This is Susan’s latest newsletter. Subscribe to receive it directly in your email box once a month.
Hello, fellow humans!
Do you find yourself pining for the days when you could leave the house without antibacterial wipes and Haz-Mat gear? Do you stare in horror at people with masks pulled below their noses? Do you have nightmares of being stuck in a crowd where no one is wearing a mask? Or, even worse, chasing you to breathe on you? Has your car died in the garage because you drive it so rarely? Do your children tell you, “Mommy, I think you need to keep this house a little cleaner”? Does your husband wander through the rooms with ear-buds and laptop in hand, chatting on work-related video conferences while you’re hustling to get your kid onto Zoom in time for math class?
If so, you might be suffering from Pandemic Fatigue. I’m not sure what the cure is except to vote in November. If you haven’t registered already, please do so. If you have registered and can vote early or by mail in your state, go for it! I know my family is not alone in hoping to restore some kind of normalcy again. I have my mask with eye-shield and purple latex gloves at the ready to vote here in Missouri on November 3. I am counting the days (heck, the minutes)!
Are you reading more these days? I am definitely trying, if I can stay awake long enough at night before I pass out. I gobbled up the newest Louise Penny called All the Devils Are Here, and now I’m on the third in Donna Leon’s series, Dressed for Death. I’m very much enjoying Leon’s books. Guido Brunetti is no Armand Gamache, but I do like him very much.
Speaking of characters that I like a lot (well, I’m a little biased): Amazon has both Jo Larsen novels, Walk Into Silence and Walk a Crooked Line, priced at 99 cents throughout the month of October. I feel like it’s a tribute to my birthday, though they don’t know when my birthday is. A happy coincidence, perhaps! Click below to order:
Walk Into Silence
Walk A Crooked Line
What else is going on? Ah, yes, it’s my birthday today! I’m fifty-freaking-six. Isn’t that insane? (See pic from ‘80s Trivia Night in March—rock on, baby!!!) How did I get that old? I think being the mom of an eight-year-old makes me feel so much younger. And working out doesn’t hurt. It’s only when I look in the mirror that I sometimes think, “You look ancient.” Then I’ll tug at my jawline, and Emily will say, “Don’t do that, Mommy, you look weird!” Which makes me feel like I totally shouldn’t get a neck-lift even if I’m knocking at the door to the class on Looking Like the Thanksgiving Turkey 101.
Ah, well! Here’s to soggy necks and wrinkles… and to masks and the people who care enough to wear them… and to exercising our right to vote…and to books that make us forget the tragic headlines for an hour every night… and for little girls who say exactly what they think!
Take care of yourselves, keep reading, hang in there, and, oh, yeah, Happy Birthday to me!!!
Cheers,