Now I don’t know if I’m sending Baguette to school or to the Somme.
Category: Uncategorized
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How We Made It Through the Pandemic
First up: The pandemic is not over. It’s not even the only viral problem out there.
That said, I’ve had a post with this title in mind for at least two years. Not everything that I was going to write then is still applicable now, but a lot of it is.
It’s hard to know what and how to write about at this point. The shutdown in March 2020 was so incredibly hard on Baguette, as every element of her routine was thrashed and trashed, and the (as it turns out, pointless) closure of parks and beaches and zoos and pools meant that all of the places we would normally go to help her recalibrate were off-limits.
It was bad.
She worked so hard, and we are so proud of her. She did not care for online school at all, but her love of school is so strong that she tried anyhow. Her 1:1 classroom aide and I spent the spring of 2020 just getting her used to the idea of Zoom, which she hated. She still hates it. But by that fall, she could push through to see her teacher and classmates and participate in lessons.
We had the help first of a retired special education teacher and then of a phenomenal woman who came in to support her through the school day and help her navigate computer systems and apps and activities.
We had car rides and walks to nowhere that at least offered a change of scene.
We had visual schedules, for the day as a whole and for school.
We had Rudy.
We had the swing in our neighbor’s front yard, which was the only swing she could use without driving to a different county.
We had Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which Baguette watched every single day for over a year. For Halloween 2020, she trick-or-treated as Belle. The morning of Baguette’s 11th birthday in 2021, her aide–the phenomenal woman mentioned above–arrived bearing an enormous Beauty and the Beast cake (I pushed my basic grocery store cake to the back of the refrigerator, because it was not worthy).
We had splash pools and slip-n-slides, which were the only way she could get any water time until the summer of 2021.
It was not enough.
We are still traumatized, all of us. (Well, not Rudy.) Baguette has been back at school in person since the spring of 2021, but the inadequacy of that online learning is still affecting her.
It is still bad.
The parks and beaches and pools are open again–but that period was so damaging. It’s going to take much longer to recover from than it did to experience.
But at least there’s Rudy.
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Last of the Wild Bunch
We said goodbye to Butch on Saturday. He had a good run — he survived Sundance, who we lost to brain lesions in February 2019, by more than a year. We adopted them in 2015, and gave them both the best we could. Dogs give you so much more, though.
Butch had been in decline for a while, and for the past couple of weeks we had been working hard to keep him eating. But eventually he would eat — and he could still navigate the dog door and the back steps — so we continued to seek out ways to tempt his appetite and keep him as strong as we could.
That morning, though, his breathing changed. Overnight he went from bouts of panting to constant panting, his old lungs and enlarged heart unable to move the oxygen he needed through his body. We knew.
We called the in-home vet, who was able to come just a few hours later. Butch got that chocolate ice cream he always thought we were denying him. We talked to Baguette and had her say goodbye, and when it was done, she told me what we had been telling her: He’s with Sundance.
So Parker has reunited with Longabaugh, as the last of the Wild Bunch rides off into the sunset.
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Cottages and Cabins
Baguette loves a good cottage.
In fact, Baguette loves a cottage so much that sometimes she will just ask to go to one. We’re pretty sure a big part of the appeal is that it’s a cozy space that has a LOT less stuff in it. About a year ago, she told me that she wanted to “go to the house that you carry on your back.” I told her that this was a fantastic description of a cottage and how it made her feel — and let her know that she could use the word “cottage” for that. Recently we spent some time in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and let Baguette know that we were going to a cabin, which was a “mountain cottage.”
Baguette loves a good cabin, too.
Fireplace preferred, but not required I’ve written in the past about how our travel patterns don’t match what Mr. Sandwich and I envisioned when we married, much less how either of us traveled growing up. And that’s okay, because what we do works for the three of us. But we are always rethinking the details.
What makes a rental space work for us? For starters, a distinct living room with plenty of seating — including at least one sofa — is important. Baguette likes to lounge (and will commandeer a sofa) so having a couple of comfortable chairs in addition means that all three of us can enjoy the space together.
Sleeping and Bathing
The closer we can get to real beds for everyone, the better. That often means that we’re looking for a one- or two-bedroom space, but we’ve found a couple of large studios that work well for us. Sofa beds can be tricky, but recently we’ve rented one place that had a futon for the second bed, and another boasting a Murphy bed–both of which worked just fine for Baguette.
We’re pretty flexible on the bathroom. Baguette prefers baths to showers, but as long as we all have a way to get clean, we’re fine.
Eating
Kitchens: It turns out that one of our must-haves is a microwave. That may not sound like a big deal, but every now and then we run across a rental that doesn’t have one. Apartment-sized fridge? We can work with that. Two-burner stove? Not ideal, but not a huge problem. A dishwasher is nice, but far from essential. But we have to have that microwave.
The other thing about rental kitchens is that you never know how they’re going to be equipped — but you can probably count on the knives being mediocre at best. Our latest pre-vacation project is assembling a “kitchen box” with a few tools and non-perishables that we’ll take with us, to be sure that we’ll have the things we like to use when cooking.
I found a number of recommended take-these-to-your-rental kitchen tools lists online, and they seemed pretty thorough, and generally reasonable. I used them as a starting point and adapted based on how we cook (people who use zesters would want to have one on hand, but it’s not a tool we routinely use at home — so we won’t be taking one on vacation). Here’s how we’re planning on packing our travel kitchen box:
Equipment
- Small set of sharp knives for slicing/chopping
- Small plastic cutting board
- Ice cream scoop
- Tongs
- Vegetable peeler
- Strainer/colander
- Spatula
- Wooden spoon
- Whisk
- Plastic wrap and aluminum foil
- Quart containers/bags
- Chopsticks
- Coffee maker*
Ingredients
- Coffee
- Tea
- Sugar
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Steak seasoning
- Kroger brand Chocolate Paradise ice cream
Most perishable items we’ll buy on location; we’re usually staying within striking distance of a major grocery store. But that ice cream? That’s what Baguette wants for dessert, and no substitutions will do. We’ll also have a small cooler so that we can be sure we have her ice cream of choice.
*Coffee maker. Sigh. A lot of rentals come with coffee makers, but I have come to prefer the French press coffee I make at home, and I’m just dubious about how often those coffee makers are getting cleaned. The thing is, I don’t want to take my French press on vacation. It’s glass, and I don’t want to risk breaking it. I’ve tried a travel version that was metal, and the resultant coffee was . . . kind of terrible. More recently, I’ve been trying this to make pour-over coffee, and so far it’s just okay. But I want to have coffee AND I don’t always want to go out for it, so hopefully I’ll come up with a travel method that works.
What are your vacation must-haves?
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Book Talk: I Recommend Laura McHugh
If you haven’t yet discovered Laura McHugh, then hie thee to the bookstore or library and dive right in. Or, like me, you can listen to the audiobooks. I’m not going to quibble about the medium.
The first of her books that I read was actually her second, Arrowood. The story of a young woman at a turning point in her life, coming to terms with her family’s tragic past, is a gripping slow build. Arden Arrowood’s life was forever changed by the disappearance of her younger twin sisters–but what happened that day?
A little later, I read her first novel, The Weight of Blood. It centers on another mysterious disappearance and how it has affected the family and community, but the characters and plot are completely different from Arrowood.
And now I’ve just started her third, The Wolf Wants In, and it hooked me immediately. Sadie Keller is trying to find the truth about her brother’s death, and Henley Pettit wants nothing more than to leave her family and small town behind. What’s going to happen? I can’t wait to find out.
McHugh centers her novels on themes and issues that could be described as “ripped from the headlines” — abduction, trafficking, addiction — but her approach is so thoughtful and human that the lurid feel of that phrase doesn’t apply to her work at all. She creates complex, imperfect characters who feel very real, and about whom I find myself caring very much. The books are moody and atmospheric, but in ways that feel very organic.
She also provides a strong sense of place. The settings are an integral part of the stories and characters, and I love that the books take place in different parts of the Midwest; cities, particularly New York and Los Angeles, are so prominent in American pop culture that I always appreciate getting to know a different location.
The books aren’t part of a series, so you don’t need to read them in any particular order. Just read them. I think you’ll be glad you did.
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BookTalk: Bedtime Reading
A year and a couple of weeks ago, we started reading chapter books at bedtime. We all curl up in Baguette’s bed and read the next installment of the current literary adventure.
Baguette is working on her reading skills, and we’ve always read picture books to her (that is, when she wasn’t grabbing them from us and turning away to page through them on her own, as she often did at age two). And Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book remains an oft-requested favorite.
But now that she’s in grade school, I want to be sure that focusing on phonics and sight words doesn’t get in the way of exposure to the books Mr. Sandwich and I loved at her age.
So, what have we been reading to her? Thanks to Goodreads, I have a list. In no particular order:
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (This was our first, and it was new to Mr. Sandwich and me as well as to Baguette. We all liked it, and I suspect we’ll re-read it one of these days. And we did not remember how drily funny White was.)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard Atwater (Cute enough, but not my favorite)
Who Was Alexander Hamilton? by Pam Pollock (our first foray into nonfiction; we need to do more of this)
The Princess in Black (#1) by Shannon Hale (our first foray into kind-of graphic novels; we need to do more of this, too)
Illustrated Stories from Aesop by Susanna Davidson (there were far more of these than I think are strictly traditional)
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (still sweet, but surprisingly hard to read aloud)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (there is some weird stuff going on here)
Stuart Little by E. B. White (I’ve got to be honest. Stuart creeps me out a bit on more than one level.)
Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa (a recommendation from Cloud that we’re glad we took)
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (I remember loving these books when I was young, but I’m not sure this really grabbed Baguette)
The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (more weirdness, and he did not like suffragists)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (I’ve always liked this better than Stuart Little)
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (I remember being kind of meh on this as a kid, but now that I have a better sense of Manhattan, and parenting, and autism, I like it a lot. And yes, I think Harriet is autistic. Read this.)
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (Still wonderful, and I am so sad that White wrote only three children’s books.)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (I always preferred this to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; books about journeys have always intrigued me–although I could have done with a bit less of the Cloud Men on this go-round.)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (I really admired the creativity with which the author outfitted the Clock’s quarters, but nothing much happens for a very long time.)
Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (This one was my favorite as a kid, and the weirdness continues.)
Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge (We’re reading this now, and this book is mistitled, unless Hans Brinker becomes really pivotal in the next few chapters. So far, the book is mostly about richer boys on a wintertime skating tour of The Netherlands.)
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, with illustrations by Fred Marcellino I’m feeling pretty good about the fact that we are on book number 18–and this list alone doesn’t account for the summer, when Baguette just wanted us to re-read Sandra Boynton’s Little Pookie books over and over and over. Which we did, because why not? It was summer.
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Singing
Baguette has been singing the classics:
For he’s a joggy good fellow,
For he’s a joggy good fellow.
For he’s a joggy good fellow
Which nobody canst deny.Which nobody canst deny,
Which nobody canst deny.
For he’s a joggy good fellow
Which nobody canst deny.–Baguette
The song accompanied work on this puzzle.
It’s been a big week for puzzles. -
Fat Tuesday
I don’t follow Lenten traditions, but I do like pancakes. So I decided to get pancakes for lunch, and arbitrarily went to one of two places at a nearby intersection.
I ordered my combo plate and answered “sourdough” when they asked what kind of bread I wanted.
The plate showed up, and I was served two eggs over medium, bacon, some really unappealing hash browns, and two slices of sourdough toast.
That’s when I realized: when they asked about bread, they were including pancakes in the option.
But they brought me what I’d asked them to, so I ate some of it and then went across the street to the other place, where I went with the full-on decadent version of pancakes.
Fat Tuesday, indeed.
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2017
New year, new front door accessory.
Fingers crossed.
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Next Steps
I need to write a post about this summer. A lot has happened, and Baguette has done some great things. We’ll get to that.
For now, here’s what we’re focused on:
