Month: March 2020

Isolation Diary: Feeling much better, almost normal. I’d like to take in a movie, get out of the house, you know? Noooo! I have to get used to staying home all over again.

While sending Duncan a Message from my iPad (he now has a kid’s account administered by Jessie, set up because of this isolation situation) I touched a button I hadn’t ever touched before and found Messenger requests. (I rarely use my iPad for this) And there was a message sent in mid 2018 (!) from a cousin that I know of but do not know. The Portuguese side of the family. He was asking for information about my paternal grandfather. Which I may have, actually. I replied. Now we are in contact. He grows walnuts in Modesto. I like walnuts. I use a lot around Christmas time when a bake a whole LOT of cookies. I wonder….have I been baking with my cousin’s walnuts?

I was cheered by General Todd Semonite of the Army Corp of Engineer when he appeared on the Rachel Maddow show. Direct information, specifics, very few extra words, a grasp of what can be done and how. And doing it. My god, what a relief. Nearly died again in our D & D game, had to be cured. I need better armor or something.

I did not hear from my Modesto cousin again. The General mentioned above was speaking about how the Army was going to help with the extreme burden on the hospitals because of the influx of severely ill Covid patients. His appearance was cheering because of the contrast to the information coming from Trump which could in no way be trusted by any reasonable person.

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Claudette W.
Your posts lift my spirits.

Natascha C.A.

Aaron F.
Find a way to raise your AC. A Dungeons and Dragons comment.

Susan J.
Mmmmmmwah! (from a safe distance, of course)

Susan J.
And thanks for the heads-up about the Maddow interview with General Semonite. It was encouraging. Too bad they don’t replace the idiot-in-chief’s daily briefings on TV with this man. This is the information we need and the information we crave.

Isolation Diary: Today 2 of my longtime improv friends and I experimented with playing improv on Zoom. We spent a lot of time dealing with technical matters. glitches. A sound issue. We still had a good time but…..similar to ‘road rage’, there is ‘techno rage’, or do you have a better name for it.

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Jeff W.
Yes, and?

Ruth Silveira
Yes, and do you mind if I smash you to smithereens?

(Written after midnight)

Okay….given your food supplies at this moment, and this was it, all you were going to have until the cavalry comes, what is the last thing you would eat? For me, it would be a jar of salty and sour lemon slices that Maggie bought and left here. I finally opened the jar and tried one. This would be the very last thing I would eat. Why do I still have them? I will have to examine that.

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Rebecca L.
Bagged beans.So healthy.Not likely I will ever bother to prepare them…

Aviva P.
Probably the roommates

Lemon B.
Dried beans

Guy P.
A tin of sardines.

Shaela C.
Pumpkin chocolate chip bread.
cheese.

Linda M.
My chickens

Alisa T.
Dried milk, powdered egg, power bars, and rice and beans. (I still have an earthquake supply cupboard that hasn’t been touched.)

(Written before midnight)

Isolation Diary: For the first time I had a sad phase today. After a delightful FaceTime episode with Maggie, Adam, and Fig. I can’t hold Fig. When he was over here before Covid and his parents were off working, I would hold him and we would dance together. He loved that. I’m in another sad phase right now. Shake it off, Ruth! Okay. Feeling so much better (I’ve had a cold, you recall), I got back to tai chi (at home) and dancing (by myself) and the garden. And, of course, D and D. I have survived, barely, another battle and we are leveling up.

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DeAnne M.
I got sad this weekend, too. We all need some hugs. Love you.

Susan J.
Oh, I hear you about the sadness that knocks on our doors periodically. A most unwelcome guest! I sometimes think I’m going through the stages of grief. Last week, it was anger. We, too, have enjoyed a virtual Fig to hug and giggle with, but that’s been the norm for us all along. I feel your pain! In the meantime, choose happiness and frolic in that gorgeous garden of yours.

Isolation Diary: Thank you to David Mayes for bringing us the substance of the daily ‘briefings’ from our (ouch) president. Most of us couldn’t bare to watch as they were rambling, repetitive, self-serving, and full of dodgy information. But, back to me, today I made fig newtons. Made with fig sauce I made last year from my own figs and froze. These are good, the best I’ve ever made. What am I going to do with them? Maybe I will leave some on my neighbors’ porches, ring the bell and run away. Some Fools (Sacred Fools Theater Company members) got together on Zoom and tried to sing a song. So nice to see these people! Also, as stated in a post elsewhere, I worked on cartoonish sketches of Fig. Examples below. The idea being that maybe I could draw a story featuring a Fig like character. Maybe. And some work in the garden, tussling with the devouring vine. I am safely back inside now.

I decided not make a Fig story, he was still too young for such a thing.

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Ruth Silveira
Sorry about the orientation.

DeAnne M.
Adorable

Donnelle P.
Oh keep and freeze those cookies! I’d probably toss any food that came from a neighbor in this virus-y climate. Hold onto them to eat or give as a gift later!

Ruth Silveira
Yeah, that’s probably right. I mean the unpracticality of leaving homemade cookies for a neighbor. I did freeze most of them, to be eaten or distributed later.

Susan J.
Oh! Little cartoon Fig! You’ve captured him already.

Joyce H.
Love your drawings, stories and baking adventures! Be safe in those vines

Isolation Diary: How long have I been on my own? My last big grocery shopping was Monday, March 9. On Thursday, March 12, things began shutting down; my rehearsal was canceled. The idea of social distancing and staying at home gaining traction. March 14, my last tai chi class before the Y shut down. Also a quick trip to Pavilions to pick up a few things, noticed the absence of toilet paper and water. By Sunday, March 15, I was feeling lonely and Jessie and Duncan came to visit. Alone until Wednesday, March 18, when Adam, Maggie, and Fig came for a visit. I hadn’t seen them in awhile because Fig had a cold. I was impatient for a visit, too soon, I caught the cold. But not immediately; on Friday, March 20, I walked to Larchmont to pack up pre- ordered coffee beans from Peet’s. And then…I’ve just been here at home. So, my strict isolation is just shy of 2 weeks but my, let’s say, ‘restricted isolation’ has been about 19 days. And maybe 30 more to come. So naive! How not to feel useless?Why do I need to feel useful? Because…..one of our human characteristics, maybe our most important one, is our potential to be useful to other humans. I am reminded of a show that Joe Jordan wrote, “Holon”. A holon is is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part; something individual and an integral part of a larger whole. We are all that. So here in isolation, I am my active individual self but my connecting self is pining.
In other news: I battled the devouring vine again. Oh, come on, you might be thinking, it’s a vine, a plant, why do you go on so about this lower life form? Ha! You innocents. Vines grow while you sleep, this is well known. Also when you are not looking. Truly, if you constantly stare at a vine, it is paralyzed, dormant. Take your eye off it…whoosh! There goes your ping-pong table. Hey, how’d the table get covered in leaves? My marauding vine has climbed up several large plants, bushes, trees, whatever, and created a canopy. This vine has attaching tendrils. To pull each ‘branch’ down takes strength, and often I simply can’t pull it down and have to sever the vine and let the left over just die up at the top the tree and turn brown. And I’m up on a ladder and not feeling so secure.
Wishing you all good health!

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Walt K.
Your diary must be three feet thick by now. Quick, find a publisher. You’ll make more than enough to buy a new ping pong table.