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