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August 13, 2020

The Independence Day speech we never heard

On Independence Day this year, this is the speech I wish we had heard.

The flu waits in the wings

You may grow weary of wearing a mask, staying at least six feet apart socially, washing your hands often, and using disinfectant on surfaces to minimize the chances of coming in contact with COVID-19. While health departments and Governor J.B. Pritzker ask for vigilance in your efforts to reduce the spread of coronavirus, another virus is only a few months away from entering the picture.

The COVID Zone

Imagine if you will, a world where any dealings with strangers is done through a sheet of plexiglass; where toilet paper can mysteriously disappear from all store shelves overnight; and where wearing a mask going into a bank will not get you arrested. Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to enter the “Covid Zone.”

You can do it

I measure my level of domesticity by the very high bar set by my grandmother. As I head off to bed with two sinks full of dirty dishes, I silently say ‘Grandma would have never done this.’ When I hire someone to wash our windows, and I don’t take the time to wash every set of curtains while he is washing the windows, I feel like I am missing the mark.

Ask the Woodchucks: Cleaning and caulking a shower

The caulking around our shower has black mold that we can no longer remove. What can we do to eliminate this mold?

Ask an Angel: July 30, 2020

As we continue to watch southern states see a rise in COVID cases, I’m concerned about what our area will look like this fall.

I am not a racist (and you are too)

Fifty years ago, when I was a graduate student at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina, I lived in a cheap row-house apartment built during the Depression. My next-door neighbor was Mike Coe, a young, self-proclaimed redneck.

Getting back to the future of dining

The Dining Duo is overjoyed now that the restaurants have opened up. There are several reasons for this celebration. First, we get to dine out once again. Second, we don’t have to wrack our brains and to come up with some stupid subject for our column. Last, but not least, when we stay at home, we usually dream up some crazy plan and Nancy winds up in a cast or some sort of body brace.

Bringing the past to life

Truth being stranger than fiction: that is a widely-known axiom. No author could certainly scribe a novel as weird and wild as the times we are in now. This is why we enjoy historical films and documentaries as part of our cultural diet. Features such as “Dunkirk” and “Titanic” enthrall us even if you know the outcomes.

Ask the Woodchucks: 911 flasher switch update

The one Sun City home device that we have gotten the most questions about is the flasher switch that flashes the outdoor lights to help fire and ambulance personnel find your house when you call them. That was 1990s technology.

Blooms with a view

As with most of our lives over the past 4 months, my son’s life has taken on a very narrow scope. As a freshman at Middle Tennessee State University, his life used to include get- togethers with friends, professors lecturing in classrooms, strolls around a gorgeous campus, Sunday morning church services and trips to Nashville.

Ask an Angel: July 2, 2020

My mother is scheduled to have her hip replaced in a few weeks, after suffering from chronic pain for many years. Her surgery has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and she can hardly wait to be relieved of her chronic pain. She’s in her mid-70s, and her care team seems hopeful for a quick recovery.

Farewell to a good friend I never met

John Prine was a childhood neighbor of mine, though I don’t think I ever met him directly.

He was a year and a half older than me, and we grew up just a bike ride apart — I in Elmwood Park, and he in Maywood, no more than five miles away. His dad was a tool-and-dye maker, shaping the steel that my dad produced in his steel mill job.

Evel K-‘Nancy’

The “Shelter in Place” order seems like has been going on forever and the Dining Duo is getting bored. While standing outside hoping to see other signs of life, our friend John goes zooming past on his bike. He stopped to talk, and we told him we would like to ride our bikes but it was too much work.

Reimagining the movie theater in 2020

At this point last year, the weather was calm and we were enjoying all the season had to offer. It was also the height of the summer movie season. All this feels like a distant memory however. The loss of the cinema, that communal experience, has given us questions as to how can we move forward culturally?

An unmitigated mental health crisis, part II

May (when this story was researched and written) was Mental Health Awareness Month. For this part of the story Sun Day has turned to Scott Block, executive director of the McHenry County Mental Health Board, Jane Farmer, executive director of Turning Point, Phyllis Seyler, program manager of NAMI-McHenry County, and Dr. Melissa Katz, clinical director of Samaritan Counseling Center of the Northwest Suburbs.

Garden State: Growing your own food in a time of crisis

We have all responded to the pandemic in different ways. For some, that response means sheltering in place while other members of our family bring us the essentials. For others, it means learning new ways of doing daily or weekly tasks; ordering food and communicating with others through cell phones, tablets and computers. For many, work now begins with a walk to the kitchen table instead of a 45 minute commute. My family’s response included an afternoon spent planting vegetable and herb seeds in containers with daily updates during dinner about their progress.

Ask the Woodchucks: June 4, 2020

Should heating and air conditioning vents be cleaned and if so, how often?

Ask an Angel: June 4, 2020

I’m a senior who lives alone and am wrestling with disappointment as the COVID-19 crisis continues. I’m having difficulty sleeping at night, I’m lonely, and I’m over virtual visits. I just want to hug my children and grandchildren, but don’t know when it will be safe to do so. My family lives out of town, so a social distancing visit isn’t possible right now.

An unmitigated mental health crisis

You won’t need to listen very long before you hear this plea, “Get the country open again.” This is not a lone voice pleading the case for resuming a normal life. After staying home week after week building to month after month, we’re hearing more of a collective shout that has registered with people throughout the U.S. “Get the country open again,” has become a rallying cry.

Ah, Betelgeuse, we hardly knew ye

I know, in a world so filled with death, it’s a horrible thing to wish for the death of any person, place or thing, but this time I just can’t help myself. Because just a few months ago, Betelgeuse gave off some clear indications that it will die soon — and I have to admit I’d like to see it happen.

Quarantine queen

This “Covid 19 quarantine” that we are all going through has really been an eye-opener. I have discovered that my loving bride of almost 46 years is a total, raving, lunatic. We all know that she feels I’m the moron, but here is a little look into life with Nancy.

A little bit of this if you enjoy that

Humans, we are creatures of habit. Ever since the beginning of time, we as a species has lived out lives in categories and order. Recently those routines have been seriously shaken out of balance. Luckily, our entertainment has changed much. We enjoy what we always have. So in that spirit, here are some items you might like if you into a particular taste of genre.

Ask the Woodchucks: May 7, 2020

There is a black hose where the sump pump water exits the house to guide the water away from the foundation on houses with a basement. To keep it from freezing in the winter you probably removed this hose.

Making your garden last

My husband is a stuff guy. I am a “less is more” girl. His motto is why buy one of something when you can buy three and have a few extra? I only buy something when I absolutely have to. When he cooks, it is in large quantities, and he puts the extra in the freezer. I’m perfectly content with making just enough for that particular meal.

Ask an Angel: May 7, 2020

It has been about five weeks now since we’ve spent time with my aging parents due to COVID-19. This is the longest that we’ve spent apart, given that we live near each other and are used to visiting at least once a week.

The View of a senior’s morning at the supermarket

From the view of a senior shopper, the supermarket experience is all new. Many supermarkets are following “senior hours” generally a few mornings a week. Among the stores in McHenry County, Jewel and Mariano’s have scheduled “senior hours” into their operation.

Perfection only makes oddity more appealing

I was eating Pringles the other day for the first time in a thousand years, and I wondered: “How do they get them all to look like this, each of them perfectly nestled, each with the gentle swoop of a Panama hat brim without the crown?”

I have no idea why that can of Pringles ended up on my snack tray, because I never eat junk like that. I’m more of a health-food nut — Fritos or Cheetos. Never Pringles.

Chef moron to the rescue

In keeping with the CDC Covid-19 guidelines, please “social distance” yourself six feet from our photo!!!

Finding comfort in entertainment nostalgia

So if you are anything like me, this has not been the easiest of times in terms of entertainment. A filmgoer like myself wants that larger than life experience that the theater offers. However, due to the threat that shall not be named, we are in this situation. But to paraphrase Jane Austen, we are always in the pursuit of a new film or show to watch. And the home theatre will have to do.