So, of course, we tackled making face masks. Our pattern is rather clunky -- and then we found that working a sewing machine is too close to working a computer; our eyes crossed and our backs gave out. We'll try again. There is such a need for them. This is the Victory Garden Effort of our times. Do you have pattern to recommend? Please post in the comments!
 |
| Poppies along the levee at Hamilton Field |
Today, April 1, doesn't feel like much of a joking, foolish kind of day, so I haven't bothered with trying out a prank. I don't think anyone I know has. Even if it might have leavened the mood, things feel far too serious for pranks and light-hearted Tom-foolery.
Instead, I took a socially-distanced walk with an old friend I only just recently re-met. Back in the days of Time Before Coronavirus II (TBCV) walking six-feet apart would have seemed almost Monty Python-esque, like some bizarre challenge: how far can you walk, keeping six-feet apart and still keep a connection going? Turns out, it is quite possible, especially as the connections run deep and the concerns, fears and politics align so well between us.
We met back when our kids shared grades and schools in Petaluma, but we hadn't seen or talked to each other in many years. There was a move to the mid-West for her family and then a return to the Bay Area upon retirement, though not back to Petaluma. And though I knew we were within spitting distance of each other after our move down to Marin, it took a chance encounter on the Hamilton Levee in mid-March for us to fully reconnect. We are both huggers, and while physical contact was already completely verboten at that point, we snuck in one long hug that first meeting, among avid talk between us. We couldn't help ourselves. There was history in the hug and a gladness for renewed friendship.
Today we do keep our distance, offering a wave and a touch to the heart as our greeting and then walking a long 2-mile loop, catching up on each other's lives, our kids, our grandkids. Going over the new rules now - and how devastating it feels not to be in literal touch with the littlest ones. Even though we understand and acknowledge the need for distance, that's one of the hardest to endure.
Then I went home, without sharing coffee or tea or a tour of her new-to-me house, and I kept working on making masks. Here's the NYT article with instructions on making the pleated kind of mask. Think I'll try this one next. I have a friend in Utah who needs them, desperately. Well, I think we will all need them soon enough.
p.p.s. Doctors Plead for PPE
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/us/hospitals-coronavirus-ppe-shortage.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Noise makers!