I was out walking Aggie before 7 this morning. For the past few nights she’s been jumping off the bed between 1 and 3 am and waking me up and I haven’t been able to fall back asleep. We took our usual loop, down the street and over to the athletic field for a walk around its circumference. It’s a short walk, about 25 minutes, but a necessary one because that dog just won’t do her business in my paved backyard.
This morning the surreal mood surrounding my exhaustion was exacerbated by the fact that the power was out. Brought me smack into the bubbling terror-ridden anticipation about upcoming fire season in California and power shutoffs in the age of COVID. My daughter’s partner is looking for a solar-powered generator for me.
Tried to sleep for a bit when we returned. Heard the power come back on. Sitting now over a cup of coffee trying to figure out what to write about. I was thinking of posting the three Mabel and Olive videos but then I realized I used them last week. (But here’s another wonderful video by the BBC sports commentator.)
And here’s one more of his called Mabel’s dream.
Then I came across this inspiring video of a virtual performance of Ride of the Valkyries.
I was heartened by a NYT article Can You Get the Virus From a Surface? which relies heavily on CDC data which detailed how unlikely it is for us to contract the virus from surfaces.
The early scientific advice seemed to encourage people to treat surface contact with utmost seriousness. More recently, research has suggested that few people get the virus this way. The main transmission mechanism instead appears to be close contact with someone who has the virus, like talking face-to-face or sitting nearby in an indoor setting. Those situations expose people to enough of a “viral load” to become infected.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently tried to clarify its guidance on the subject: “It may be possible that a person can get Covid-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this isn’t thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
I’ve become very OCD over surfaces to the point where each night I am in the habit of thinking perhaps I didn’t disinfect a glass that was sitting next to a cardboard box of toothpaste which I had not decontaminated. I go through a ritual which involves my hand sanitizer, my spray bottle of 99% alcohol, and rigorous hand washing only to wonder if I had touched the faucet with contaminated fingers and then starting the process all over again. It’s maddening.
Ambitious Bakers Are Finding Inspiration in Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch to Create Amazing Works of Focaccia-Bread Art
Extended self-isolation—not to mention the closure of restaurants—has gotten people back into their kitchens, where ambitious cooking has led to some of the most widely circulated images of life in lockdown.
Alongside sourdough starters and whipped dalgona coffee from Korea, “Garden Focaccia,” as it’s been dubbed—flat white loaves of bread beautifully decorated with colorful vegetables in floral designs—has become an internet sensation.
I’m still working on keeping up with my yoga and my french lessons on Duo Lingo every day. Do my newsletter for the town’s seniors everyday, and work on the community’s emergency disaster preparedness task force. This nonprofit in Nairobi got back to me about volunteering to write content for their website: their focus is programs that address the digital divide as it impacts local Kenyan women. We had a zoom interview scheduled yesterday but I was so tired I totally forgot.
Memorial Day I drove out to the San Geronomo Valley to see my step daughter and walk in the woods near her house. The trails were so crowded that we cut it short because it was impossible to socially distance. But it was the longest drive I’ve been on since this whole thing started and good for my car whose batttery went dead last Friday
That’s about all I have for this Thursday night edition, folks. Creative neurons just aren’t firing today. Think I’ll finish up my other work and go for a nap on the couch.
How’s everyone doing? Look forward to hearing from you!
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