Quarantine Time

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Well, we are still in “lockdown” or quarantine over this COVID-19 or coronavirus.  At this point in time, we are finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and states are beginning to open up things.  Thank goodness!

We’ve had people ask us how we are coping with being in the house all day every day.  I assume that for some people, it is a true hardship.  We understand the there has also been a dramatic uptick in domestic violence and child abuse during this time.  That is horrible, and we pray for those families.

As for the two of us, we’ve told people that actually, since we are both retired, the days aren’t so very different than they have been.  We still come and go as we please, it’s just different.  For instance, we still go “out” for lunch – it’s just that it is “take out” now, and we bring it home to consume.  We usually stay home for supper.  But some days the weather has been nice enough that we are able to open up the house – the windows are open, and the patio door stands open and lets that wonderful Spring air breeze through the house!  That gives the feeling of being outside and openness.

But one thing we have done that we don’t usually, is watch movies.  We have quite an extensive DVD collection, and some of them we haven’t watched in quite a long time.  So Fred began rummaging around through them recently, and came up with a couple that we wanted to watch. 

The first one he pulled out was “Around the World in 80 Days” – the original one, with David Niven.  It’s a classic!!  It has been a favorite of ours for a long time.  And actually, there is a history of that movie for Fred.

When he was living in Japan in 1955-1957  in a suburb of Tokyo, when August 1957 , arrived,  it was time for him to leave his family and fly back to the USA to attend college.  One of his high school class mates was scheduled on the same early morning flight from Tokyo’s large international airport.  The day before their departure, the boy’s parents put them in a large US government run hotel in downtown Tokyo.   While exploring the area, they learned that the movie, “Around the World in 80 Days” was playing in a nearby theater. They managed to purchase tickets to see that very movie.  He still has the ticket, and here it is!

It’s a bit worse for the wear, but you can make it out.  He said the theater was built specifically for that movie, and was one of the first large-screen, cinemascope, surround-sound theaters in the world.  He said there must have been about 100 speakers completely around the theater.  If anyone reading this has seen that movie, then you remember the magnificent music from that movie.  In surround-sound it would have been fantastic!

Fred said that it was a 6:30 p.m. showing.  He also said that the ticket cost 500 yen, which at that time was equivalent to about $1.40.  Pretty inexpensive for that major production!  It was an adventure he has never forgotten.

So that was one of our day’s adventures during this quarantine time.  We’ve actually enjoyed our time together.  

How about you?

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: Around the World in 80 days, Life during Covid19, Quarantine