“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 811 (Sunday) – relaxing

Winston relaxing on the floor.

The weather was perfect for a backyard cookout and dining in a screen house and that’s exactly what we did at Mom’s.  

There were all the hallmarks of a perfect day – good company, sunshine and light breezes, and food. The chiminea was burning wood and emitting smoke to keep the bugs away. It all felt like the best parts of camping, but without the hassle of the central toilet and shower facility, and bugs.

Mom is always a great hostess, and there was a pre-lunch food spread of crackers, cheese, pepperoni, chips and dip.  Then the actual lunch food was paraded out – garden salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, and hot cooked stuff perfectly prepared by Step Dad at the grill. That was all followed a short time later by dessert of fresh strawberries over vanilla layer cake with whipped cream.

Winston relaxing in his bed.

It was all quite relaxing. After lunch, Mom and I sat on the glider swing in the sun and looked at the flowers and wooded section of her back yard. Later, we played Scrabble in the screen house. Real, old-time Scrabble on the fancy board with the raised grid that spins and with the score kept on paper.

Winston, the Canine King of Chill, relaxed by alternating between laying on the stone tile floor of the screen house, laying in the sun in the grass, laying in the shade in the grass, and finally, sleeping in his bed in the screen house (once I brought it outside). 

At home, the relaxation was shattered with chores like laundry and dishes and neighbors periodically setting off fireworks which stressed out Winston, but the in-between times were peaceful.