The Encore

A lot has happened in the world around us since my last post.

Today I baked a double batch of oatmeal raisin cookies and delivered them to the neighbors and a few friends in the community.

The coronavirus epidemic continues with a phased approach to re-opening occurring at levels set by the state / local communities, so different areas of the country are in different phases.

Here in New Jersey we are entering Phase 2 on June 15, they are looking at NJ as a single entity for this purpose – which I personally do not agree with considering we live in a low incidence area.  It may have been better if the lockdowns went by level of infection / risk rather than a total lockdown, however there is no way to determine that at this point.

Well on top of this ongoing epidemic we had a horrible event in Minneapolis where a police officer, surrounded by fellow officers and other citizens, brutally murdered a black man.  This was an un-excusable horrible act and should never have happened, we of course do not know all the facts of this case as we were not there.  However, this event lead to a large outpouring of protests which some turned to violence and looting.  Now the violence and looting were likely separate from the protesters by outsiders or adjitators.  It seems that the public is listening, companies are making statements and reaching out to employees which is good to get positive conversation going. My company president did exactly that and encouraged people to talk about it among themselves remembering the company values –  I did that with the team I work with and I think it was well received.

The police are largely community minded law abiding citizens, who risk their lives every day, there are bad apples as there are in society as a whole, but largely they do what they can to keep our communities safe.

There needs to be a sensible common ground to be able to take action when a wrong is done and to reward when a good action is taken.

A solution may not be easy to obtain but I think  each of us can foster change by practicing mutual respect for others and going out of our way to be open to talk about these issues and be open to possible differences of opinon.

We live in a great country, the best in the world, we need to recognize and deal with challenges as they come to us as we do in our own lives.

God Bless America!!!

What is a runner?

A search on the web brought these two answers:

1. a person who runs, especially in a specified way.

“Mary was a fast runner.

2 a person who smuggles specified goods into or out of a country or area.

“a drug-runner”

Well I am not one who smuggles anything. 

Do I run in a specified way – well yes, I suppose – I run on the road, a treadmill or on a path.

My favorite place to run is Horsehoe Lake here in Succasunna, NJ, I also like to run at the track on Bartley Road in nearby Flanders.  Both paths are flat and fun to run on.  The Horseshoe Lake path goes around the lake and surrounding area, it can be too crowded on the weekend, so many times on the weekend I will go to the path in Flanders.

I had a very successful running period this month of May 2020, I ran a total of 70.1 miles in the month, last month it was 50 miles and I have been running between 4 and 6 miles at a session.

The good thing at the end of these runs I feel like I can go further, which is good for the stretch training needed for training for a half marathon, which I will do for the first time in mid-September 2020.

I have to change my routine a bit to follow the plan which starts out at low mileage – 2 – 3 miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday gradually increases the miles over 13 weeks, with the long runs on the weekends..  bringing the long run to 10 miles the week before the race…. The half marathon is 13.1 miles.

I know that I can do it and have to change my routine to train for it a bit, it will be different but I am sure I can do it.. I think I will like the routine of being out running three times during the week and once on the weekend. I think that will be good for me to pace myself that way.

So today as I was running several men and a few women ran past me..  very young and not too much younger than me.. I thought they looked like runners and wondered if they thought that I looked like a runner.

As I deliverd cookies to the neighbors today I thought – am I a runner?

As I was never athletic in school or in earlier years it is hard for me to believe that.

But yes I am a runner,  I am a lot of other things too, baker, gardener, photographer, support group leader, actuary… but most importantly a person with varied interests.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy the wonderful spring and summer weather coming our way!!

Today we celebrate Memorial Day – a day for remembrance for those that gave their lives so we may be free today.

I decided I wanted to do something special for my weekly cookies, I was going to skip the week to take a break since I could not think of anything.  Well I did a search for cookies for Memorial Day, I found a recipe for decorating a hexagon shaped cookie, but could not find a cookie cutter shaped like that…. Another challenge was that it called for using Royal Icing – that is made with uncooked Egg Whites…. Not doing that, but there was an alternative using Meringue Powder.

Now where do you get Meringue Powder, after searching I found it at Michael’s craft store so I ordered two jars and went to Rockaway to pick them up.

Yesterday I baked a double batch of Sugar Cookies and rolled them out and cut out three-inch circles and cut out a circle in the middle so it would look like a wreath.

There were three colors, Red, White and Blue to make a flag like wreath, using the circle cut-outs.

Well I only have two pastry bags – I decided to do the blue with a spatula since that was a single block on the cookie, then there were 5 evenly spaced stripes for alternating Red and White  and Blue with Red being on the top and bottom. Of course little white balls for stars – it called for nonpareil tiny candies, but the white balls were a pretty good substitution.

It took some practice but I traced it out on a piece of parchment, after a few tries I got it and had the layout set, the first few I drew the pattern on the cookie but after a while I was able to do the pattern by looking at earlier ones and the pattern,

I was able to make 34 cookies, I packed them in baggies and drove them to three grocery ladies and then came back and passed them out to the neighborhood. There were a few left over.

I had never made Royal Icing before, I had to adjust and make it a little thinner than I had in the beginning, my sister Virginia gave me that tip.   It did not come out to look like the picture on the website but you can tell it is a flag and it looked very good..  Also, it tasted great too.

Spring is here and Summer is around the corner!!!

Happy Memorial Day!!!

The two young girls at the house up on our street were outside with their Mom and Dad and Grandpa… they waved hello to me, which was special because they had previously been shy when I came… I did not notice but the Mom handed the older one a little poster – it had a rainbow design and the words “Thank You for Brining Joy to Our Neighborhood”…. This was absolutely priceless and it made me feel so happy.  I told them I would put it in the window by our front door so they could see it when they walked by with Mom and Dad.

Today, Monday, the Mom was pulling the girls in a wagon blowing bubbles, I could see she was showing them the poster in the window, I could not get to the door in time to wave to them,

I have been delivering cookies weekly on Sunday’s to most of the neighbors since the lockdown started and the support group was not able to meet…. I have enjoyed baking different cookies every week for the support group so I decided to give to the neighbors.  Also including the ladies I shop for.

I am happy to do it and see the joy it brings to those I get to speak to.. but this little surprise made my day. 

One of the other families made this gnome candle for me, which also was very special.

As we approach the opening up the world we are all nervous to some degree and the news cycle is constantly negative or sensationalized.

Through the doctor group for one of my doctors they are offering antibody test, I have an appointment on Thursday morning.  We will see if I have the antibodies.

Hopefully it tells if I have had the virus and also hope it helps the statistics needed to figure the best course of action as things open up.

I ran a few times this week, four to five miles each time.

I will need to get more structured starting in June – follow a ten week  training plan for the half marathon in mid-September.

My best wishes for good health and happiness for all my readers.

I love surprises like anyone else.Well I got a surprise this past Sunday, a nice surprise.

I had baked the peanut butter kiss cookies and delivered to the neighbors and then went around town delivering to the grocery shopping ladies.

• In this trying time it is important to stay engaged in whatever way we can and this helps me to do that.
• Well I will remember this kindness for a long time because this is from people that cannot get out and about like I can, so was extra special.

I did a small grocery shopping trip for Dolores, the 93 year old woman and tomorrow I will do for Nancy and Shelia and then on Thursday I will do for Pat.

I have continued to run, today I did four miles in 40’ 40” a good pace and felt good to be out there again.  I am looking forward to training for the half marathon in September – training to start in early June…

I am so glad the weather is turning to spring, the trees are starting to bloom.

Hopefully this coronavirus will pass and we will be able to take our Outer Banks vacation in July and out Hawaii trip in September.

Today I baked a double batch of chocolate chip cookies, I broke them into bags of 5 to distribute to the neighbors and the shopping ladies.  I doubled a few for the people that had families. I also delivered to a friend that lives near by outside the neighborhood.Its fun to meet the people, even for just a few minutes, today I met Jerry who is 87  the boy-friend of one of the grocery ladies (age 84) and said he worked for the Ed Sulivan show and brought the Beatles and other foreign groups to the US to be on the show, he said he knew Brian Epstein the Beetles manager.  He was a character and will be interesting to know him after this emergency is over.

• Text from one of the grocery ladies “Thank you so much for the delicious cookies. Jerry and I enjoyed them. You are the best!”

I ran again yesterday, 5 miles again with a good pace.

This emergency is dragging on too long, why there is not a plan to do some kind of testing, even sampling so we can have an idea of what we have out there.  With the rate of new infections going down it seems that the unaffected people are in the majority.

Since we have what we need and I am able to get out frequently and our income is secure we have not been terribly affected, except for limitations caused by the distance rules or the shut down, possible summer vacation interruption.  You can understand the frustration people feel and can understand the protests to open things up.

Here’s to my wish for improvement in the statistics so that we can begin to see signs of the return to normal or some form of normal life.

I wish you all can find the good out there!!

We continue in our altered form of existence living under the restrictions caused by the coronavirus.

A funny thing happened shopping for a new woman late last week – on her list was two bottles of L’Oreal Blond #7 Hair Coloring Kit…. Well if you could see me bent down looking at all of the hair coloring kits, perseverance paid off and way back on the shelf after a few minutes I was able to locate the desired product and secure two bottles.  Of all my shopping excursions this was the most unusual.  I wonder how a half blind person with stringy gray hair would use two boxes of hair dye.. but at least made her happy.

Also I got a few surprises from my routine of delivering fresh baked cookies to neighbors – On Monday I found four snickerdoodles in the mail box from the young couple next door thanking us for the cheer me ups I have been leaving.. last week the neighbor on the other side left sourdough bread and some cookies another left a baking mitt that said “Man with a Pan” thanking the “Cookie Man……..   I also got an email from the people on the corner… so spreading a little cheer to the neighborhood is having a positive impact.

Yesterday I shopped for another woman – she left me a voice mail thanking me for do the shopping for them and the strawberries were beautiful… and thanking my wife for letting me do this shopping for them.

Today I shopped for another – she was so appreciative – I asked her not to add anything to the check, which she did last time… I told her this was my joy and gift to the community… I also picked up two cans of tomato soup, which I could not get for the 93-year old person who lives in the same complex and I dropped off to her – she insisted on paying me – I honestly could not remember because I had combined in grocery shopping I was doing to donate to the food bank – I said a dollar which I gave her, when she saw the two cans she said that was not enough. I told her no worries.

The weather is getting warmer which means I will be able to get out and run more.

As we begin to enter the phases of re-opening our society we need to be mindful of our mental health. I have read that it can be hard to recover from a traumatic incident and this is going to be hard.. worry about getting close to another person – or not wearing a mask.. will be frightening… I think now is the time to turn off most of the news and do infrequent check in on the status of things rather than listening all the time.

Try to get out and exercise to keep your mind and body in shape and in tune.

Stay safe and be well, this emergency will pass in time.

At a time when we are all experiencing an extraordinary level of stress, science offers a simple and effective way to bolster emotional health. ‘To help yourself start helping others.’” from New York Times article by Tara Parker, 4/12/2020.

I have frequently thought about this, in the support group setting I have seen in others and myself that helping others is just as rewarding and maybe even more rewarding to oneself than to the other person.

I saw the joy that I received from the simple task of picking up excess milk and produce from the local farm and dropping off at the food pantry….  I would be looking forward to driving from the food pantry to show them what I was able to obtain… and feeling I was helping people in the community.

Then when the Coronavirus hit I started to wonder about people that could not get out and I started to do grocery shopping for several people that were not able to get out. 

The first woman I did this was a 92-year old woman, who I noted when picking up her prescription that her birthday was April 12, Easter Sunday. I had flowers delivered here and purchased a card, yesterday I dropped them off, she came to the door with mask and told me she was smiling..   she had been a little stand offish when I started doing her shopping … understandably with all of the concern about the virus…. I felt very good after I had made the delivery.

Each of the women that I deliver groceries for has challenges, one is in a wheelchair, they all have a definite sense of resilience despite their challenges.

Turning my weekly baking for the support group to a sharing with the neighbors has opened up communication with some people I did not know that well, bringing a little joy to them in this difficult time is joyful. Yesterday our next door neighbor returned the favor with a few home made cookies and a small loaf of home made sour dough bread.

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, my family had a later day gathering via Google Hang-Outs.. it was interesting but a lot of fun to see everyone from our remote outreaches, Long Island, New Jersey, Virginia and New Hampshire… all at once, quite a marvel really.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday I went to Horseshoe Lake to see the sunrise and in the afternoon I walked on the walking path under the blooming trees.

Today I would like to talk about service to the community.

There are lessons we can learn about ourselves as we serve in the community, beyond what you learn in school or in your career.

I would always look at community events, like clean the river or rebuild the parks and think those are great things to do but how could I help, never feeling I could fit in to that.

I was involved with the local support group, the community garden, my running, I did my weekly baking for the support group and starting in September helping the food pantry with pick up and drop off of extra materials from the Ashley Farms, three days a week.

With the Coronavirus I decided to offer to buy groceries for elderly people that could not get out.

Well that started a small adventure, the first person was the 92-year-old person that was afraid of contact and banned me from the lobby of the building.   I got a call from a second woman who I knew was on oxygen but I found to be friendly.  I shopped for her yesterday, Friday, April 3, 2020… she had a pretty big list, I met her, she gave me the list, some cash and her Snap Card (a debit card that is pre-loaded with an allotment from a government program).

I did her shopping but did not know what “a box of orecchiette” was, so I got on the long line and called her to confirm her PIN and told her I did not know what orecchiette was and the service desk person said they did not have it.  She said “oh.. any pasta would do, I am sorry I was not specific but have enough pasta for now.”  I waited a long time and finally got to the assigned lane – loaded the groceries on the belt and then went to pay – I knew there was $65 on the card so the cashier loaded that in.  I tried the PIN and got “unauthorized.” I tried three times but same message… so I took the left-over cash and chipped in $40.00 – the bill was $72.00.

When I delivered the groceries, I told Nancy what happened with the card, she said that happens sometimes and the manager comes over and overrides something and it goes through.

Turns out sponges were in the order and they are not allowed under Snap.. so, the override is to take the sponges out and pay separately.. Now I know for next time.

Later in the morning I called the Dial A Ride driver to ask for an idea for Dolores whose birthday is April 12, she said that usually on the bus she brings a flower and balloon and the people enjoy that….  She also told me that the two people gave me rave reviews.. Nancy said the vegetables were beautiful and the pork chops and meat were excellent.

That felt like such an affirmation…. Later in the day I got calls from two other women, one was a friend of Nancy who calls Nancy every day to see if she is OK. Nancy said one of the women was very particular and her daughter said don’t use them because you will get mad if they do not get it right… I wonder if Betty, the third woman was the particular one (she told me she put alternates for items if they did not have that one)… the fun continues.

Later in the day Nancy called me, she was so upset about the $40.00 and wanted to make sure I bought something on her card next time. I told her not to worry it will work out.

Funny – all the women offered to pay me, offer me a tip, I refused and said the joy it gives me is enough payment…. The Dial a Ride driver said they want to make sure you have enough and what you need.. how sweet is that?

The adventure continues!!!

Now some of this is hard, trudging through the store not really knowing the person and trying to get everything right can be difficult…not insurmountable but a bit of a challenge.  I always enjoy a little challenge..  but the reward in helping others and see how they value what you have done for them through the genuine appreciation is just wonderful.

I hope you can experience the joy of helping others at this difficult time.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Here we are another week of lock down.

I have been going to the Shoprite regularly, I think 5 of the last 7 days… small amounts each time.

Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Napkins are short supply or non-existent…. even Oatmeal recently.

I did grocery shopping for a woman that lives in an apartment complex called Willow Walk on Thursday, it had a small vestibule with buttons to buzz the resident.  I picked up the Gift Cards she had and went to the Shoprite close by..  of course no toilet paper or disinfectant wipes….. she wanted Weaver’s Chicken Patties, I never heard of that and searched the frozen aisle…. I got a Shoprite clerk to help me find it…. When I delivered the groceries, I got confused in the little vestibule and tried to open the second door.. two ladies were sitting in the lobby and one of them opened it up.. they asked me if I was looking for someone – I told them and they said she was on the third floor and I could buzz her…. I buzzed her and one of the women told her I was down there… they told me to wait in the lobby… well when the lady came down she was all upset pointing her finger and telling me I had to go in the vestibule because the town said no one was allowed in the lobby… I gave her the groceries and the gift card with the balance on it… and left.

Yesterday I got a call from another lady, that was interested in grocery shopping a week from Monday, she was a lot friendlier and I said  I would be glad to, she gave me her address and said she was on oxygen, she lives in a two-family house on Main Street. She said her daughters live in Basking Ridge and another town.  I look forward to helping her.

We had a successful Zoom meeting with the support group on Monday, we have 6 support groups in NJ offering Zoom meetings, at this time it is important to give those that are alone and under unusual stress to have a outlet to others.  It is important to reach out to friends you have not had contact with for a long time or those you know that might be lonely.. keeping in touch with as many as possible is helpful to them and even yourself.

I hope my readers are coping well, adapting to the guidelines as best you can.

If I can help you with anything call me or send me an email – chris.chernick@gmail.com

Thank you for reading my blog.