Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Day 20
3:40
From my Face Time last night: Because she was such a good home-school student, Elena got four little chicks from the feed store yesterday: Gidget, Gadget, Goldie, and Lock.
Together with the dozen chicks Papi gives each family, there should be no shortage of Easter eggs next spring.
9:27
Yesterday I wrote three short "chapters" so I can officially say I'm writing a book about my experience of this pandemic, a page a day, then playing with paints, resting, and writing again.
Writing is a great antidote to loneliness--as are crafts of any kind, driving around and taking pictures of poppies and the occasional walker. Yesterday I got the surprise of seeing Charlotte walking a piece of her four-miles-a-day walk and patches of red and purple everywhere. Bees and birds don't have a clue about a pandemic and they are going about their business as usual.
11:51
Sleepy after a morning of writing and a drive to get juice and ready for a nap.
A word from Urth Juice in The Yard: they need your business if you like vegetable juices or smoothies. As the owner said to me, "I don't know what we're going to do. Rent is due tomorrow."
Happy Birthday, Victoria!
From my Face Time last night: Because she was such a good home-school student, Elena got four little chicks from the feed store yesterday: Gidget, Gadget, Goldie, and Lock.
 |
| Elena and Baby Lock |
9:27
Yesterday I wrote three short "chapters" so I can officially say I'm writing a book about my experience of this pandemic, a page a day, then playing with paints, resting, and writing again.
Writing is a great antidote to loneliness--as are crafts of any kind, driving around and taking pictures of poppies and the occasional walker. Yesterday I got the surprise of seeing Charlotte walking a piece of her four-miles-a-day walk and patches of red and purple everywhere. Bees and birds don't have a clue about a pandemic and they are going about their business as usual.
11:51
Sleepy after a morning of writing and a drive to get juice and ready for a nap.
A word from Urth Juice in The Yard: they need your business if you like vegetable juices or smoothies. As the owner said to me, "I don't know what we're going to do. Rent is due tomorrow."
Happy Birthday, Victoria!
Monday, March 30, 2020
Day 19
2:00 or 3:00 a.m
Monday is rolling in. I just cleaned the refrigerator, made blueberry pudding, watched Call The Midwife (PBSP online, read the first chapter of Gift From The Sea, and organized my painted papers so that they are ready, after I go back to sleep and wake up again at a reasonable time.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh had five children and a husband; she went to live alone for two weeks in a cabin by the sea. During those two weeks, meditating on seashells that washed up, she wrote a tiny little book that became a best seller.
She didn't write it to create a best seller. She wrote it because she had something to say that reflected what she had discovered was shared by all women of the time, how to balance simplicity and productivity. She most likely wasn't concerned about whether critics liked it or if people even bought it. I wonder if she even imagined that people today would still be buying and reading this book.
So I wondered: why don't I write a book? I have two weeks, probably way longer, in my own house, by myself, if I just stop frittering away time cleaning and organizing and watching movies. What about you?
No pressure, just a suggestion. A short book. Focused on what we've gleaned from this time of solitude and separation. Poems, a play, an extended essay or memoir, which is what Gift From the Sea is.
Pick the time of day that's your best writing time and save phone calls for later until you have your first chapter. That's what I'm going to do.
9:52
Productivity is so much a part of how I measure my days. Keeping up with the dirt and mess that settles around me. Checking things off my list.
The lack of goals makes me feel lost at sea.
So I've picked one of the many blank books in my house and made a list of things to accomplish, starting today and ending when I finish. "Write a book" is on the list.
I have absolutely no interest at this point in whether what I write is pleasing, publishable, literary or sellable. Those are minor aspects of this project and none of my business.
A little book. I little tiny book even. I challenge you, my writer friends, to give it a go.
Monday is rolling in. I just cleaned the refrigerator, made blueberry pudding, watched Call The Midwife (PBSP online, read the first chapter of Gift From The Sea, and organized my painted papers so that they are ready, after I go back to sleep and wake up again at a reasonable time.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh had five children and a husband; she went to live alone for two weeks in a cabin by the sea. During those two weeks, meditating on seashells that washed up, she wrote a tiny little book that became a best seller.
She didn't write it to create a best seller. She wrote it because she had something to say that reflected what she had discovered was shared by all women of the time, how to balance simplicity and productivity. She most likely wasn't concerned about whether critics liked it or if people even bought it. I wonder if she even imagined that people today would still be buying and reading this book.
So I wondered: why don't I write a book? I have two weeks, probably way longer, in my own house, by myself, if I just stop frittering away time cleaning and organizing and watching movies. What about you?
No pressure, just a suggestion. A short book. Focused on what we've gleaned from this time of solitude and separation. Poems, a play, an extended essay or memoir, which is what Gift From the Sea is.
Pick the time of day that's your best writing time and save phone calls for later until you have your first chapter. That's what I'm going to do.
9:52
Productivity is so much a part of how I measure my days. Keeping up with the dirt and mess that settles around me. Checking things off my list.
The lack of goals makes me feel lost at sea.
So I've picked one of the many blank books in my house and made a list of things to accomplish, starting today and ending when I finish. "Write a book" is on the list.
I have absolutely no interest at this point in whether what I write is pleasing, publishable, literary or sellable. Those are minor aspects of this project and none of my business.
A little book. I little tiny book even. I challenge you, my writer friends, to give it a go.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
"Chosen by God"
Frank Schaeffer, the author of Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God, doesn't mince words: Donald Trump is a "moronic monster" who's posturing as "chosen by God" to curry favor with the ultra-conservatives of the religious right.
The "religious right" guys popped up in the Seventies, married Fox News, and bowed to Donald Trump in 2016. If you have ever held your nose and listened to even a couple of minutes of their religious programming, you know that they follow and genuflect to any man who claims to oppose abortion. If a politician waves a pro-life flag, he (always a he in their party) can get by with anything. As a logical fallacy, this one is called a red herring, and they've been using it for decades.
Even if their candidate brags about his right to women's decisions and bodies (grabbing "pussy" in the words of Trump);
Even if their president bullies, ridicules people, and locks up children at the border;
Even if he is too self-absorbed and unintelligent to answer real questions from journalists ("That was a nasty question and you are a bad bad journalist");
Even if their president delays and denies help ("dangles ventilators") to doctors whose governor ("that woman") doesn't like him;
Even if he manages national emergencies based on his random and stupid opinions and fires real medical experts from the Obama administration who could have been in charge during this pandemic;
Even if he lies with impunity over and over every day---
Well, none of that matters to those who are laser-focused on one single issue.
And yet Trump--who knows nothing and believes nothing (except that he himself is a very stable genius) is allowed to ramble on and on and on, ad nauseam, and spout opinions and policies that will (and already have) cost lives.
I'm listening to Dr. Fauci and Andrew Cuomo for facts, intelligence and leadership. We have two deadly viruses in the air right now--the coronavirus and the virus of complete incompetence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The "religious right" guys popped up in the Seventies, married Fox News, and bowed to Donald Trump in 2016. If you have ever held your nose and listened to even a couple of minutes of their religious programming, you know that they follow and genuflect to any man who claims to oppose abortion. If a politician waves a pro-life flag, he (always a he in their party) can get by with anything. As a logical fallacy, this one is called a red herring, and they've been using it for decades.
Even if their candidate brags about his right to women's decisions and bodies (grabbing "pussy" in the words of Trump);
Even if their president bullies, ridicules people, and locks up children at the border;
Even if he is too self-absorbed and unintelligent to answer real questions from journalists ("That was a nasty question and you are a bad bad journalist");
Even if their president delays and denies help ("dangles ventilators") to doctors whose governor ("that woman") doesn't like him;
Even if he manages national emergencies based on his random and stupid opinions and fires real medical experts from the Obama administration who could have been in charge during this pandemic;
Even if he lies with impunity over and over every day---
Well, none of that matters to those who are laser-focused on one single issue.
And yet Trump--who knows nothing and believes nothing (except that he himself is a very stable genius) is allowed to ramble on and on and on, ad nauseam, and spout opinions and policies that will (and already have) cost lives.
I'm listening to Dr. Fauci and Andrew Cuomo for facts, intelligence and leadership. We have two deadly viruses in the air right now--the coronavirus and the virus of complete incompetence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Day 18: Sunday
"I'm doing lockdown in an apartment building in New York and everybody else has gone to their summer homes. I have a great view of the river. Even if I had a second home, I wouldn't go there. I love it here and I'm happy as a clam."
"I've never been more relaxed and peaceful, just being home with my family every day" said a young mother who (in pre-lockdown) felt she was being pulled in "a hundred different directions."
"I'm loving it," a friend told me. "I'm totally in my element!"
"What's not to love?" another said. "Whole days at home with no distractions, no commitments, no social obligations?"
These sentiments are not surprising to me, a "traveling solo" sort of girl; what's been unexpected and refreshing in Weeks 2 and 3 is that way more people than I'd have expected are admitting that forced isolation has its upsides.
The clam-happy people I know (in real life and on the radio) are "almost embarrassed" to admit it. Of course, we say, of course, no way we'd choose a pandemic as a way to get to stay at home and do whatever we want! It goes without saying that we'd gladly trade our juicy solitude for a reversal of coronavirus.
But now that we're here--without asking for it or buying a ticket--I imagine that we'll all take some souvenirs from this place when we go back.
I'd love to know what souvenirs you're taking back from this time--what you're realizing you don't need and what matters more than ever. If you write me this, I'll post it here to inspire everyone else--unless you tell me you'd prefer not to be quoted.
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Day 17
12:04 a.m.
1.
Four minutes in and it's Day 17 and Betty's birthday--who is just months ahead of me in landing on 72. Isn't it funny how you can meet someone in kindergarten, two little kids, and be friends for life?
How do we know, surrounded by a bunch of little five-year-olds, that this particular one is the best, and that we'll both grow up to be future staunch Democrats in a class of future Republicans? That we'll always find the same things the same kind of funny?
Here's a poem by Emily Dickinson that reflects on long friendships that endure over the years:
2.
Then I moved to another town, another school, junior year, and my favorite friend in my new town was a lively red-haired cheerleader named Nellie. At graduation, she sang the solo and I played the piano. Her song was called "My work is done." (It wasn't, not even close, but we didn't know that then; we were just seventeen, you know what I mean....")
Nellie sent me a little book she made of what she is doing during isolation-except-for-Arthur, and I wanted to share it with you all for inspiration.
On the cover, it says: "Every day I....."
So if you're looking for a creative way to keep track of your days: this little journal was made of one sheet of paper, cleverly folded to make 8 pages. And it made me smile to get it.
3.
Will's family is making piñatas. Here is step one:
4.
Carlos, my yard man, made me a little pineapple pie with homemade crust that was amazing! I had a pork chop, a slice of Bird Man bred, a pineapple pie and Urth juice for dinner.
5. The Good Karma Hospital
I took a break from my heart guy in Australia to travel to India to see "Karma" because Betty told me I was going to love all the colorful buses in episode one, which I do, along with lush grounds of the hospital and the red Mini convertible and the colorful characters. This is going to be so good!
1.
Four minutes in and it's Day 17 and Betty's birthday--who is just months ahead of me in landing on 72. Isn't it funny how you can meet someone in kindergarten, two little kids, and be friends for life?
How do we know, surrounded by a bunch of little five-year-olds, that this particular one is the best, and that we'll both grow up to be future staunch Democrats in a class of future Republicans? That we'll always find the same things the same kind of funny?
Here's a poem by Emily Dickinson that reflects on long friendships that endure over the years:
“1383”
Long Years apart – can make no
Breach a second cannot fill –
The absence of the Witch does not
Invalidate the spell –
Breach a second cannot fill –
The absence of the Witch does not
Invalidate the spell –
The embers of a Thousand Years
Uncovered by the Hand
That fondled them when they were Fire
Will stir and understand –
Uncovered by the Hand
That fondled them when they were Fire
Will stir and understand –
| c. 1876 |
2.
Then I moved to another town, another school, junior year, and my favorite friend in my new town was a lively red-haired cheerleader named Nellie. At graduation, she sang the solo and I played the piano. Her song was called "My work is done." (It wasn't, not even close, but we didn't know that then; we were just seventeen, you know what I mean....")
Nellie sent me a little book she made of what she is doing during isolation-except-for-Arthur, and I wanted to share it with you all for inspiration.
On the cover, it says: "Every day I....."
So if you're looking for a creative way to keep track of your days: this little journal was made of one sheet of paper, cleverly folded to make 8 pages. And it made me smile to get it.
3.
Will's family is making piñatas. Here is step one:
4.
Carlos, my yard man, made me a little pineapple pie with homemade crust that was amazing! I had a pork chop, a slice of Bird Man bred, a pineapple pie and Urth juice for dinner.
I took a break from my heart guy in Australia to travel to India to see "Karma" because Betty told me I was going to love all the colorful buses in episode one, which I do, along with lush grounds of the hospital and the red Mini convertible and the colorful characters. This is going to be so good!
Friday, March 27, 2020
Check out Suzanne Ohlmann's videos on You Tube and Facebook
My friend, Suzanne Ohlman, is a registered heart-failure nurse in San Antonio--originally from Nebraska.
Her husband, Ryan, is a fire-fighter in San Antonio. I was lucky enough to be the amateur photographer at their unique wedding a few years back.
Suzanne gives daily updates on coronavirus on social media. She never sugar-coats; she gives us solid information from inside her house or on her front porch.
When Day watched one of her videos, she said, "I want to be her friend!"
I loved having Suzanne in my Saturday writing group, then she left to get her MFA in writing. I love her nimble mind on and off the page, her singing voice (which you'll hear on one of the videos), and the way she arrives at the point of each post in a circuitous and surprising way.
I hope you'll all check out her posts and get to know more about where we are right now from someone who knows a lot more about it than most of us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFdcYII62dc
Her husband, Ryan, is a fire-fighter in San Antonio. I was lucky enough to be the amateur photographer at their unique wedding a few years back.
Suzanne gives daily updates on coronavirus on social media. She never sugar-coats; she gives us solid information from inside her house or on her front porch.
When Day watched one of her videos, she said, "I want to be her friend!"
I loved having Suzanne in my Saturday writing group, then she left to get her MFA in writing. I love her nimble mind on and off the page, her singing voice (which you'll hear on one of the videos), and the way she arrives at the point of each post in a circuitous and surprising way.
I hope you'll all check out her posts and get to know more about where we are right now from someone who knows a lot more about it than most of us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFdcYII62dc
If you need yard work....
 |
| Carlos 210 400 2501 |
This is just his part-time job while he studies at the Culinary Institute. He made me an amazing pie and brought it along with his rake this morning!
I asked him if I could post this, maybe bring him a bit of business.
Day 16
Pretty sure it's Friday, folks!
1.
Broadway Daily Bread is open for curbside! All you do is call them on the phone, place your order, and they put it on a table outside and you walk up and get it. Birdman, my favorite won't be ready to pick up for an hour or so, but just wanted to get the word out that they are open for business, and we love supporting local businesses when we can.
2.
At 11:17, I am just getting moving, having stayed up til 3 watching Richard Jewell, the story of the security cop wrongly accused of setting the bomb in the Atlanta Olympics during the Clinton years. Really compelling story--thanks to Lorraine for recommending it!
3.
Before watching it, I watched the video class I linked earlier and made up a bag of supplies and a "lesson plan" for Elena. I had so much fun making it and going through my art supplies for collage elements and glue and paint for her! Will is going to pick it up when he brings me eggs.
4.
Day and I ordered a box of Nothing Bundt Mini Cakes for the fire station--to be delivered tomorrow when he's working.
I am finding that doing even little things for other people--whether making cards or ordering cakes--is the key to getting through this isolation. Day and I send each other "happy mails" from time to time. She's saving her most recent box to open tomorrow. She says it's her incentive to get back to playing after a crazy week of setting up online learning for her teachers.
5.
Another text just came in--from Linda Kot--to be sure and see Barrack and Michelle's documentary on Netflix: Crip Camp.
6.
Now I'm all teary-eyed. I just listened to Will and Elena singing "I'll fly away" on Facebook and I'm about to jump out of my skin to see them and hear more in person!
This was one of my daddy's favorite songs, one he and Will used to sing together.
Okay, this is the last straw!
1.
Broadway Daily Bread is open for curbside! All you do is call them on the phone, place your order, and they put it on a table outside and you walk up and get it. Birdman, my favorite won't be ready to pick up for an hour or so, but just wanted to get the word out that they are open for business, and we love supporting local businesses when we can.
2.
At 11:17, I am just getting moving, having stayed up til 3 watching Richard Jewell, the story of the security cop wrongly accused of setting the bomb in the Atlanta Olympics during the Clinton years. Really compelling story--thanks to Lorraine for recommending it!
3.
Before watching it, I watched the video class I linked earlier and made up a bag of supplies and a "lesson plan" for Elena. I had so much fun making it and going through my art supplies for collage elements and glue and paint for her! Will is going to pick it up when he brings me eggs.
4.
Day and I ordered a box of Nothing Bundt Mini Cakes for the fire station--to be delivered tomorrow when he's working.
I am finding that doing even little things for other people--whether making cards or ordering cakes--is the key to getting through this isolation. Day and I send each other "happy mails" from time to time. She's saving her most recent box to open tomorrow. She says it's her incentive to get back to playing after a crazy week of setting up online learning for her teachers.
5.
Another text just came in--from Linda Kot--to be sure and see Barrack and Michelle's documentary on Netflix: Crip Camp.
6.
Now I'm all teary-eyed. I just listened to Will and Elena singing "I'll fly away" on Facebook and I'm about to jump out of my skin to see them and hear more in person!
This was one of my daddy's favorite songs, one he and Will used to sing together.
Okay, this is the last straw!
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Another free art class--for adults and kids!
Nellie sent me this link and I have so enjoyed watching this teacher's smooth and gentle manner. She speaks like a mom or an elementary teacher, and I mean that in the best way!
https://classes.laurahornart.com/p/abstract-collage-creations
For those of you who have grandchildren or other children in your life, you might want to forward this to them as I just did to Elena.
Then, as I happened to have every single art supply she mentioned, I made her a bag of supplies and am hoping that she'll try it out and maybe even include it in her home schooling curriculum.
https://classes.laurahornart.com/p/abstract-collage-creations
For those of you who have grandchildren or other children in your life, you might want to forward this to them as I just did to Elena.
Then, as I happened to have every single art supply she mentioned, I made her a bag of supplies and am hoping that she'll try it out and maybe even include it in her home schooling curriculum.
Day 15
1:30 a.m
My energy for making things was in a slump yesterday, so I just gave in and watched the rest of Season One of The Heart Guy.
While watching, I did a little fiddly work--made some gift tags, tried out some stamps I'd never used that I'd gotten earlier this year from The Netherlands, made a start on some birthday cards. But inspiration for larger things comes and goes, and right now it's in hiding.
10:08 a.m
Working in a beautiful bound journal is not as appealing to me as making separate pages. A journal feels too precious (Maybe I'll mess it up), but there's a little click of satisfaction when a page or a card is completed. Later, after all this is over, I can put the pieces I like into a journal.
A three-ring binder journal is also a good choice because I can put things in when I'm happy with them, throw them away if I'm not.
I must have gotten this quality from my mama. She just finished a crocheted afghan she wasn't pleased with, so she unraveled the whole thing and started over! I guess we two are perfectionists?
12:57
I've had three phone conversations this morning--Carlene, Will and Betty.
Betty said for me to tell you, Joy, how much your card meant to her. This is a time when reaching out, by cards, by email, by text, is so helpful for us all.
Will sent me pictures of his serious security guards with serious faces--who met him at the gate after work this morning. Elena is going to miss her brother when he goes to his other house tomorrow.
3:00
I had to call Day to figure out how to turn on our new Phomemo.
These little devices, available from Amazon, make black and white photo-stickers and labels. It includes an app for choosing templates, and voila! Easy as can be--if you have someone to call when you're trying to find the On/Off button, which is right there inside the circle.
There are many free printable imagines online (check Pinterest) that can be printed in about 2 seconds, and you can also print right from your photo library on the phone. The stickers are really sticky, so they make good labels for jars and boxes, etc. as well as applying to cards and other projects. I suggest using high contrast images from your photo library for a very sharp sticker image.
4:52
95 degrees!
Lorraine recommended another movie, Richard Jewell, on Amazon.
So I'm going to alternate between the three--The Heart Guy, Richard Jewell, and Good Karma Hospital.
My energy for making things was in a slump yesterday, so I just gave in and watched the rest of Season One of The Heart Guy.
While watching, I did a little fiddly work--made some gift tags, tried out some stamps I'd never used that I'd gotten earlier this year from The Netherlands, made a start on some birthday cards. But inspiration for larger things comes and goes, and right now it's in hiding.
10:08 a.m
Working in a beautiful bound journal is not as appealing to me as making separate pages. A journal feels too precious (Maybe I'll mess it up), but there's a little click of satisfaction when a page or a card is completed. Later, after all this is over, I can put the pieces I like into a journal.
A three-ring binder journal is also a good choice because I can put things in when I'm happy with them, throw them away if I'm not.
I must have gotten this quality from my mama. She just finished a crocheted afghan she wasn't pleased with, so she unraveled the whole thing and started over! I guess we two are perfectionists?
12:57
I've had three phone conversations this morning--Carlene, Will and Betty.
Betty said for me to tell you, Joy, how much your card meant to her. This is a time when reaching out, by cards, by email, by text, is so helpful for us all.
Will sent me pictures of his serious security guards with serious faces--who met him at the gate after work this morning. Elena is going to miss her brother when he goes to his other house tomorrow.
 |
| Even a security guard must be fashionable with her footwear. |
3:00
I had to call Day to figure out how to turn on our new Phomemo.
These little devices, available from Amazon, make black and white photo-stickers and labels. It includes an app for choosing templates, and voila! Easy as can be--if you have someone to call when you're trying to find the On/Off button, which is right there inside the circle.
There are many free printable imagines online (check Pinterest) that can be printed in about 2 seconds, and you can also print right from your photo library on the phone. The stickers are really sticky, so they make good labels for jars and boxes, etc. as well as applying to cards and other projects. I suggest using high contrast images from your photo library for a very sharp sticker image.
4:52
95 degrees!
Lorraine recommended another movie, Richard Jewell, on Amazon.
So I'm going to alternate between the three--The Heart Guy, Richard Jewell, and Good Karma Hospital.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Day 14
1.
"Oh dear God, I hate this isolation! But it will be, hopefully, short, and then life will go on. Perhaps when it goes on, it will be at a graceful pace, in gratitude for the little things we’ve so taken for granted over our lives — friends, freedom, abundance, health, peace, rest without fear...."
(Jan Schubert Norris via email this morning)
2.
I drove to Urth Juice today with the intention of getting myself and Will a juice--and deliver his to the fire station on West Avenue. Urth Juice is open for curb service. (Due to the virus, they are not able to take empty bottles and the owner said they were probably going to have to move to plastic containers.)
Kate called and informed me that we're not supposed to drive around; we're only allowed to go to grocery stories and pharmacies, etc. So I got the juice, then came back home.
Besides, Will said--chillingly to his mom--that they are "pretty high risk" over at the station, so I should leave it on his car.
I worry for our first responders, health care workers, grocery clerks, anyone whose work requires them to be up close to people while the rest of us are able to stay in our houses.
I hope I remember, after all this is over, to verbalize my gratitude to the people who go out on limbs for all of us.
3.
Before Mario Cuomo, I was not particularly political. But he, the Governor of New York, woke me up and inspired me. What a passionate man, a man who spoke eloquently and poetically, a man whose Convention speech I included in my syllabus that year for my students as an example of powerful rhetoric, along with Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.
Mario would be proud of his son, Andrew, the current governor of New York, who is handling this crisis as a President should be handling it.
This morning he quoted his father, Mario:
"Oh dear God, I hate this isolation! But it will be, hopefully, short, and then life will go on. Perhaps when it goes on, it will be at a graceful pace, in gratitude for the little things we’ve so taken for granted over our lives — friends, freedom, abundance, health, peace, rest without fear...."
(Jan Schubert Norris via email this morning)
2.
I drove to Urth Juice today with the intention of getting myself and Will a juice--and deliver his to the fire station on West Avenue. Urth Juice is open for curb service. (Due to the virus, they are not able to take empty bottles and the owner said they were probably going to have to move to plastic containers.)
Kate called and informed me that we're not supposed to drive around; we're only allowed to go to grocery stories and pharmacies, etc. So I got the juice, then came back home.
Besides, Will said--chillingly to his mom--that they are "pretty high risk" over at the station, so I should leave it on his car.
I worry for our first responders, health care workers, grocery clerks, anyone whose work requires them to be up close to people while the rest of us are able to stay in our houses.
I hope I remember, after all this is over, to verbalize my gratitude to the people who go out on limbs for all of us.
3.
Before Mario Cuomo, I was not particularly political. But he, the Governor of New York, woke me up and inspired me. What a passionate man, a man who spoke eloquently and poetically, a man whose Convention speech I included in my syllabus that year for my students as an example of powerful rhetoric, along with Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.
Mario would be proud of his son, Andrew, the current governor of New York, who is handling this crisis as a President should be handling it.
This morning he quoted his father, Mario:
For Mixed Media people
Sketchbook Revival is the absolutely best bargain for those of you who make visual journals or art journals or do any kind of paper crafting.
In this FREE class, you get two teachers a day, starting yesterday (but you can backtrack if you're late getting on board) and so far, an added bonus: most teachers give away a significant freebie--like a free class (regularly $49) I'm watching tonight by Mary Beth Shaw on Stencil Girl Studio.
Nellie and Pam and I are all doing these classes and they are terrific.
How do they do this for free?
I've noticed that many mixed media teachers seem to do it just for the pleasure of sharing. Most of them have You Tube channels and other places to see their work, like Facebook and Instagram.
Many also have sites and online stores, like Stencil Girl, Joggles, and Nathalie's shop. So when you take a class, you can also purchase stencils and other classes.
You'll get techniques and pointers on how to use art supplies you may already have if you're like Pam and Nellie and me.
Right now, Mary Beth is teaching me how to put a few drops of paint into alcohol to make alcohol spray.
And how to use Baby Wipes and Distress Crayons together with stencils to create nice patterns.
In this FREE class, you get two teachers a day, starting yesterday (but you can backtrack if you're late getting on board) and so far, an added bonus: most teachers give away a significant freebie--like a free class (regularly $49) I'm watching tonight by Mary Beth Shaw on Stencil Girl Studio.
Nellie and Pam and I are all doing these classes and they are terrific.
How do they do this for free?
I've noticed that many mixed media teachers seem to do it just for the pleasure of sharing. Most of them have You Tube channels and other places to see their work, like Facebook and Instagram.
Many also have sites and online stores, like Stencil Girl, Joggles, and Nathalie's shop. So when you take a class, you can also purchase stencils and other classes.
You'll get techniques and pointers on how to use art supplies you may already have if you're like Pam and Nellie and me.
Right now, Mary Beth is teaching me how to put a few drops of paint into alcohol to make alcohol spray.
And how to use Baby Wipes and Distress Crayons together with stencils to create nice patterns.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
The Heart Guy
If you were one of us who binged on McLeod's Daughters a few years ago, I have a terrific binge-worthy Australian series that should get you right through this quarantine: The Heart Guy, Acorn TV.
Check it out if you're looking for something to take your mind off a moronic, orange-haired, egomaniacal, terrifyingly dangerous man who may appear from time to time on your TV and meander through his limited vocabulary to say nothing before you get a chance to mute him. I'm not naming names, just saying....
This series is so sweet, so Australian, so good to watch before going to bed or during the night when you can't sleep.
While you're there at Acorn, you might check out Good Karma Hospital. I haven't seen it yet, but it's next on my watchlist.
Thanks, Linda C from Indiana, for recommending these two!
Check it out if you're looking for something to take your mind off a moronic, orange-haired, egomaniacal, terrifyingly dangerous man who may appear from time to time on your TV and meander through his limited vocabulary to say nothing before you get a chance to mute him. I'm not naming names, just saying....
This series is so sweet, so Australian, so good to watch before going to bed or during the night when you can't sleep.
While you're there at Acorn, you might check out Good Karma Hospital. I haven't seen it yet, but it's next on my watchlist.
Thanks, Linda C from Indiana, for recommending these two!
Day 13
Tuesday
A few (of many) bright spots this week:
1. Victoria brought me enough groceries to get by quite well until my April 3 grocery pick up at HEB. Even better, I got to see her smile in person!
2. A sighting of adorable second-grader Makken helping his mom, Kate, planting flowers in their yard right next to mine:
3. FaceTime with Elena who taught me how to make a Yenna emoji--with grey hair and red glasses.
4. Phone calls checking in from friends and family.
5. A note from Day that Jackson is way less happier than yesterday and is working on his car:
6. I spent the day making a check-holding graduation card for Jackson. When I drove to the P.O. to mail it, a saxophonist was playing "Brown Eyed Girl"and other upbeat tunes for the long line of people waiting to get in line at Central Market. Several line-standers were dancing in place!
7. Tonight--watching "Heart Doctor" on Amazon (thanks to Indy Linda) via Acorn TV--and learning to use the new Phomemo.
8. The lonely duck has moved on.
A few (of many) bright spots this week:
1. Victoria brought me enough groceries to get by quite well until my April 3 grocery pick up at HEB. Even better, I got to see her smile in person!
2. A sighting of adorable second-grader Makken helping his mom, Kate, planting flowers in their yard right next to mine:
4. Phone calls checking in from friends and family.
5. A note from Day that Jackson is way less happier than yesterday and is working on his car:
6. I spent the day making a check-holding graduation card for Jackson. When I drove to the P.O. to mail it, a saxophonist was playing "Brown Eyed Girl"and other upbeat tunes for the long line of people waiting to get in line at Central Market. Several line-standers were dancing in place!
7. Tonight--watching "Heart Doctor" on Amazon (thanks to Indy Linda) via Acorn TV--and learning to use the new Phomemo.
8. The lonely duck has moved on.
Monday, March 23, 2020
A lonesome duck
This morning I drove over to Pam's house to deliver a little birthday present to her porch. On the way I spotted this duck. I thought he was just admiring his reflection in the puddle, but on closer look, I saw a the body of a matching duck three feet away.
At 4:00, this afternoon, I drove by the same puddle on my way to get Urth Juice. The duck was standing exactly where he had been standing hours ago:
Without his partner, he wasn't interested in going anywhere.
Day 12
From an NPR interview this weekend: "This can either be a time of transformation or a time of panic."
A Dream
I dreamed last I was having a gathering in the casita of all the people who have ever been in writing groups there. In reality they wouldn't all fit, but in dream footage, they did. In the dream, I was so happy to see them all!
Seclusion was over, and we were all feeling celebratory, creative, and free.
There was some kind of abstract chicken-wire sculpture in the room, and we were all tacking onto it various things we had made to celebrate the end of isolation: paper flowers, pieces of paper with poems, small paintings, and sweets.
So maybe my dream speaks to my desire to have a great big art/writing/creativity gathering. Maybe it's a sign that physical isolation will be over and we'll all be left standing. And maybe it was a dream about transformation. We are all being creative in dealing with a crisis and we're finding ways to make our days as good as they can be.
Birthdays
I have five good friends who have birthdays in the next 12 days! A cluster of March and Aprils: Pam's, Betty's, Victoria's, Freda's and Lorraine's.
As I look back into people no longer in my life physically but whom I remember fondly--four of them have birthdays between March 18 and 20th: my daddy, my friend Gary Lane, my ex boyfriend, Bob, and Mary Frances Weathersby, my yoga teacher and friend of many years.
Free Art Classes
Pam and I both signed up for Sketchbook Revival--a series of classes taught by different teachers. How timely, then, that Lesson 1 showed up today--by Carla Sonheim.
So much fun on a gray day! Here's how you can then go right to Carla's website and get more free stuff--including the three sessions of watercoloring flowers I just took.
https://www.carlasonheim.com
A question
What are you doing to transform yourself or your house or your diet or your love life or your imagination during this time?
Let me know and I'll post it to inspire the rest of us.
Sad day for Jackson
Just found out that Virginia schools are closed for the remainder of the year: no prom, no graduation, no lacrosse.
He's devastated, as I'm sure thousands of kids are right now.
A Dream
I dreamed last I was having a gathering in the casita of all the people who have ever been in writing groups there. In reality they wouldn't all fit, but in dream footage, they did. In the dream, I was so happy to see them all!
Seclusion was over, and we were all feeling celebratory, creative, and free.
There was some kind of abstract chicken-wire sculpture in the room, and we were all tacking onto it various things we had made to celebrate the end of isolation: paper flowers, pieces of paper with poems, small paintings, and sweets.
So maybe my dream speaks to my desire to have a great big art/writing/creativity gathering. Maybe it's a sign that physical isolation will be over and we'll all be left standing. And maybe it was a dream about transformation. We are all being creative in dealing with a crisis and we're finding ways to make our days as good as they can be.
Birthdays
I have five good friends who have birthdays in the next 12 days! A cluster of March and Aprils: Pam's, Betty's, Victoria's, Freda's and Lorraine's.
As I look back into people no longer in my life physically but whom I remember fondly--four of them have birthdays between March 18 and 20th: my daddy, my friend Gary Lane, my ex boyfriend, Bob, and Mary Frances Weathersby, my yoga teacher and friend of many years.
Free Art Classes
Pam and I both signed up for Sketchbook Revival--a series of classes taught by different teachers. How timely, then, that Lesson 1 showed up today--by Carla Sonheim.
So much fun on a gray day! Here's how you can then go right to Carla's website and get more free stuff--including the three sessions of watercoloring flowers I just took.
https://www.carlasonheim.com
A question
What are you doing to transform yourself or your house or your diet or your love life or your imagination during this time?
Let me know and I'll post it to inspire the rest of us.
Sad day for Jackson
Just found out that Virginia schools are closed for the remainder of the year: no prom, no graduation, no lacrosse.
He's devastated, as I'm sure thousands of kids are right now.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
It's still Sunday
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| Was it just two weeks that Elena and Kate had a hug? Of all the things I wish for-- the top of the list is more moments of people hugging each other again! |
These photos capture my house in less disarray than when I woke up. Just stacking things in piles of things that go together was my morning job. Making up the bed. Taking the laundry out to my outside washing machine.
Then the pleasures--talking to Carlene (whose email is down), talking to Beverly, seeing Jan and family at my door and chatting at a safe distance, Victoria offering to get me some groceries tomorrow, texts from people I love, a present from Day--watercolors and beautiful papers.
I moved two of my four dining chairs into positions where they can do the job of holding art supplies.
Moved the TV from the casita into my bedroom.
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| A package arrived from Amazon sent by Daisy |
 |
| Finally, I can see the table top! |
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| My living room/storage room |
Day 11
Today is Sunday, I think--although all the days are starting to look alike.
Elena Face-Timed me yesterday and the whole family gathered around to tell about books they are reading and Elena's home-schooling. I'm happy to report that the dogs, the bird, the horses, the queen ant, and lizards are all doing fine--as is the newest addition, Elena's Beta fish. They were making salmon and sweet potatoes for dinner.
Nathan, the introvert, loves this break from middle school.
Elena, the extrovert, wants to go to school and see her friends.
Jackson and Marcus in Virginia took a drive together--160 miles--so Jackson could drain the fuel in his car for a repair to the engine.
When this quarantine started, I ordered a Phomemo for Day and one for me--it's a little device (thermal paper, no ink needed) that makes labels and sticky versions of photos in black and white. She called so we could open them together, and we had a mini-art party on the phone.
She's making a daily journal about this time of isolation and said I could post a couple of her pages in progress. She's using the same kind of 5 x 5 journal you gave me, Victoria, that started all this art journaling at my house!
She also gave me a link to a journal-maker who inspires her, a man whose work she found on Instagram:
https://josenaranja.blogspot.com/2016/07/prints-for-sale.html
So in the wee hours of the morning, I have just watched the four episodes of Self Made on Netflix while making pages in my journal featuring my four grandchildren--Jackson, Marcus, Nathan, and Elena.
I've also painted a dozen little boxes black and affixed puzzle pieces with faces on them. When I get these finished, I'll show you.
Everybody stay home, stay safe, stay healthy!
Elena Face-Timed me yesterday and the whole family gathered around to tell about books they are reading and Elena's home-schooling. I'm happy to report that the dogs, the bird, the horses, the queen ant, and lizards are all doing fine--as is the newest addition, Elena's Beta fish. They were making salmon and sweet potatoes for dinner.
Nathan, the introvert, loves this break from middle school.
Elena, the extrovert, wants to go to school and see her friends.
Jackson and Marcus in Virginia took a drive together--160 miles--so Jackson could drain the fuel in his car for a repair to the engine.
When this quarantine started, I ordered a Phomemo for Day and one for me--it's a little device (thermal paper, no ink needed) that makes labels and sticky versions of photos in black and white. She called so we could open them together, and we had a mini-art party on the phone.
She's making a daily journal about this time of isolation and said I could post a couple of her pages in progress. She's using the same kind of 5 x 5 journal you gave me, Victoria, that started all this art journaling at my house!
 |
| The cover |
 |
| Back when "wishing we'd had snow days" |
She also gave me a link to a journal-maker who inspires her, a man whose work she found on Instagram:
https://josenaranja.blogspot.com/2016/07/prints-for-sale.html
So in the wee hours of the morning, I have just watched the four episodes of Self Made on Netflix while making pages in my journal featuring my four grandchildren--Jackson, Marcus, Nathan, and Elena.
I've also painted a dozen little boxes black and affixed puzzle pieces with faces on them. When I get these finished, I'll show you.
Everybody stay home, stay safe, stay healthy!
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Day 10 and a Half
Rachel Maddow ended her show last night in tears. Rachel has been one of the most passionate advocates for pandemic awareness. She and her colleagues were hit hard by the Covid-19 death of Larry Edgeworth, a 61-year-old audio engineer at MSNBC. He was charismatic, a husband, a father of two, and friend to all of them. A name, a face, not a number.
When you hear a person crying over the death of a friend, it's impossible not to cry with her, as impossible as it is not to dance when listening to music, if only with one foot.
*****
We are all doing the only thing we can do right now to slow the curve. Those of us who can stay "sheltered in place." Maybe we read or crochet or watch movies.
But some of us work out in the world. Some of us live on the streets, unemployed. Some of us are grieving the recent death of someone we love. Some of us are depressed. Some of us are home-schooling children or caring for grandchildren. Some of us are aching to see our grandchildren and can't. All of us are sad and anxious, then okay, then sad and anxious, then sort of okay again. Some of us are children, confused and stressed.
I say "us"--because right now, we are all in the same big rocky boat. What happens to one could happen to any. If ever national borders and walls seemed irrelevant, it's now. We are not The U.S. as much as we are US, all pieces of one humanity.
*****
This morning, I decided to end my daily trips for a fountain coke, just got in the car and rode around and called Carlene, trying to hold back tears.
She assured me she is not going anywhere, not even visiting outdoors with the neighbors, and she exuded her usual calm, loving, practical energy.
"We are lucky," we said. "We have each other." And we have emails and phones, we said. And comfortable houses to shelter in place in. And things to make. (She's crocheting an afghan, organizing prescription orders, and listening to music. )
I stopped at the elementary school to snap this picture and read it to her:
Then I stopped in front of Barbel's former house on Harrison to snap this one, the yard vivid with poppies. I fondly recalled delicious meals and lively music shared at her purple table.
*****
Gluing snippets of paper, I was thinking what a mosaic each life is.
We often wish we had more time to finish certain projects, but today I'm thinking, "Be careful what you wish for!"
"I should clean up all this mess," I thought, trying to make almond bread around papers and paints. "In case somebody comes...." (Nobody is coming.)
Those of us recording the details of these days are making stories for later. Telling stories and making things is a sign of hope, that there will come a day when we're on the other side of this and the people we love are okay.
I just talked to Will's family on the phone. They are out buying food for the lizard and horses and dogs and waiting for Nathan's starter ant-farm ant to lay eggs. I tried to sound cheerful (I think I pulled it off), but then had to cry when I hung up.
*****
It's a rainy day in Texas. The trees and yards around here are reminding me that it's spring. It's spring, anyway. It's spring, in spite of everything.
When you hear a person crying over the death of a friend, it's impossible not to cry with her, as impossible as it is not to dance when listening to music, if only with one foot.
*****
We are all doing the only thing we can do right now to slow the curve. Those of us who can stay "sheltered in place." Maybe we read or crochet or watch movies.
But some of us work out in the world. Some of us live on the streets, unemployed. Some of us are grieving the recent death of someone we love. Some of us are depressed. Some of us are home-schooling children or caring for grandchildren. Some of us are aching to see our grandchildren and can't. All of us are sad and anxious, then okay, then sad and anxious, then sort of okay again. Some of us are children, confused and stressed.
I say "us"--because right now, we are all in the same big rocky boat. What happens to one could happen to any. If ever national borders and walls seemed irrelevant, it's now. We are not The U.S. as much as we are US, all pieces of one humanity.
*****
This morning, I decided to end my daily trips for a fountain coke, just got in the car and rode around and called Carlene, trying to hold back tears.
She assured me she is not going anywhere, not even visiting outdoors with the neighbors, and she exuded her usual calm, loving, practical energy.
"We are lucky," we said. "We have each other." And we have emails and phones, we said. And comfortable houses to shelter in place in. And things to make. (She's crocheting an afghan, organizing prescription orders, and listening to music. )
I stopped at the elementary school to snap this picture and read it to her:
Then I stopped in front of Barbel's former house on Harrison to snap this one, the yard vivid with poppies. I fondly recalled delicious meals and lively music shared at her purple table.
*****
Gluing snippets of paper, I was thinking what a mosaic each life is.
We often wish we had more time to finish certain projects, but today I'm thinking, "Be careful what you wish for!"
"I should clean up all this mess," I thought, trying to make almond bread around papers and paints. "In case somebody comes...." (Nobody is coming.)
Those of us recording the details of these days are making stories for later. Telling stories and making things is a sign of hope, that there will come a day when we're on the other side of this and the people we love are okay.
I just talked to Will's family on the phone. They are out buying food for the lizard and horses and dogs and waiting for Nathan's starter ant-farm ant to lay eggs. I tried to sound cheerful (I think I pulled it off), but then had to cry when I hung up.
*****
It's a rainy day in Texas. The trees and yards around here are reminding me that it's spring. It's spring, anyway. It's spring, in spite of everything.
Day 10
2:18 a.m.
I've been gluing little pieces of paper onto big pieces of paper, resulting in some potential background pages for something. But what?
I don't have the focus or enthusiasm to take it further than that right now, so I'm just going with the glue and torn giblets of paper. Standing at the table by my kitchen window, tearing and gluing while talking on the phone or baking cornbread--this steadies me for several hours in a "shelter in place" day.
I don't presume to call this art, it's just play, like first grade. Sometimes it moves my mind out of fear and into peace. Occasionally, in spite of everything I'm afraid of, there are little pinpoints of light I could call happiness.
We're all finding our way, doing what we can, whatever has the possibility of bringing in flickers of light.
I've been gluing little pieces of paper onto big pieces of paper, resulting in some potential background pages for something. But what?
I don't have the focus or enthusiasm to take it further than that right now, so I'm just going with the glue and torn giblets of paper. Standing at the table by my kitchen window, tearing and gluing while talking on the phone or baking cornbread--this steadies me for several hours in a "shelter in place" day.
I don't presume to call this art, it's just play, like first grade. Sometimes it moves my mind out of fear and into peace. Occasionally, in spite of everything I'm afraid of, there are little pinpoints of light I could call happiness.
We're all finding our way, doing what we can, whatever has the possibility of bringing in flickers of light.
Friday, March 20, 2020
Day 9
I'm okay with solitude, even enjoy it--unless it starts stretching out too long.
I've moved a few art supplies back to the kitchen, and my body pains have vanished.
What I'm noticing most of all is the need to connect with our friends and family. Life is precious and we want to make sure everyone we care about is fine. We want to glean wisdom and insight from each other, too, as well as humor in these strange days.
I've never been one for Facebook, but I'm moving in now--and it's wonderful to see what people are making and doing, photography of flowers and grandchildren, and people offering free concerts. I listen every day to my friend Suzanne's daily updates on the virus from a nurse's perspective. We all want to contribute something to us all.
Whatever used to separate people from each other has vanished. We will probably all have plenty of time to get annoyed with people later, but right now, nothing much matters besides knowing our quirky selves and their quirky selves are okay.
As I watch movies, I see people hugging and walking side by side companionably, or talking over tables in cafes. And already, after only a week, I think, "Oh, remember? That's how it used to be!"
I've moved a few art supplies back to the kitchen, and my body pains have vanished.
What I'm noticing most of all is the need to connect with our friends and family. Life is precious and we want to make sure everyone we care about is fine. We want to glean wisdom and insight from each other, too, as well as humor in these strange days.
I've never been one for Facebook, but I'm moving in now--and it's wonderful to see what people are making and doing, photography of flowers and grandchildren, and people offering free concerts. I listen every day to my friend Suzanne's daily updates on the virus from a nurse's perspective. We all want to contribute something to us all.
Whatever used to separate people from each other has vanished. We will probably all have plenty of time to get annoyed with people later, but right now, nothing much matters besides knowing our quirky selves and their quirky selves are okay.
As I watch movies, I see people hugging and walking side by side companionably, or talking over tables in cafes. And already, after only a week, I think, "Oh, remember? That's how it used to be!"
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Day 8 Afternoon
To some extent, this being sequestered can be what we make it.
Here's what I'm doing:
Making time cards. Remember those time cards used to check in and out of offices and factories? I recently found a holder for them with blank time cards--which I'm collaging and writing on as my journal for this time of isolation.
Last night I stayed up ALL night--first, writing about my daddy, then making a few things for gifts. Four of my best friends have birthdays this month and I'm making cards--though it may be June before I can deliver them.
While awake at three in the morning, I tore out every page of a thick wallpaper book--just beautiful textures and colors! Then I did the same with a book Day gave me of Japanese prints.
I saved some pancake batter from dinner a couple of nights ago and am going to make myself some pancakes and eggs and bacon and grits for lunch.
Listening only to news on NPR--no TV news.
Here's what I'm doing:
Making time cards. Remember those time cards used to check in and out of offices and factories? I recently found a holder for them with blank time cards--which I'm collaging and writing on as my journal for this time of isolation.
While awake at three in the morning, I tore out every page of a thick wallpaper book--just beautiful textures and colors! Then I did the same with a book Day gave me of Japanese prints.
 |
| a few of many pages I'm sharing with Day |
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| template for an envelope out of wallpaper |
I saved some pancake batter from dinner a couple of nights ago and am going to make myself some pancakes and eggs and bacon and grits for lunch.
Listening only to news on NPR--no TV news.
Day 8: My daddy's 98th birthday
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| Bob Harris and Lloyd Harris 20-plus years ago at a family reunion |
When he first spotted 13-year-old Carlene, he made a point of getting up and walking to the front of the church to adjust the lighting so he could finagle to sit beside her.
While Carlene attended the Georgia State College for Women, he (along with his two brothers) joined the Navy during the War.
He taught Morse Code to the sailors while she worked on the college literary magazine. The Corinthian--of which she was editor and Miss Flannery O'Connor her assistant.
 |
| Betty's daddy took this picture of us one Easter morning |
My daddy had sturdy hands that milked cows, peeled potatoes, planted vegetables, fixed and built things, played the guitar (he sang just like Jim Reeves), hugged and patted people. and held a fishing pole on the banks of ponds all over the state of Georgia.
Years later, when he got himself a boat, Carlene sat with him in the boat and cross-stitched and crocheted while he pulled in the fish. They were very happily married, like two playmates, for 57 years. One of them would start up a song and the other would join in, then we'd improvise road trip soundtracks all the way to wherever we were going.
 |
March 19th always makes me think about my daddy, but really there's never a day that I don't. I'm always wondering "What would he think about...." or "What would he do about...?" To Bob and me, he was the kind of man who always knew exactly what to do, and if he didn't, he'd look it up. We didn't have to worry about much of anything.
 |
| Seventy plus years ago Lloyd and Linda Gayle |
On one of our last visits, he said, "Linda Gayle, you just let the raw side drag."
What it meant, basically, was: You're doing your life your way and I approve. He always approved.
He died too young, at 80--with a twinkle in his eyes all the way to the end.
It takes a long long time to get past the awfulness of someone not being where they should be--which is here, close by, reachable by phone. At first, you can barely stand to look at their favorite chair because its emptiness breaks your heart.
I am a member of the huge tribe of us who have lost a beloved parent or grandparent, child or spouse or friend. Anne Lamott describes it better than any other writer I know:
“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”
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Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Day 7
How far we've come in awareness in just one week!
We're learning that we are wise to stay home, visiting friends at six-foot distances outdoors only. We're learning that this virus is mysterious and that this new normal may last longer than we'd thought even a week ago. And we're canceling all the things on our calendar that we really wanted to do.
My most trusted source of information is Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. We all have different sources, of course, and we're all learning as we go.
After Rachel, I turn the TV off and work on birthday presents and cards and listen to music or podcasts. We don't do well to attach ourselves to news 24/7.
The good news of the day is that for the first time since this began, China had no new cases today.
Making things, sharing what cheer I can on the phone--these seem to be my go-to methods of contributing to hope while being cautious.
Day and I are sending each other little gifts for our shared interest in gel printing. I sent her a happy mail package yesterday and am already working on another box of stencils and stamps from my stash--as that's what she's most wanting and what I have plenty of. (I'm not shopping in stores at all and will learn soon how to order food from Amazon and curb pick ups.)
Today I used some magic foam blocks to make impressions of objects--string, almonds, rice, buttons, etc. You heat the block with a heat tool for 30 seconds then press it against whatever objects you're impressing and voila! you have a stamp that can then be used on paper, wood, and fabric. When you're ready to change it, you just heat it again and make a new one.
When I began gathering art supplies, I knew I'd use them someday. This is Some Day.
We're learning that we are wise to stay home, visiting friends at six-foot distances outdoors only. We're learning that this virus is mysterious and that this new normal may last longer than we'd thought even a week ago. And we're canceling all the things on our calendar that we really wanted to do.
My most trusted source of information is Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. We all have different sources, of course, and we're all learning as we go.
After Rachel, I turn the TV off and work on birthday presents and cards and listen to music or podcasts. We don't do well to attach ourselves to news 24/7.
The good news of the day is that for the first time since this began, China had no new cases today.
Making things, sharing what cheer I can on the phone--these seem to be my go-to methods of contributing to hope while being cautious.
Day and I are sending each other little gifts for our shared interest in gel printing. I sent her a happy mail package yesterday and am already working on another box of stencils and stamps from my stash--as that's what she's most wanting and what I have plenty of. (I'm not shopping in stores at all and will learn soon how to order food from Amazon and curb pick ups.)
Today I used some magic foam blocks to make impressions of objects--string, almonds, rice, buttons, etc. You heat the block with a heat tool for 30 seconds then press it against whatever objects you're impressing and voila! you have a stamp that can then be used on paper, wood, and fabric. When you're ready to change it, you just heat it again and make a new one.
When I began gathering art supplies, I knew I'd use them someday. This is Some Day.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
Day 6
Isolation hits us all differently every day as we start noticing things we never paid attention to before.
My first thought this morning, upon realizing I couldn't do my usual things in the usual ways, was "Okay, the fun's over, let's get back to normal."
But then I recalled plenty of creative ways to deal with this temporary new normal.
(1)
Will (my voice as son and a chief in the fire department who's training firefighters for the pandemic) gave me this advice:
1. Definitely limit your going out to almost zero. Postpone social events.
2. When you do visit with friends, visit outside or on the porch and keep the six foot distance. Wipe the doorknobs and chairs with alcohol before and after. (Things we'd have considered rude a week ago).
3. Don't go shopping for flooring. Buy online.
4. Use curbside pick up for groceries.
5. Social media is depressing. Listen to podcasts and watch movies and talk with your friends on the phone.
6. When you wash your hands in hot soapy water, sing "Happy Birthday" twice. (Previously, I might have gotten as far as "Ha...."
Then he did an impersonation of a guy who cracks him up online (and me, on the phone)--a Southern guy who sells real estate whose moniker is "Real Estate Old School."
https://overcast.fm/+WtVCLuHbw
As Will said, "If this doesn't take you back about a thousand miles, I don't know what will."
(2)
Freda recommended this movie: "Cookies' Fortune," on Netflix--which I'll watch this afternoon.
(3)
Day and Marcus are having a great week making things together. She and Will told me that I never "let" them get bored--and we three agreed that this is definitely no time for boredom. (Day sounds like she's in Day-Heaven, actually!)
(4)
Betty said her new mantra is to get up early, get dressed, put on your make up, and try to live as if everything is normal. She's freezing fruits and vegetables and cooking corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day.
I would follow her mantra but it would mean getting out and buying me some make-up which would mean going to the store, but I'll do the rest, starting tomorrow.
(5)
Bob and Jocelyn filled up Carlene's freezer with homemade soups and ice cream yesterday--and Jocelyn sent me this picture of Carlene who's not leaving her house for anything, even the beauty shop. (Our mama never never never skips the beauty shop!)
(7)
Driving down Austin Highway, I saw a pink tent filled with Fiesta wreaths. I pulled over and met Mary Lou who makes and sells fabulous wreaths.
I was thinking, "How cool that she's not letting the city's cancelation of Fiesta affect her livelihood and Fiesta spirit!
"Everybody's so loom and gloom," she said. (yeah--loom!) and "I'm going to do my part to bring some cheerfulness to the world even if we're not having Fiesta this year."
If you want to buy a gorgeous wreath instead of going to Fiesta, you can get curbside service and have your own private Fiesta. Her shop doesn't have a sign, but it's right by the MetLife Building near Pizza Hut.
She also showed me a cascarone of Donald Trump waving a flag. "This is what my Democratic ladies buy," she said, "So they can smash them upside somebody's head."
I encourage you Fiesta-lovers to give Mary Lou some business this year. She has three adult sons, all with autism, and she has home-schooled them with online programs. Two of them are about to begin college at A&M! (You can buy right through the car window or just take pictures of somebody making happy!)
My final piece of the day is this. If you want to make cascarones yourself that last for years, try this:
http://www.auntpeaches.com/2012/03/how-to-make-hollow-eggs-last-ten-years.html
My first thought this morning, upon realizing I couldn't do my usual things in the usual ways, was "Okay, the fun's over, let's get back to normal."
But then I recalled plenty of creative ways to deal with this temporary new normal.
(1)
Will (my voice as son and a chief in the fire department who's training firefighters for the pandemic) gave me this advice:
1. Definitely limit your going out to almost zero. Postpone social events.
2. When you do visit with friends, visit outside or on the porch and keep the six foot distance. Wipe the doorknobs and chairs with alcohol before and after. (Things we'd have considered rude a week ago).
3. Don't go shopping for flooring. Buy online.
4. Use curbside pick up for groceries.
5. Social media is depressing. Listen to podcasts and watch movies and talk with your friends on the phone.
6. When you wash your hands in hot soapy water, sing "Happy Birthday" twice. (Previously, I might have gotten as far as "Ha...."
Then he did an impersonation of a guy who cracks him up online (and me, on the phone)--a Southern guy who sells real estate whose moniker is "Real Estate Old School."
https://overcast.fm/+WtVCLuHbw
As Will said, "If this doesn't take you back about a thousand miles, I don't know what will."
(2)
Freda recommended this movie: "Cookies' Fortune," on Netflix--which I'll watch this afternoon.
(3)
Day and Marcus are having a great week making things together. She and Will told me that I never "let" them get bored--and we three agreed that this is definitely no time for boredom. (Day sounds like she's in Day-Heaven, actually!)
(4)
Betty said her new mantra is to get up early, get dressed, put on your make up, and try to live as if everything is normal. She's freezing fruits and vegetables and cooking corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day.
I would follow her mantra but it would mean getting out and buying me some make-up which would mean going to the store, but I'll do the rest, starting tomorrow.
(5)
Bob and Jocelyn filled up Carlene's freezer with homemade soups and ice cream yesterday--and Jocelyn sent me this picture of Carlene who's not leaving her house for anything, even the beauty shop. (Our mama never never never skips the beauty shop!)
(7)
Driving down Austin Highway, I saw a pink tent filled with Fiesta wreaths. I pulled over and met Mary Lou who makes and sells fabulous wreaths.
I was thinking, "How cool that she's not letting the city's cancelation of Fiesta affect her livelihood and Fiesta spirit!
"Everybody's so loom and gloom," she said. (yeah--loom!) and "I'm going to do my part to bring some cheerfulness to the world even if we're not having Fiesta this year."
If you want to buy a gorgeous wreath instead of going to Fiesta, you can get curbside service and have your own private Fiesta. Her shop doesn't have a sign, but it's right by the MetLife Building near Pizza Hut.
She also showed me a cascarone of Donald Trump waving a flag. "This is what my Democratic ladies buy," she said, "So they can smash them upside somebody's head."
I encourage you Fiesta-lovers to give Mary Lou some business this year. She has three adult sons, all with autism, and she has home-schooled them with online programs. Two of them are about to begin college at A&M! (You can buy right through the car window or just take pictures of somebody making happy!)
My final piece of the day is this. If you want to make cascarones yourself that last for years, try this:
http://www.auntpeaches.com/2012/03/how-to-make-hollow-eggs-last-ten-years.html
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