Maine has been slowly opening back up, with some folks cautiously returning to work and doing the “physically distancing socializing” routine. That’s a mouthful, for sure, so we just say “Maine Rules” for short. For example, “Party on my deck, Maine Rules.” That means we’ll be staying six feet apart which is easy for a Mainer. “BYOS” meaning bring your own stuff. We’ll provide the PP and SW (paper products and sanitizer wipes). See? Much simpler. Then there are some idiots who insist on partying like it’s 2019. The “19’ers,” me and my friends call ‘em. “19” referring not to the year or the virus, but to their approximate IQ. I’d like to say what …

Charlie and me have a nice rhubarb patch in our yard. My mother give us some as a house warming present. Every summer, I make one, maybe two strawberry-rhubarb pies. I intend to do more with my rhubarb, but time gets away from me and all of a sudden it’s too late. I’d cut some and give it to friends, but most everyone I know up here has their own patch of rhubarb, and those who don’t, usually aren’t real partial to the stuff. Personally, I love it! Rhubarb reminds me of when I was little. Sure, we had rhubarb pies in season, but we also always had rhubarb sauce on hand. I guess nowadays …

Bud’s the first of our little group to retire. Worked for Gagne’s & Sons Heating and Cooling for what? Thirty plus years, I guess. That’s dirty work, repairing furnaces and the like. Plus, you get called out at all hours, day and night. Weekends, too, don’t matter the weather. And unless you’re doing an annual cleaning, the people you’re dealing with are usually real upset. Once he hit sixty-five, Bud was outta there. Celeste could have retired with him. She was a school secretary. Worked her way up from elementary school to the superintendent’s office, and she had enough time in. But she worked an extra year instead. She explained it this way, “If I …

I know, things are starting to open up again. But some of the pictures from Memorial Day weekend were just crazy. You saw them: groups of people at a lake, shoulder to shoulder, carrying on like everything was back to normal. Nope, ‘fraid not. We gotta be smart about this, people, or we’re going to end up in a big mess. Again! My niece Caitlin is my insider for all things New Age-y, and she’s always talking about “doing things with intention.” That sounds kind of woo-woo, sure, but it’s not. It just means doing things on purpose. You know, thinking about what’s important to you and following through sensibly. Yeah, we’re all going a …

Most of us are doing are best right now. Sure, there are those yahoos at Cumbies that don’t wear a mask even though there are signs everywhere saying you have to. These are the same folks who think “14 Items or Less” is there to make the express lane faster for them and their 24 items of more. But for the most part, people seem to be hanging in there, trying to go by the rules. But sometimes, you forget. Like yesterday on my walk ‘round the neighborhood with Scamp, I saw my elderly neighbor, Paul, sitting on his front porch. He’d been failing over the winter with pneumonia and a fall and I hadn’t …

Saturday, the calendar alert on my phone goes off. Weird! What’s up with that? My niece Caitlin helped me learn how to do the phone calendar last year, and it’s been great for scheduling things when you’re out and about. “Ida, can you come and give a talk down to the Moose Lodge on June 21?” “Let me check my phone and see!” But truth be told, once we started sheltering in place, I went right back to using my paper calendar. It’s always at hand and when I’m not on the front lines down to the A&P, I’m home, so it works out good. Right now, the only reminder alert I have on my …

Welcome to a special edition of Ida’s Kraft Korner. Enjoy! That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!

Do you ever remember your face itching so much? I don’t. But put on a face mask, and that’s all I think about. Or don’t think and catch myself in the act. Charlie, too.  I Do Wash my hands? Sure, OK Ten times a day? OK, OK No need to ask, I wear a mask And gloves, depending on the task But if there’s a place Upon my face That I gotta itch, I do Sure, I’ll cough into my arm Won’t do my flannel any harm And if we stand six feet apart That’s not about to break my heart I take precaution, Same as you, But if I gotta itch, I do I …

Things I miss: Girls night out with the Women Who Run With the Moose. Zoom’s good, but not the same. On the plus side, no need for a DD (designated driver). Going to Hair Affair every Saturday morning. Getting my hair spiffed up and visiting with Patsy the gals down there. We call ourselves the “Sturdy Pinecones.” (You saw that movie “Steel Magnolias,” right? It’s kind of like that, only with snow or black flies.) Baked bean suppers down to the Congo Church. It’s still the best one around. Peanut butter pie to die for. Get there early, ‘cause it’s always the first thing to go. Seeing people’s whole face. Hard to get a read …

Couple weeks ago, Charlie nicely volunteered to go down to the A&P on Tuesday morning and pick up some basics, meaning toilet paper. They let the employees (and their families) shop before the store opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I just happen to know that on Monday nights a certain much in demand paper product just might be delivered. It’s been stressful for us cashiers on the front lines of this thing, day in and day out, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around going to the A&P when I’m not working. So Charlie stepped up to the plate, like he does. Marriage is all about team work, right? It was the day …