After a poor night’s sleep, I woke discouraged. ‘Why blog? Why tweet? Really, why bother?’ Things that seemed sustaining 24 hours earlier, seemed less so this morning. It alarmed me, actually.
Two cups of coffee and one dog walk later, I feel better. Nothing like a beautiful spring day! The sun’s out. It’s in the fifties. I didn’t have to wear down or a hat!
Let’s keep counting.
Five Zoom meetings this week. Four successful, one marred by a no show. Son #2 had better things to do, apparently. Maturing brain, I failed to teach manners, etc. But better things to do with a visiting friend from Brooklyn — really? REALLY?
Number of times I’ve wondered if DJT is a sociopath: too many times to count. Recent events confirm it. Incompetence, stupidity, and strategic vengeance only explain so much. He has more blood on his hands than all the most prolific serial killers combined (except Stalin, Pol Pot, and Hitler).
Spring robins are back! Saw at least five this morning. ‘Chirp-chirp-chirp!’ There they hop — through the green blades of daffodils, not yet blooming but nodding in anticipation.
Number of sirens wailing during 25 minute walk: three? four?
Number of new cases YESTERDAY in Massachusetts: more than 800.
Number of doctors and other health care workers who recently tested positive in Boston: something like 141.
Number of times I’ve seen a person on the red house porch on Jackson Street in 26 years: 0. Today, a woman with a lap top. “That’s 45 schools,” she says. “AND, all the faculty!”
Number of times I spray Lysol on the keyboard every day, even without external contact: once.
Number of yard crews suffered through yesterday: four.
Number of times I’ve looked for the tiny bottle of Purell that magically turned up out of nowhere and then just as magically disappeared: five?
God damn those elves!
Number of masks finished: 5. Number of masks half done: 5. Number of blog and instagram posts about masks: 5. Number of additional masks I plan to make: 0 to 10.
It’s an act of duty without clear cut benefit. I’d rather finish C’s quilt.
Number of email addresses collected for our hyper-local help chain: 11.
15: number of minutes I will sit and follow the breath today.
3: minimum number of pages that I’ll write. I expect pure ranting today but who cares?
2 or 3: number of yard waste barrels I will fill.
One delicious dinner planned. Fire up the grill!
I love the way you share your ups and downs. Your ranting on any given day can make me laugh .. cry .. get mad!! I would miss you terribly .. I would miss my Dee time. Stay well ..
Just to be clear. This isn’t a rant. But I’m overdue for one, aren’t I? Thanks for witnessing this crazy time by my side, Tina!
I hear you…discouragement is an ever-present stalker, especially with the daily blather from the president and his seemingly endless corps of enablers. I am trying to put my phone (news source) down and concentrate on my projects, but they sometimes feel dull and small, so I make cookies.
Baking has come back into my life during this weird intercession. I see a lot of others in twitter reporting the same. Bread machines selling out. Yeast unattainable. I make breakfast cakes and cornbread, but I have chocolate chips at the ready for a batch of cookies! And maybe I’ll try bread?
# of times I come here for solace, info, humor and connection, too many to count so please take a break if you need to but don’t leave…
# of times I’ve watched the great evil, 0 cause I have curtailed all of my news viewing to just the daily COVID-19 bulletins from our Dept of Health in New Mexico where we now have-
# of cases now total 136 from a total of 5 two weeks ago and sadly, 1 death.
## of days remaining in school 0 as Governor just now said school’s out for the rest of the year. Feel sorry for Seniors who won’t get to participate in the right of passage known as graduation.
# of words that my grand kids, sent in reply to our round robin story challenge, 122. Imaginative collaboration between the two of them and we are just getting started. A few more words were added that had nothing to do with the story but all to do with how much they love this shared story idea.
# of joyful thoughts that came from their enjoying this fun way to connect, a gazillion!
# reading my NM Dept of Health bulletin tonight, cases have jumped 40% overnight from 136 to 191. In a state as small as ours population wise, we have a little over 2 million, this is huge…
It’s going to be so everywhere. Sigh.
Marti. Thank you. Your comments are a treasure. I know we all say this, but it bears repeating. I will want to hear more about this round robin. It’s such a stroke of genius!
Woke up this morning, sad that I don’t have a sewing machine to make masks, feeling that diligently staying home is not enough so…
I found a cloth dyed with leaves from one of the Chinese Pistache trees out in our front yard. I had thrown it into one of my copper pots along with some red and yellow onion skins earlier in the year and the cloth was quietly waiting in my dresser drawer. It seemed the right time to use it so out it came and to the cloth, that has wonderful leave imprints and markings of green, purple and slivers of yellow, I stitched a strip of yellow cloth dyed with Spanish broom. Took one of my black indelible markers and wrote the word, LOVE. When daybreak arrived, I tied it to a few branches of one of the mentioned trees. The winds are fierce this weekend in New Mexico and as the wind and my cloth danced about, I felt happy to know that not only would my neighborhood feel the love but the winds would carry the sentiment far and wide…
Love this so much. If you send me a pic or two I’ll share them in a post.
Didn’t see a reply after your reply but I did send you an email with photos, hope I sent it to right email address!
Try again. I don’t see it. Deemallon89@gmail.com
Yup, I feel some of this too. I spend a lot of time worrying and have tons of anxiety. Woke up at 3AM, finally just got up and started drinking coffee at 4AM. I had even taken my sleeping potion. Delivered 8 masks (no wires) to the church down the street this morning to be picked up for Cooper Hospital in Camden NJ. Our sewing shop in town is actually getting requests for these simple masks from EMT drivers and Dr.offices, and maybe others. So, these masks really are needed, tho’ many want to question how effective they are. I’m happy to make more. Plus this afternoon the sewing shop is holding a -guess what!- a ZOOM event to go over how to make the masks with the wire inserts and filter pocket. Oh I wish we had a grill right now, it is gorgeous out today. Keep posting! Looks like I’m not the only one who smiles when I see PATTERN and OUTRAGE show up in my inbox. Why doesn’t tRump ever get sick? like really physically sick? Syphilis? I can’t listen anymore, I am chock full of sadness and rage. But I do check twitter every night before turning out the light. hmmmmm could be my problem.
Well reading this makes me want to keep going. The second blog post here shows how to make a mask with nose wire and pocket (it’s the 14” x 7.5” inch version, also can find on FB, Million Mask challenge or something). Also : cloth ties, so no need to stock up on elastic. I did find a local hospice/nursing team that wants homemade masks. I certainly don’t lack for fabric. Let me know if you want some.
oh good! thanks for the extra refs. Of course I missed the zoom b/c I am so ADD and somewhat inundated with volunteer projects. I found 3 yards of pink cotton in the attic – not even in the fabric category of the crap I save. I’ll let you know when I run out of this. I am moved to embroider little hearts on the front… wait, I must focus. “Focus, Margaret! FOCUS”!
I’m getting a package ready. May cut the squares for you in advance.
oh my – thank you Dee! I’m replying to your msg about sending fabric and pre-cut! wow! that a huge bonus! I must’ve spent two hours just figuring out why a fat quarter mattered for identifying a selvages using a taco fold. LOL. I made ONE mask today (that’s not great speed). It doesn’t even have a pocket for a filter. But I got down how to make the ties. But I want make on for this neighbor’s with a filter pocket tonight – soooooo I was thrilled to see your Mask #3 which looks like it has everything I can handle technically, with all the right features. Super. Thank you gazillions my dear friend and super-maker 🙂
I check twitter before sleep too many nights too. I tricked myself this week by borrowing a book on kindle from my library. So, I shorten the news time and switch to a page-turner murder/romance on my phone. If I wake at night, it’s always at three.
🙂
I was super low day before yesterday and it took ’til one in the afternoon yesterday to really find a rhythm rather than rote action and observations that didn’t connect me to myself. Then I went down in the basement and began planting seeds. Figured out the rest of the seeds to be planted today. This brought me back into myself.
I refuse to watch even brief playback clips of those monstrosity press conferences any longer. The entire team beyond Fauci is lying every time they open their mouths. We here in MA (and Cali and WA and whatever’s coming up behind us in blue state terms) are quite deeply fucked. That travesty of an impeachment trial is nothing short of haunting at this point.
Your connection to the plant world is both inspiring and enviable. Clearly, the solace and meaning derived there is more important than ever.
I don’t know why I watch even two minutes of those propaganda sessions. I end up yelling and scaring the dog.
Deeply fucked. Indeed. The numbers in MA are alarming. And all those health care professionals?
As I know you are sewing did you see this? https://www.mainstreetdailynews.com/news/discovery-by-uf-doctor-may-have-solved-face-mask-shortage/article_69f69f3c-6fc2-11ea-a3a3-bf3f8ba6a88d.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share the material mentioned is widely used in any setting that does surgery and has an autoclave including vet hospitals. I know some vet hospitals are donating other medical supplies to human hospitals, maybe they’d be willing to do so with this material to for people sewing?
No one is talking about this where I’ve been looking. Good to know. It’s a little expensive but it sounds like it would produce a really good mask.
(((Dee))) it’s so important to share the stories of how this is unfolding from all our corners of our beautiful broken world world, this slowing down is giving our planet a chance to breathe and showing us ways to recalibrate how we look after her and each other
I read yesterday that the hole in our ozone layer is the smallest it’s been in ages. The canals in Venice are crystal clear for the first time in ages. Swans have returned and even porpoise are swimming their narrow lengths. The smog in LA is virtually non-existent. Mountain lions wander the suburban streets of Boulder — perhaps sharing attitude with those crows and other birds you saw recently. I have reestablished an altar.
I am daring to look ahead … wondering if all the folks who are out of work can be redeployed into saving the planet … you may say I’m a dreamer …
A sliver of a positive vision is welcome here.
Love this. I was writing my own counting list in my head as I read, inspired by you. But, my list kept falling to negative and snarky, so I’ll leave it alone. Thank you for being here Dee. You are a treasure. xo
Negative snark has its place. Big time. And as a poet (you know you are), I’d love to see how it gets expressed.