Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Masks of the Apocalypse

The first mask
but best photo
Here we are in the middle of a pandemic. I can't tell you how fascinating it would be if it weren't so horrific! I keep losing track of the time line so I'm going to include a little of that here.

March 10, DH's workplace asked people who could to work from home, as did many employers in the area, hoping to slow the disease.  He was in work for part of a day later that week, and we saw our tax lady, but otherwise were pretty much home.  The following week, March 17, the Bay Area started "sheltering in place" which means that only essential workers go to work; restaurants and bars are closed, as well as most retail businesses; schools are closed. Since then, the order has been extended to May 3. Since 3/17, I've left the house to go to the grocery store, to get takeout food, and to exercise. No one has been here, although a week ago they lifted the order slightly to allow gardeners to come to do services effecting fire mitigation; so my guys started cutting down the grass on the slope below the house this week.

My favorite; it's symmetric
on the other side

Is it difficult? Not really, unless I think a lot about it. I have plenty to do and Zoom and other video conferencing technologies have allowed me to stay mostly in touch with my social groups. Yet I find my brain fuddled and that I'm not particularly productive. Plenty of exercise and garden time lets me sleep but hasn't restored my cognitive function. I'm working on a plan to feel more in control, at least of the things I have control of.

Dark glasses make me
less selfie-conscious
So what am I doing? I'm using Zoom a lot and have been answering a lot of questions on how it works...  I've been working with folks from the guild to try to make the online presence better and to get people connected, going so far as to figure out how to do HTML tables. It's not that hard, but took me a bit to dance my way around it.

On the fiber side, I'm continuing my work on the Festivus quilt and have finally started weaving but I'm stuck because I can't decide on my weft color!  I also started making masks, for ourselves, friends and family; I have made 13 so far, 2 of which are unallocated. Next step is to start sending them to my Niece in ABQ who is a social worker and says she can find homes for as many as I can make. 

What's up next? Aside from work in the garden, I want to get back to the mosaic studio, do some weaving, and make more masks. I suspect masks will be a theme for awhile.