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July 15, 2021

Columnists

E.T.A. at “EPH”

Nancy and I are in our so called “Golden Years” of retirement. Our kids have grown up and left the nest years ago. It’s just the two of us now in our little home in Del Webb. Old habits die hard. Nancy uses the same recipes to feed the two of us that she used to feed four to six people. Everyone knows change is evil and recipes cannot and must not be altered. This is why she asked me to take a run with her to Sam’s Club to stock up on ginormous containers of just about everything.

Extremely “Loki”

To paraphrase Friedrich Nietzsche, art is dead and we have killed it. Ok, so I may be exaggerating a bit. However, the entertainment industry has always been a struggle between art and commerce. A lead weight, however, has been placed down on the commerce side of the scale recently. After being without a year of Marvel movies, a void had been created in the interim. So, when it was announced that Disney+ had new programs and “Black Widow” would be released in theaters, optimism set in. Here is the halfway point of the year and that feeling is running low.

Pesticide precautions

In late May my husband, Chris, spent hours potting up 15 tomatoes in 18” wide containers. He set them around the edge of our patio and began to dutifully care for the plants. By early June, I noticed that the leaves on our tomatoes looked different. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the plants were growing in a curly cue fashion and the leaves were disfigured. Unfortunately, I had seen this before and suspected that the plants were suffering from herbicide drift.

Ask an Angel: July 15, 2021

My siblings and I are planning a mini-family reunion this Independence Day. Two of my siblings have not seen our aging parents since the onset of the COVID pandemic, as they live out—of-state and couldn’t safely travel. Now that we’re all fully vaccinated, we cannot wait to see each other in-person. We’re hoping to surprise our parents too. However, our parents are getting older and seem to get tired more quickly these days. As much as they love to see us and their nine grandchildren, I know the noise and energy can be draining.

Getting used to this whole ‘normal’ thing

A pandemic can do horrible things to you — even if, blessedly, it passes you by.

I fall into that category. Although I was able to stay virus-free long enough to get the vaccine and become bullet-proof, the pandemic did horrible things to me.

From lows to ‘Heights’

To be honest, not much on the summer movie roster stirs interest in me. Scrolling down IMDb, the usual pops out as standard fare. In regards to quality, 2021’s theme is almost like that of the late 90s. “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” “Jungle Cruise,” “Snake Eyes,” “The Suicide Squad”; all of these are big and dumb. Even in last year’s dearth of Marvel, “Black Widow” has even waned. Given the way “Loki” is going, the MCU is a bit lackluster. One film though has been on my horizon since the beginning: “In the Heights.”

All Aboar… Wait , not so fast

With the coronavirus starting to be corralled, vacation travel is beginning to pick up. Now the big question, with answers changing daily: masks or not? Plus, not everything is back to normal as we write; cruise ships are still shut down from US ports, Canada and Mexico borders are closed for visitors and with the tension in the Middle East, well, you might not want to travel there anytime soon. India is in the midst of a major coronavirus situation, so avoid it also. New variants appear to be cropping up daily, so should you travel? If vaccinated, I say “yes,” but with caution.

A full-service garage

You may recall in a previous article Nancy alluded to the nightmare she was having getting the bocce ball club up and running. Her work was finally finished, and she was looking forward to the first game of play. Mother Nature cooperated perfectly, it was 90 degrees, with 80 percent humidity. The sun was hot and so were some tempers. Twenty minutes into the first game Nancy got into a rather heated discussion with a man on the opposing team. Taking a tip from hockey players, I just let them go at it. They’ll tire out eventually.

Confessions of a later-in-life Peeping Tom

Look, it’s a curse carrying around a name like “Tom” all your life, having to endure childhood taunts like “Peeping Tom” from early school classmates. Because I was not then, nor have ever been, a Peeping Tom.

Well, at least not until recently, thanks to that video camera I recently bought, so well-camouflaged that those who are being peeped-upon don’t have a clue that I’m watching them.

I’ll get to that, but first a bit of background.

Not so eggceptional

Jim had a lot of recording sessions at the radio station one day, so we decided it would be a good idea to have a big breakfast. While trying to decide where to go, we remembered driving down Algonquin Road and seeing signs for a new brunch restaurant. Great.

Fear as entertainment

Seems as though getting back to “normal” isn’t as easy as one would hope. Travel advertised and events being announced, there is still this general sense of unease. As we make way out of bomb shelter battlements we have created out in our homes, what do we make of this new world?

When in drought

There is a park just a few miles north of Huntley that my children and I used to go to frequently when they were younger. Its proximity close to the south branch of the Kishwaukee River makes it prone to flooding. We affectionately refer to it simply as Flooded Park. In previous years, more often than not the entire park would be flooded.

Ask an Angel: June 17, 2021

My husband and I are in our mid-70s. Other than my husband being in the early-moderate stages of dementia, we are in decent health. However, over the course of the COVID pandemic, it became evident that I need more help.

A tip of the hat to the second-best dog in the world

Last week I went to the second-best hot dog stand in the world and ordered a couple Chicago dogs with everything, including a pile of greasy French fries that would have kept a Potato Famine family of six going for a week or more. It was my first venture to that hot dog stand in a year, and it was good to find that they still put out the second-best hot dog in the world.

Fragrant flowers have healing powers

Recently, Chris’ mom stayed with us for a few weeks. We each did our own thing during the day. She spent time resting while recovering from a medical procedure and Chris and I worked. Our evenings were filled with listening to wonderful stories about her childhood, intense scrabble games and fun rummy card matches. It was truly a joy to have her in our home.

Big stars, big action

Summer is upon us once again. With it comes the expectation of long sunny days and starry nights. Time will have to be filled with all the fun and frivolity this year has to offer. And there’s only just so much running after the ice cream truck one can do. This means going back to theaters for the blockbuster season.

Crab-nado

May is not a good month for Nancy, especially May of 2021. As you may know, she is President of the Bocce Ball Club with over 700 members. Due to COVID, play was suspended last year and as a result, getting back in the groove was chaotic.

Ask an Angel: June 3, 2021

As my husband and I get older, we’ve noticed that we can’t seem to spend as much time out in the hot summer weather as we previously enjoyed. We’re approaching our eighties and have tried our best to maintain an active lifestyle. I enjoy gardening, and my husband enjoys playing golf. We both like to swim in our neighborhood pool and have always enjoyed power walking in the mornings. However, last summer, my husband nearly suffered a heat stroke after our usual morning walk.

Don’t cry over a ‘lost year’

At the end of my junior year in high school, my parents moved us from Elmwood Park to Franklin Park. And so, on a Monday afternoon in early May, I suddenly found myself sitting in a classroom in West Leyden High School, having started the day at Elmwood Park High School, clearing out my locker.

A bite of Apple

With as many streaming services out there, there is no lack of entertaining content. Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max; should we need yet another?

Well, the last one we would expect is one from the company who redefined the phone and the watch.

A regional favorite

In our last article, we mentioned we tried unsuccessfully to get into a new restaurant, even though it was 5:30 on a Wednesday night. Not to be deterred from her appointed mission, Nancy asked the host to make a reservation for the following Wednesday at 5:30, and he graciously honored her request. Mind you, this is a week in advance and early on a week night. Our anticipation grew as we counted down the days.

Take a trip to the pleasure garden

Road trips offer the excitement of fun times both at the destination but also during the trip itself. Fancy a road trip out east? Consider heading to Chanticleer Garden, our nation’s premier Pleasure Garden.

Ask an Angel: May 20, 2021

My father-in-law recently suffered a stroke. While he was fortunate to live, his life, as well as my mother-in-law’s, has been turned upside down.

Traveling back to normal with a vaccine passport

Thanks to the millions of vaccines being administered daily in the US, it appears we may actually be “rounding the corner” against this pandemic, to quote the words of the former Occupant in Chief.

Q&A with McHenry County Conservation District

The McHenry County Conservation District is celebrating its 50th year in existence. Wendy Kummerer, the director of marketing and education answers a few questions for this week’s column.

Spring has sprung

Spring is Mother Nature’s time for renewal and rebirth. This highly anticipated event is even more important this year due to the Pandemic of 2020. Del Webber’s are finally emerging from their homes and venturing out. The downside to this is that you realize what has to be replaced around your house.

Ask an Angel: May 6, 2021

I have always been passionate about gardening. I love the smell of dirt and the first sprouts of the season. As I’m getting older, though, I’m finding my passion to be more of a burden.

Let’s have ‘Another Round’

Well, that was an interesting awards show, wasn’t it?

The past is a foreign country

If you’ve done any traveling in your life, you see that folks do things differently in other lands. Some of the difference seems interesting and fun, but there are also differences that make you glad to skip back home, where folks do things “right” again. “What are those people thinking?” you think. “How can anybody behave like that and think it’s OK?”