The first few days of our Virginia Trip consisted of abnormally hot weather >90 degrees and humid. So we limited some of our travels to ensure the trailer did not overheat and kill the cats. We read a story once where the electricity went out and all the pets in the RV died. So sad. This is why I went to Sandy’s vs. both of us.

Fortunately, the weather cooled off to the 80s and we felt comfortable that the electricity was fairly consistent. So, off we went to Edith’s house.

Because we visited on a Thursday we were able to meet 2 of David’s kids. Kasey the middle daughter and Ricky the youngest. David has 3 kids.

Kasey is working at NASA with large data sets, has no kids, and loves to sail boats. Ricky works for a cyber security company that contracts to the government. Ricky told me it is really hard to find a job in the area that doesn’t involve the government or require some kind of security clearance. Kasey’s boyfriend Evan stated that the Norfolk area has the largest percentage of jobs concentrated in a sector – the Navy and shipyards. (Okay, that is what we heard, but it might not be quite what he said.)

I feel that Edith is very fortunate. Ricky lives with her, and Kasey comes to her house every Thursday for supper. Since we visited on Thursday, Edith invited us to the family supper.

Edith and I were chatting about how she met Uncle Dick. Edith and Dick both went to school together. Dick was 2 grades higher than her. Both of them were really shy. Edith had told her mom that she liked him and that her mom knew him. One day, Dick walked Edith and her girlfriend home. Dick walked Edith to the house and they started dating after that. They had 4 beautiful children: David (looks just like Dick), Sandy, Timothy and Jonathon. Edith & Dick have 8 grandchildren and a number of great grandchildren. Edith had the joy of meeting her newest Great Grandchild on Wednesday.

We talked about birds and the challenges Dad has, at times, with squirrels. Evan told us to add red pepper flakes to the bird feed. Neither John nor I have heard of this, and we looked it up. I learned that birds lack the receptors that can detect capsicums (the heat), unlike mammals. Since squirrels are mammals, they are negatively impacted by the pepper flakes, and they will avoid the food. There are some dangers with adding pepper flakes though. Birds eyes, other sensitive parts, and babies skin could be irritated by the pepper flakes. I found an interesting article from Audubon on the topic. See link: https://www.audubon.org/magazine/hot-take-seems-birds-can-taste-spice-after-all. If you choose to use red pepper flakes, I recommend researching first to ensure there are no negative impacts on the birds and their offspring.

John and Edith talked about John’s mom. How hard it is to deal with someone with dementia, and that you cannot argue or reason with them. Edith said her mom had dementia, and she took care of her mom for about 6 months waiting for spot in nursing home to become available. Edith wishes she knew what she knows now about dementia.

Edith made supper for all of us: tuna casserole, corn and blueberry muffins. The tuna casserole was one of the best tuna casseroles I have ever had.

And of course we ended the night with pictures.