Hi Michael,

 ML> >  NB> We still so far are (tentatively) planning for the third
 ML> weekend in >  NB> September (17-20), at Lydia's in Bloomfield.  Are
 ML> you planning to >  NB> come...?  Lydia's made a bedroom on the first

 ML> To Lydia via Nancy
 ML> That's convenient and nice. If things return to any
 ML> Internet), would that be a B&Bable space?

Sounds like it would--one where climbing stairs is not required.

 ML> >  DS> We really do not know if we are going to be comfortable with
 ML> traveling >  DS> anywhere for the next several months.  It is not just
 ML> NY State (Monroe >  DS> county) that is relevant.  It is the states
 ML> that we might need to pass >  DS> through, and that others have been
 ML> to or from.  It would be good to >  DS> see everyone again, but we are
 ML> just not sure at this time.

 ML> To the Shipps
 ML> The way the Massachusetts quarantine order reads now,
 ML> travel through states is allowed. I presume that the
 ML> New York rule is similar, because the New England and
 ML> New York governments are supposed to have made the
 ML> rule uniform. The procedure seems to be that you get
 ML> to your destination, hunker down for 14 days, but are
 ML> allowed to leave the state inside that time. The
 ML> kicker for you would be no grocery shopping and no
 ML> restaurants, unless Maryland becomes included in the
 ML> list of safe states. Your quarantine accommodation
 ML> must have an isolatable bathroom and food delivery
 ML> to be repaired to in case of symptoms.

It would be hard to not be able to shop or eat out. At least we now have
2 Wegman's in NC so we wouldn't miss out on shopping there. (G) We would
still have to go thru VA & MD besides PA and NC to get to NY. Our
governor is supposed to let us know today if he's going to ease (or
tighten) the Phase 2 restrictions we're in now. TBH, I think a good bit
of the state is ready to move on but the very urban areas (Charlotte,
Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) aren't as ready. We'd probably fall under
the Raleigh decision, since WF is in Wake County. But, if we could
travel, we'd take the camper which Steve and I could isolate in.

 ML> >  RH> Steve and I have been thinking about this the past few weeks.
 ML> Might we >  RH> be better off not having a picnic this year? Most
 ML> everybody would have >  RH> to come in from out of state, which means
 ML> a 2 week quantentine. That >  RH> would be rather inconvenient for a 4
 ML> or 5 day event since we couldn't >  RH> really count that as part of
 ML> the isolation time. Let's think about >  RH> calling things a wash for
 ML> this year and plan a bigger get together >  RH> next year.

 ML> To Ruth and all
 ML> It is all so up in the air, because the public health
 ML> authorities are inconsisent and changeable according
 ML> not to science (which doesn't change all that much
 ML> or that fast) but by the way the wind blows.

There's so much of an unknown factor to this that everybody is caught
second (and third) guessing.


 ML> With rounding errors compounding, by next month you
 ML> may not be able to cross state lines at all (though
 ML> the northeast consortium seems to be holding fairly
 ML> fast as of now). We may all be permanently in the soup,
 ML> or out of it.

 ML> >  DS> I think that is a sensible plan, especially now that I know
 ML> that the >  DS> New York governer wants a 14 day quarentine for anyone
 ML> coming from >  DS> many
 ML> >  DS> states, including California, North Carolina and Maryland.  I
 ML> doubt >  DS> that a Zoom event would be all that much fun either.
 ML> > A Zoom event would not be the same, by a long shot. Let's see what
 ML> Nancy > and Michael think about not getting together this year. As of
 ML> now, our

 ML> To all
 ML> I would not endorse nor in all probability participate
 ML> in a videoconference picnic, which seems to me to be
 ML> not worth the inconvenience and the setting up. If people
 ML> had such and it was universally wanted to call it an echo
 ML> picnic, I'd consider putting it on the historical list.

It could be done but I'd only endorse it at a "if we absolutly had to do
it and there were no other way to do so" idea.

 ML> As far as what goes down this year, I'll make every
 ML> effort to attend an in person picnic, but organization
 ML> is in no way up to me unless the claimants of the
 ML> picnic relinquished that honor. So far as I can see,
 ML> it we can make a critical mass, which may not be the
 ML> case, I'm all for it. If Burt and Shirley or the
 ML> Sacerdotes could be convinced to participate, that
 ML> would be a tipping point, but as they are in more
 ML> vulnerable populations and tend to be cautious in
 ML> any situation, that's not likely to happen.

Just about all of us have at least one (some more) point of
vulnerability that would make us uneasy about gathering as a group.

 ML> Perhaps as a stopgap or substitute we might designate
 ML> the picnic weekend as a time to cook either favorites
 ML> or new and exciting things and remember to report on
 ML> the results here. Maybe a few days before we might
 ML> entertain suggestions about themes or ingredients and
 ML> go from there. Hey, it's better than nothing. We could
 ML> do this any time, but certainly it would be extra
 ML> appropriate to do so on a picnic weekend.

Sounds good; we also are going to celebrate our 45th anniversary on that
Sunday so we'd probably have something a bit out of the usual (for us)
to report on. Instead of dinner at TR, maybe go to the Angus Barn sort
of thing. (G)

 ML> > FROG (Forest River Owner's Group) rally is still set for later this
 ML> > month in Goshen, Indianna, but quite reduced from what its been in
 ML> > previous years. We've not gone to one before so have nothing to
 ML> compare > it to but I understand there were field trips, factory
 ML> tours, camper
 ML> > repairs, and good sized gatherings of people.

 ML> To Ruth
 ML> Just curious, do you have a handle on what
 ML> modifications are in place this year?

It was canceled on Monday. Even at a reduced number of participants they
crunched covid numbers, where people would be travelling to/from and
other factors, then came up with the conclusion that it just wouldn't be
a good idea for the rally this year.


---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Our necessities are few but our wants are endless...

--- PPoint 3.01