This 'n' That

 It's now about 11 months into the COVID shutdown. I've adapted to many things and feel as if I can't stand one more minute of many others.

I've sort of gotten used to staying at home, though I sometimes find myself planning for a weekend and wondering which friends to invite. M and I used to go out just about every Friday or Saturday night depending on what was happening. Since we were more active than most of our friends, it was usually up to us to initiate a get together with another couple or two. Now, many of our friends are not going to any indoor venue and some of the rest are not meeting with people regardless of the location.

Perhaps I should feel grateful. The fewer people with whom I come in contact, the less my chance of contracting COVID or even the seasonal flu.

Right now (as I look out on the snow-covered yard) I'm (not so) patiently waiting for spring and warmer weather when we can entertain on the patio or screened in porch. At least the days are getting longer.

I now have a walking buddy. C, who also leads senior exercise classes in Hatfield, walks nearly every day. Since she lives near the center of town, she many routes from which to choose and they are all relatively flat. Where I live, there is only one place to walk and it's all downhill. Which means on my way back, when I'm getting tired, it's all uphill. C and I have been meeting about once a week and walking around town in different directions. We walk about 3-4 miles (which is much more than I would do on my own); once we did nearly 5 miles.

Walking is good especially because I seem to have lost interest in Yoga and Pilates. Suddenly, I just didn't want to do them anymore. Maybe I just need a break. Or need different CDs and DVDs.

Of course, I've been doing a lot of reading. I began the V.I. Warshawski mystery series by Sara Paretsky. I'd forgotten how much I like her books. When I first discovered them many years ago, I read all of them. But then, as always happens, I caught up to her and she doesn't write as fast as I read. At best, only one is published each year. The same thing happened with Louise Penny. But it's been so long since I read Paretsky's earliest books, they're all new again.

And on my alphabetical list of potential duplicates, I've reached The most ...

Today, I'll be going into the MLS office. It's the highlight of my week.

Just One More Week

On  Monday, December 21 the Winter Solstice will occur at 5:02 a.m.

This is my favorite time of the year. Not because I like winter - which I don't. It's my favorite time because the days will start to get longer.

I will likely be awake for this event. I tend to wake up around 5 a.m. and then doze until I get up at 7. I usually get to see the sunrise between dozes as there is a sliding glass door that faces south east directly across the room from my bed.

I like being able to see what's happening outside first thing in the morning. I know if it's raining (though I can usually hear it before I see it) or cloudy.

So far, the "winter" (it's not officially winter yet) has not been too difficult, though our first storm is predicted for tomorrow. 

I know there will be many challenges during the next few months. COVID-19 cases are increasing and there are fewer places to stay safe since it's too cold to spend much time outdoors. At the Council on Aging, we had hoped to begin offering indoor, in-person exercise classes to those seniors who do not own computers and therefore can't join the Zoom classes. That's not going to happen for a while.

This is the time of year that I send Christmas/Holiday cards to the people I do not see on any regular basis. For the last couple of weeks, I've been sending a card to just about everyone I know. I feel a real need to have some contact with people. I've always been sort of a loner and don't mind spending a lot of time by myself or only with my significant other. But I've reached my limit even though we haven't been totally isolated.

The positive side is that I've done lots of reading, lots of cooking, seen lots of DVDs and the U.S. Post Office is getting a little boost from all the stamps I've bought.

Back to the Office

For the last six months I've been bemoaning the fact I cannot go into the MLS office. I miss my familiar routines and the structure they provided. Sometimes I feel adrift and the result is I don't do much of anything useful. Yet there are so many things I'd like to do. Mostly housework and yard work. Well, not really LIKE to do, but that need to be done.

I've finally been given permission to go back to the office and I'm finding my familiar routines are no longer familiar. They feed quite odd. I need to pack a lunch, and make sure information stored on my home computer is sent to my work computer. 

I have to plan my wardrobe for the day since it's Friday and the senior exercise class will be meeting in it's new location outdoors on the lawn of the Town Hall. I could just go to the office in my t-shirt, sneakers and baseball cap, but this is my chance to wear real clothes even though no one else will be in the office to see me.

I could almost resume my pre-COVID-19 routine, but I'm not sure I want to. I've gotten used to not having to plan my day because I'll be gone from home and need to bring things with me.

Last week, I went "shopping" for the first time in six months. My 15-year old sneakers were falling apart and I bought a shiny new pair. Yesterday, I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. On the way I stopped at one of my favorite clothing stores and bought a new skirt at 50% off. I could wear that today in the office, though that's more changing than I would usually do. 

One thing I've learned in my 70+ years on this earth is that life is full of surprises. I could get used to that, but I don't think I really ever will.

Earrings in the Age of COVID-19

It's been a full five months since Massachusetts shut down due to COVID-19. I've learned some things  I never would have thought of if I hadn't spent so much time at home.

Since, basically, every day is the weekend in terms of going out and about, I'm always dressed in my "play clothes". Reading posts on Facebook, it appears everyone else is too. Pre-COVID-19, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I'd get up and dressed to lead my senior exercise class. After class, I'd go to work at the office. Because I'd be seeing people all day long, I'd want to look my best. That meant clothes without stains or holes, a little make-up, and earrings.

I love having pierced ears. I got my first set of holes while I was an undergraduate at UMass. My ear lobes became infected and I let them heal, which meant the holes closed. My second attempt had the same result and I resigned myself to clip-on or screw-on earrings. A few years later, I went to an ear piercing clinic and had hypoallergenic studs shot through my lobes. Finally! I could wear pierced earrings as long as I was careful about the quality.

When I finished library school, I treated myself to a second set of holes in my ear lobes. It was 1976 and two holes was pretty radical. I've been wearing 2 sets of earrings nearly every day ever since. I usually fill the lower hole first and choose a set of dangling earrings. Then I find 2 studs for the upper holes. Usually the studs are the same, but not always. If my outfit has several different colors, I look for studs with those colors. Choosing just the right earrings is serious business. If I don't go out on a particular day, I usually don't bother with earrings.

Enter the age of COVID-19, when I'm now mostly at home. After a few weeks, I realized, I hadn't worn earrings in a long time and I was afraid, even after all these years, that my holes would close. I now try to wear earrings every few days. I choose 4 studs. After all, who wears dangling earrings while cleaning the bathroom?

But when I go out, I revert to my former habit of 1 set of danglers and 2 studs. That has turned out to present another problem. 

When I first started wearing a mask, I used a bandanna with a batik design. It was very pretty, but I found it inconvenient to tie it and untie it if I was making multiple stops. And no one could see my carefully chosen earrings. I switched to a mask with loops that go around my ears. Now people can see my earrings, but I have to be careful putting the mask on an off as the ear loops can catch on my earrings.

In all of the literature I've read about coping with the COVID-19, no one has yet addressed the issue of wearing earrings with a mask. Am I the first to encounter this phenomenon?