one of a series of barrier islands along the southern coast of New Jersey.  Much of the east coast of the US has these low-lying islands that are mostly beach, separating the mainland from the ocean.  These islands provide a barrier that helps protect the mainland from high tides, storms, hurricanes, and such.

On the inland side of the islands, between the actual island and the mainland, there are various waterways - channels, bays, coves, estuaries, whatever.  Then we reach the wetlands - marshes, swamps, meadowlands - the places where our friendly turtles and various shore birds live.  In fact, some of the uninhabited barrier islands are part of the wetland system, being very low and full of reeds and grasses.

It seems that most of the wet-land area is now animal sanctu-aries.  The North Ameri-can Wet-lands Conservation Act mandates that all the wetlands in Canada, the USA, and Mexico be protected habitats for all the migratory birds (and all the other wetland animals like our turtles and terrapins, as well as raccoons, otters, beavers, and so forth).  In the US, this act is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The osprey nesting place J and I visited back in June is part of the wetlands, as is the area just in back of the island we're on.  It's an easy walk - at this location, we're about two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, and it's two blocks in the other direction to reach the bay.  The wetland area is close enough that a good pitcher could throw a ball across.  

So we have all kinds of sea birds flying around - the noisy laughing gulls, terns, other seagulls, egrets, herons, on and on.

Of course, because this area is a vacation destination, people tend to decorate with nautical themes.  Carved fish, lighthouses, sailboat knickknacks adorn interiors and exteriors.  There are a few famous lighthouses along the coast, and there are fishing piers, but I haven't seen anyone catching much of anything.

It's a pretty little area, relaxed and definitely beachy.  Our neighborhood is mostly residential, but there are cafés, a few shops, and some nice restaurants in walking distance.  And yes, eating places are either takeaway or eat outside, no other options.

We're enjoying our little vacation.  Not that our lives in retirement travel have been anything but vacation, but it feels more vacation-like in a vacation zone.


14 July 2020

My oldest nephew lives and works in New York City.  He currently has a house guest, his oldest nephew (and our oldest grand nephew on my side).  They called on Monday and they planned to visit us on Tuesday, and enjoy the beach.

It's odd to see family that we only see once a year or so, and not be able to hug.  Try to keep about six feet apart.  And wear masks indoors, still staying a bit apart.

But they found our rental place, and we went down the street to enjoy brunch.  Talking talking talking, although the grand nephew is a bit quiet, but he's 16 and hasn't seen us in probably 6 or 8 years.  

Richard opted to go back rather than going down to the beach, but the three of us had a fun day at the Ventnor beach.  Our rental came with beach tags, so we were set.   Ventnor is kind of in the middle of Absecon Island, a barrier island which runs sort of diagonally just barely off mainland southern New Jersey.  Atlantic City is to the north, Margate and Longport are to the south.  Or south-ish.

Anyway, we're kind of mid-island, at a narrow part of the island.  But it's still a beautiful sandy beach, with a very low slope to it.  There are low sand dunes protecting the inland side of the island, a boardwalk that I believe goes all the way up to Atlantic City, and then wide open beach and ocean.  The beach on Absecon is about 8 miles long, powdery white sand with broken bits of shell and the occasional little crab.

The guys went swimming for a bit, though the lifeguards here asked them to stay close to one guard tower or the other, not in the middle where they couldn't be seen very well.  I thought the water was rather chilly and murky, so I opted not to swim.  I've been spoiled by 25 years in the crystal clear Caribbean waters.   But they had fun.

I amused myself trying to get photos of a few kayakers surfing the waves, not so easy since these are fairly small waves so it's a quick surf.  Also, the sun was playing hide and seek behind the clouds, so lighting was iffy.  There was also someone parasailing in the distance, and my camera didn't have quite as much zoom as I needed.  But I got some decent shots.  (Best photos enlarged at the end of the blog.)

I also walked on the beach a bit, and especially enjoyed the architecture under the fishing pier.  It looks like some giant sculpture that might be called "Arches" or something.  It had that wonderful infinite arch within an arch look, continuing on until the end of the pier.  With waves swooshing in and hitting the pilings, splashing all around (including getting me a bit more wet than I had planned).  

And as always, beach umbrellas caught my attention, whether it was due to their rainbow colors, or because they coordinated with the ocean and the sky, or because they added a note of whimsy to the sober times in which we currently live.  I like beach umbrellas' pops of color, even when they have mousey ears and faces!

One of the things I've noticed on most of the beaches here is that there are row boats, or actually lifeguard boats, with the name of the city.  At first I thought they were just a nautical way of identifying the township for this part of the beach.  But all the boats here were next to lifeguard towers, all set with oars for rescues at sea - so yeah, definitely lifeguard boats!

People were mostly good about social distancing, usually staying about six to ten feet away from other groups.  A few people were wearing masks as they sat and read, but most of us were just enjoying the sunshine.

Dad's hat enjoyed the beach, and we had a small photo shoot.  This is Dad's last photo shoot with us - my nephew was happy to take Dad's hat back to New York with him.  We don't know when we might be off travelling again, and it seemed like a good time for the hat to go off with the next generation for more adventures.  We've taken the hat to five continents with us (since he wasn't with us for New Zealand and Australia, and we haven't been to Europe in our retirement travels), so he's had a fun time and seen the world.  But he's been sad, sitting in closets, so it was time for him to go off with Dad's oldest grandson and have a new life.


15 July 2020

It's never easy to navigate in new places, and I usually rely on Google maps to get me around.  There are occasional problems, yes.  But generally, I find Google maps to be a pretty useful tool.

Not so much in a pandemic, however.  In fact, with the continued shut down in New Jersey (needed because of the proximity to New York as well as the influx of people trying to escape the pandemic elsewhere), Google maps is NOT a good tool at all.

I tried going to the bank for Richard because he wasn't feeling great.  He had written out the directions, again using Google maps.  I didn't find the turn I was supposed to make, but I knew there was another branch of our bank near the casino Tropicana.  So I drove onward, found the bank, and learned that it was closed due to Covid-19, although the ATM was open.  I couldn't deposit the check, and there was a line for the ATM.  Drove back toward our place, and went to a local convenience store that has no-charge ATMs.  Further down the road on the way "home," I found the street I should have turned on originally.  (Yeah, this is how I normally drive.)  Found where the bank USED to be - now it's just a free standing ATM at one corner of a parking lot.  Weirdest thing ever.  ALL of these were marked on Google maps as Bank of America Financial Center. 

But the good part was a found a local chain supermarket, so I did my grocery shopping.  They even had two-for-the-price-of-one steaks!  Woohoo!


16 July 2020

Today, I walked over to the neighborhood market to buy corn for our dinner, to go with the steak.  I stopped outside the entrance to put on my face mask.  Noticed another woman stopped there, putting on her mask.  She looked up at me and laughed, saying something like, "The things we have to do to be safe, huh?"  I looked at her black and white outfit with coordinated black and white mask, and laughed as I replied, "I like the way we both coordinate our masks with our clothes!"  She looked at my blue floral mask coordinating with my mixed blue floral print top, nodded, and laughed again.

Fashion in the time of Corona!

  
19 July 2020

We're having a heat advisory this weekend - the actual temperature is under 100, but with the high humidity the heat index is close to that 100 degree mark.  (I think that would be 35 or so C.)  Plus the air quality is supposed to be bad, with advisories that people with respiratory problems like asthma stay inside.  So, yes, that's what I've done.

I'm also a bit concerned with our neighborhood - every weekend, there seems to be some local bar or club or something that has partying going on into the early morning hours.  And the cheering and hollering sounds as if people aren't wearing masks.  It all makes me more cautious about going out, even though I wear a mask if I'm in a shop or in a restaurant picking up takeaway.

So, for this weekend, it'll be an indoor time.  Reading.  Internet.  Online movies.  Whatever. 

Just, keeping myself safe.

Pandemic Diaries Week #16

10 July 2020

We're currently staying in a short-term vacation rental in Ventnor City, on the barrier island of Absecon.  (That's pronounced ab-SEE-kin.)  Last night and all day today, we've been feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Fay - about six inches or so of rain, flooded streets, wind of 40-50 mph (64-80 kph), with occasional gusts up to 60 mph (96 kph).  But we have the ground floor of a duplex, and while we're close to the beach, we're far enough away that we're fine.  Cozy and inside, with enough food to stay put for a day or two.  All is good.  

I wanted to share some more excitement in the backyard of S & J's house (Richard's brother and sister-in-law, so my in-laws but that always sounds like the parents-in-law).

Their backyard seems to be a turtle highway.  Several weeks ago we had the lovely bright orange and black box turtle, presumably making its way to the Meadowlands, the marshy wetland area down at the end of the street.

Well last week, we had another turtle walking through, about dinner time.  This one had a pale greenish grey color to the head, neck, and legs, with black or dark grey spots and marks.  The carapace, the shell, was sort of a light greenish brownish grey (taupe?  greige?) with the most gorgeous spiral designs on each scute, the overlapping scales that make up turtle shells.  It really was a very distinctive looking turtle, and it was moving quite quickly through the backyard toward the Meadowlands (locally called the Meadow).

It didn't take much research to find out that this was a northern diamondback terrapin.  Terrapins are basically turtles that live part of the time on land and part of the time in brackish water, that mix of salt and fresh water found in coastal waterways and estuaries.  Terrapin is an Algonquin word that means "little turtle."  

S took a couple of photos of our terrapin, but Terry Diamondback Terrapin was looking for a shortcut and wasn't going to pose.  So I'm including a batch of photos from online, just so you can see how pretty he/she was.

I gave Terry D. Terrapin a talk, to stay on the lawns and avoid roads.  To follow the fence to the driveway and then turn left.  And keep going, heading down the very slight hill, to the Meadows.

Well, I later learned that it's okay to pick up turtles (and terrapins) that are in roadways, and carry them in the direction they are heading, preferably near bodies of water.

I was driving back from a medical appointment, and noticed a basic painted turtle in the road.  These are the dark turtles with little stripes of yellow or orange or red, usually on their necks and legs, sometimes on the edges of their carapace.  

So, Painted Turtle was crossing from the Meadow to someone's lawn, presumably to eat some shorter grass.  (Again, internet photos here.)  

I wasn't sure what to do, so I stopped.  There wasn't anyone driving behind me, this isn't the main road.  I turned on my flashing hazard lights, and allowed the turtle to sloooowly walk across.  There was an approaching vehicle at one point, so I opened my window and waved for them to slow down, and they stopped.  We both sat there a good five minutes, waiting for the turtle to get across.  Turtles don't seem to walk in a straight line, so it took quite a while.

These turtle encounters made me curious, so I did a bit of research.  Small turtles like these (up to roughly 12" or 30 cm in diameter) can be picked up and carried to safety.  The best way to carry them is to put one hand on each side of the shell, close to the back legs, fingers on the under shell and thumbs holding the top shell.  Pick up gently, don't drop your turtle friend.  DO NOT pick them up by the tail, that can damage their spine.

Larger turtles, and especially snapping turtles, you can either lift as described above, or the safest is to lift the back end and sort of wheelbarrow walk the turtle across the road.  (Remember wheelbarrow walking in phys ed in elementary school?  Like that.)

I reported the terrapin sighting to the New Jersey Wildlife Conservation something, but we're close enough to water that no one has contacted us.

Just to round out the Walt Disney quality of the backyard, we now have a baby bunny.  We hadn't seen the adult rabbits in a bit, they seemed to be hanging out at one of the neighbors recently.  And then this little tiny bunny appeared one afternoon, hopping out from the space under the back deck.  We think that's where the rabbit nest was, though we haven't seen Mama Rabbit in a while, just the baby.

But seriously, is this not one of the most adorable baby animals you've ever seen?  He/She is smaller than a squirrel, but slightly bigger than a chipmunk.  Just about the size of a sparrow, because they hop around in the grass looking for insects and seeds right by Little Bunny.  Baby B is barely able to see over grass that is maybe 2" tall.  The little white clover flowers are bigger than Baby Bunny's nose!  

I can watch Baby Bunny for an hour, though he/she isn't out that long.  Maybe about 15 minutes at a time, nibbling on some of that grass, or the moss, or trying out a clover or two.  Then a little bit of exploring time - Baby B seems to be interested in the green gutter spout, and I keep hoping he/she doesn't go exploring inside!

Then a little time stretching out in the cool grass, and then suddenly a few speedy hops and Baby Bunny is under the deck once again.

The grainy photos are mine, taken through the kitchen window and window screen - I don't want to scare little Baby B away.  

The other, clearer photos are also from online, usually from articles about finding baby bunnies, and why you shouldn't adopt them.  Most baby rabbits don't venture out of the nest until they really are able to find their own food.  Their mothers are usually somewhat nearby, possibly still in the nest nursing the rest of the littler.  Any rabbit kits (also called a kittens, which is truly odd) that are out of the nest are able to eat grass and flowers.  And while they look vulnerable, they usually don't wander very far until they're older and bigger.  Wild rabbits are difficult to raise, so if you do find what seems to be a lost baby rabbit, please leave it alone unless it's injured.  Mama Rabbit will take care of it.  (If it is injured, call your local wildlife people, they'll know what to do.)

And that's the excitement of Week #16 in the Pandemic of 2020.  I know, there's all the political stuff happening around the world.

But I'm happier watching baby bunnies and interesting terrapins.