The Spring that Never Was...

To be completely honest, Spring 2022 was a blur...  We managed to have a few lovely low-key days for Easter and Mother's Day, but beyond that, weekends were spent helping my sister-in-law find and secure an apartment, buy second-hand furniture, and set up utilities, etc.  

Then, when it appeared like she had everything necessary to move out, we all caught COVID.  My son Lewie tested positive after his school band concert. Within a week, Lewie, my mom, my sister-in-law, and I all tested positive for COVID and had to quarantine.  A week later, my husband, who thought he dodged the illness, tested positive, too.  Our symptoms were all quite different.  My mom, who was old enough to request Paxlovid (the drug from Pfizer that helps shorten the severity and duration of COVID) did the best, describing her symptoms as being not much different from the common cold.  My son did well, but on Day 5, he sprung a fever and ended up having a urinary tract infection.  Hubby had flu symptoms for a few days; my sister-in-law was congested for weeks, and I felt flu-like (including a loss of taste and smell) for about a week.  The one similarity among us was exhaustion and brain fog; to be honest, we all continue to feel fatigue quite regularly even though our illness was back in the end of May.

During Easter break, we took Lewie to Foxwoods Casino (in Connecticut) for his very first time.  We bought tickets to see our favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan, and our tickets, which were front and center, did not disappoint.  We had dinner at a seafood restaurant and then laughed the night away at the show.  Lewie enjoyed his first stand-up comedian event, but he wasn't too impressed with Foxwoods--crowds are not his thing.

Walking around Foxwoods before the show.

The anticipation...

These were our seats!!

We stayed overnight and spent the next morning in Mystic and the afternoon at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum.  It was Hubby's and Lewie's first time at the museum, but I had been there once before with my mom--probably 20 years ago when I was in graduate school.  The museum has a great artifact collection; however, the best part is the wax figures that depict a story of tribal life.  The life-like figures help people understand how native Americans lived off the land in Connecticut and how they worked, celebrated, and protected themselves.  (Their life was not easy to say the least!!)  One part I found fascinating is that Native Americans owned dogs as pets just like us; however, the dogs, back then, looked more like wolves--no Labrador Retrievers or Chiwawas for them!

A quick visit to downtown Mystic.

I can't take my husband anywhere...

On Easter Sunday, we attended mass, and "the Easter Bunny" paid Lewie a visit with plastic eggs and an Easter Basket.  At thirteen, he still enjoyed searching for everything and allowed me to get some fun pictures.  (I think he realized that once he declares he is too old for the Easter Bunny, he'll be forfeiting most of his favorite chocolate candy in addition to Steam and Amazon gift cards!)  Since Aunty Michelle was still living with us, Lewie's Easter loot was hidden on my mom's side of the house.  It provided a welcome change with new hiding places.

Bruce gets a bunny treat, too!

On the Saturday before Mother's Day, I took my mom to see Riverdance at the Oakdale Theater.  Unbeknownst to me, this year, Riverdance was celebrating its 25th Anniversary production.  We had great front and center seats, and the show was BEAUTIFUL.  The stage showcased gorgeous digital views of nature and the Irish countryside in between the Irish step-dancing, which was so graceful and powerful to watch.  Some scenes would start with haunting instrumental or vocal sounds.  Others would include international musicians, who would play by themselves or right along with the orchestra or the dancers.  (I enjoyed the musicians that played the tin whistle, the fiddle, and the drums the most.) 

During the second act, we had a chance to explore other dances similar to Irish step-dancing--namely, Flamenco and tap dancing (New York).  The Flamenco and tap were weaved intricately in between the Irish step-dancing to help us understand the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences between the three types of dance.  As someone that studied tap dancing for twenty+ years, I appreciated this part because it helped me see the nuances.  It also rekindled my love of dance--my tap shoes sit in my closet right now with about 16 years worth of dust!

These were our awesome seats at the Oakdale Theater.

On Mother's Day, we had our traditional dinner at the historic Hopkins Inn.  It was too chilly to eat outside, but we had a lovely table in the parlor overlooking Lake Waramaug.  The food was delicious as usual, and I was grateful that the four of us could laugh and think about happier days ahead.  The truth is that these last few years had been tough on all of us--the loss of my mother-in-law and Aunty Kiki in 2020; my mom's fall in 2021, which broke her wrist and a vertebrae in her back; and my sister-in-law's move into our home all while undergoing Chemo treatments for breast cancer.  This is not to complain, of course, but it was good to lift some of the heaviness and begin again.  

Mother's Day - Lewie and my mom

Lewie's band concert...before Covid.

Truth be told, this blog post about spring 2022 almost didn't happen...  Who wants to read about the spring in mid-July?  Now I realize there was a reason for this post.  Spring is about "new beginnings," and this one definitely fits the bill.  It was a good pre-cursor to what's starting out as a great summer.  Stay tuned...I have so much to share about our week-long trip to Utah in June and some of the interesting STEM projects Little Lewie has been working on this year...

P.S.  Our dog Bruce made the news!  I sent a video of him slithering like a snake to our WFSB Channel 3 News, and they showed his video on their "Trending Now" morning news segment.  Here is the link: https://www.wfsb.com/video/2022/05/18/trending-now-bear-drags-trash-slithering-dog-backyard-rollercoaster/