Heart of Houston Adventures of the Pandemic Patio Posse Finding new ways to celebrate life during a lockdown.
by Warner Roberts
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HTEXAS.COM
Next up was an Italian adventure starring Sharon and John cooking scrumptious spaghetti and meatballs, calamari and octopus carpaccio. So fancy, and we sang Italian songs. Halloween was amazing—with witches, ghosts and flowers in pumpkins centerpieces. Scott Evans and Jeff Henry were special guests with Scott bringing pumpkin cupcakes for dessert. Bob picked up fried chicken in boxes for dinner. Scary! For our Thanksgiving celebration, I made an appetizer of a turkey made of goat cheese, feathers from red bell pepper and olive eyes. (I was proud.) We served turkey and dressing from Cleburn’s cafeteria. Our “Godfather Wedding” event was decorated with all white table linens and white roses as centerpieces. Chris found tiny water guns as favors, and we offered a dinner nobody could refuse. We always served red and white wine, with other options also always available. We had a great Christmas celebration combined with Ray’s December birthday. The
I am grateful that life is slowly getting better; people are getting vaccinations, going back to real places of business. I am grateful if people remember to be thoughtful and wear masks or keep spacing if it seems appropriate. Kindness and consideration work.
PHOTO BY BIGSTOCK
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HO COULD HAVE EVER DRE AMED THAT WE WOULD ENCOUNTER AND EXPERIENCE ANY THING AKIN TO THE DRE ADED COVID -19 PANDEMIC? Well, friends, we did, and how we handled includes very individualized scenarios. I was lucky to continue to work from home on the computer and by the way of Zooming. Zoom became the operative word for many. My life changed drastically in that I didn’t go out— period—except to my back porch patio. Though we have lived in this house for many years, my husband, Bob, and I never sat out there until COVID. But then we went out at about 5:30 to 6:30 every day, and I waved at all the people who walked by. Many waved back and had no idea who we were. It was a lot of fun for me, but a little embarrassing for Bob. After my husband and son, Cliff, measured off a full 8 feet to distance tables and chairs (not satisfied with 6), I was allowed to have a few friends over, starting with one or two at a time. Of course, Cliff and Angie, who live down the street, were here all the time. Son Bob and wife, Kristin, from Austin visited. Nieces, Kelly and Paula also came often. (If I try to name all the friends who came by, I’ll forget someone.) Then, things evolved into having six friends per visit at around 6:00, during the first of which I ordered 10 varieties of pizzas. By the second one, my friend Chris Kase and I had began to decorate as though we were going to a gala. All red and black Chinese decor and a great dinner from Cafe Ginger was amazing. Our longtime friend, and great musician, Ray Rogers joined us and set up his equipment for singalongs. Charity Yarborough and Wally Cox and Sharon Abercia and husband John Evans rounded out our group. Charity and Wally brought Mexican food from Escalante’s for our next “Ole” event. Remember that we decorated for each event, mostly from my attic, and this time we found sarapes, Mexican straw hats and colorful serving pieces. Add tequila, and it’s a party. We later took a democratic vote to name our group, and after much discussion, we settled on PPP—the Pandemic Patio Posse.
