Tuesday, March 31, 2020

In between Words with Friends, I read. A lot.

This must be what retirement is like, only without any real friends. No one to hug, no one to share Happy Hour Fried Calamari with, no one to visit while doing a load of laundry. But tons of time to play games on the device!  And tons of time to read!  And sleep and eat and bake and walk the dog.  

In the past two weeks I have read six books.  Here they are, not because you want to know but because I want to tell you and share something, anything, with a human being instead of with my dog who has become irritatingly unresponsive to my attempts at conversation.


Non-fiction:  "Boom Town" by Sam Anderson.  Good book about Oklahoma City.

"The Unwinding of the Miracle" by Julie Yip-Williams. Memoir about a young woman's life and subsequent death from colon cancer. (Good but sad, maybe not the best choice in these days of deaths from the coronavirus.)

Fiction:  "Blue Moon" by Lee Child.  The latest in the Jack Reacher series.  OK, a good trashy read but not the best of the series.

"The Cruelest Month" by Louise Penny.  One of the Inspector Gamache series, an intelligent mystery, well done.
"Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman. This was on my bookshelf, it's OK.
"Weather" by Jenny Offill.  This is a current release and got good reviews but is rather odd. A quick read,  however.

Now I have to figure out what to read next. Fiction or non? Trash or something more important?  But really, what is more important than trashy novels in the time of incarceration  lockdown seclusion? There is too much serious news on TV, on the front page of every newspaper. Why not read a spy novel or a murder mystery or a goofy book about a dog and his tennis ball.  (Well, OK, I draw the line at books about dogs and their balls.) 


As for baking, here is what I made yesterday:  No-Knead Bread from the NY Times archives.  Very easy, costs about fifty cents to make, flour, yeast, water, salt.  Yeast is hard to find right now because I am hoarding it, of course.  If you decide to make this, let me know because there is one simple step to make it even easier than it actually is. And I can tell you that step if you like......



Two days ago I made this foccacia, really easy and good.




This just proves that one can be productive while having no contact with the outside world.


Hang in there, folks. It's gonna be a long, lonely, bumpy ride.


xoxo





Using bourbon as a hand and body sanitizer. Seriously, I think it's working!

The evil properties of the coronavirus have been kept at bay in my home because I firmly believe bourbon has magical sanitation properties and I am making good use of those properties.



A book and a bottle of Bourbon: on the road to health.

In fact, if one were to look at the science of alcohol as a sanitizer, the key is that 60% alcohol is what you need.  Therefore, if your bourbon is 120 proof, that equals 60% alcohol and there you go!  Vodka won't work because it is only 80 proof, so only 40% alcohol.  Stupid vodka, not gonna kill anything.  

Yes, finding 120 proof bourbon might be a challenge right now since most liquor stores are closed and your local Safeway's high-end liquor selection is weak, but the local Oliver's Markets always carry Knob Creek 120 proof bourbon and not at a terrible price either.  

(Disclaimer:  the bottle of High West Double Rye shown above is NOT 120 proof but it made a nice photo, thus it is showcased.  Plus, it's the best I had at the moment, before my 120 proof epiphany occurred.)

If 120 proof can sanitize your hands, think of what it will do for the inside of your body where so many viruses lurk.  Clean insides!  That's what I am going for.  And right now, nothing can deter me.

Carry on, all you out there, trying to stay safe.  Have a little bourbon, or a lot, and at least you will be happy for an hour or two as you fight to stay healthy.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Who would have thought Lady Macbeth would become a coronavirus meme?

But, yet, it is true. Washing one's hands twenty times a day is a bit less than Lady Macbeth's quarter hour washing ritual.  Well, maybe not, if you consider that we mere mortals are washing our hands even if we have touched nothing but air and Lady M only washed hers when she was sleepwalking. And she was dealing with blood, not virus, but a case can be made for the similarities of the two.

"Out, damned spot! Out, I say."  Good luck with that spot if it's a virus, Lady M. If someone coughed on your hand, continue washing. If someone coughed in the neighborhood you live, continue washing. If someone virtually coughed in your dream, continue washing.

And so it goes, we wash and wash. Getting gas today was laden with problems: will this paper towel I brought keep any touch virus away? Will the sleeve of my sweatshirt, which I used to cover my fingers as I punched in the five digit zip code needed to authorize my credit card bring that pesky virus into my  home? Should I sanitize that sleeve? Ah, the madness!!!!   Please know that I am not making light about anything, I am as on edge as everyone else. But since everyone else is freaking out we can perhaps hope that everyone is being cautious and using a glove or a paper towel or their sleeve to push whatever buttons are needed at this point.  And sometimes all of our buttons get pushed over this. Sometimes it fucking freaks us out to think that by touching a door handle we could get infected! (Sanitize.) We could get infected by picking up a can of kidney beans that someone else already touched!  (Really?)  We think we can get infected if we are within 20 feet of someone sneezing! (No comment.)  

It's all new territory, folks, and we can only do the best we can. I was walking Cooper in Kenwood today with Steve and his dog and we encountered a neighbor of Steve's. The subject of conversation is The Virus and it turns out this guy had it. Well, so he thinks, he's pretty sure about it but not able to tell for sure unless he gets an antibody kit which ain't gonna happen for a while. But it would be helpful to the CDC to have people's antibodies, those who have had the virus, for research, etc. Talking to this gentleman was a tiny light into the tunnel of "what if" and it was reassuring in a way. He had it. He survived and he is articulate about the progression it made through his body.  Fascinating, actually.

Okay, time for dinner:  a big bowl of homemade chicken soup (lots of veggies, not so much chicken but homemade stock) and the last slice of a buttermilk quick bread with herbs and pepper, toasted and buttered. A little High West Double Rye on the side and something unsavory on Netflix and all is right with my world for now.

Do your diligence, fellow shelterers, stay safe and healthy and be happy. Walk around your neighborhoods, there are blooms everywhere and right now life is good. It is raining here in Glen Ellen, just a bit, but the sound on the roof is lovely.



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Monday, March 23, 2020

Living and/or dying

Being optimistic about my health in these frightening times, I am not planning on getting this virus. But no one knows, especially since it seems half of the population of California is ignoring the "shelter in place" edict that Governor Newsom has ordered. So many people have no idea what this pandemic means or what the consequences can be. It astounds me, the stupidity of the general population but let's leave that behind for this moment.

No one with an IQ above 100 hasn't thought about what this might mean to them and their family in the living-dying spectrum. It has been more than 100 years since the world has experienced such a pandemic. This will hit people all across the age range and the death toll could be (will be) staggering. The situation will get worse before it gets better. The long lasting repercussions, economically, politically, socially, in every way will continue for at least a generation. 

Living or dying. Some people will be looking at those two options very soon, for themselves or for their loved ones. It is almost inconceivable to acknowledge this fact, at this moment, in our society, in our lives.  

Please try and be as kind and as thoughtful as you can. If you know someone who has no work and is struggling for money, offer them a bit. Even $50 goes a long ways if you have no money for food. $200 goes a lot farther.  If you have a house cleaner or a gardener or a babysitter, see if they are struggling, perhaps pay them for a week even if they don't work. Or two weeks.  Costco and Whole Foods are now delivering, so buy extra food and give it to someone who needs it. A dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, a pound of ground beef and a gallon of milk will go a long way and will cost you so little and will mean so much to a family who is unemployed. Restaurants are offering take out so support them by getting food or get a gift card from them and give it to someone who might not have the means to order that pizza. Yes, money does help. So does a phone call. We communicate so often with devices but sometimes a voice on the phone can change a person's day.  Call someone.

I don't believe in God, but I did like this board in front of the Glen Ellen Community church. In a few words it says it all:  Be careful out there and let's help each other out.

Stay well. 





Sunday, March 22, 2020

Who wants to read about Oklahoma City? Turns out I did.

Two years ago I read a book review of "Boom Town" by Sam Anderson. The review was so good that I put the book on my library list but somehow never picked it up in time, never read it and forgot about it. Because the public libraries were closing because of the virus, I raced into one last week and picked up a couple of books. One was "Boom Town" which just happened to be on a shelf I walked by.

The subject of "Boom Town" is Oklahoma City.  As in Oklahoma.  OKC.  Now, seriously, have you ever thought "Hmm, I would like to read an entire book about a city I have never even thought of consciously for more than three seconds."  Doubtful. If you are a basketball fan, you might have wondered about OKC when watching a Thunders game against the Warriors.  Or if you have a decent memory you will undoubtedly remember the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building which killed 168 people. But OKC doesn't figure much in the news on a regular basis and it isn't a travel destination.  It doesn't inspire poetic prose like so many other cities of the world: Paris, New York, Rome.

However, having just finished this very enjoyable book, I would have no problem visiting OKC for a day or two.  For one reason, Anderson has made the citizens of OKC seem resilient, pleasant, welcoming and proud. For another reason, as a person who is intrigued by US history, there are several things that occured there that would be worth investigating further: their Civil Rights struggle, the chaotic Land Run that created the state, the history of tornadoes, and a few other points of fact.

But the bottom line is this: for a book about a minor American city, Anderson has given us a very enjoyable history of a city, its people and promises.  It reads well, is funny at times and moving at others. His ride-along with the OKC Thunder basketball team is fun and insightful. The passages about the Federal Building bombing will move you to tears. Honestly, it will make you want to visit Oklahoma City very soon.

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Seriously? Gathering in groups to spread the virus? Are we all idiots?

On the front page of two local newspapers this morning (Marin IJ and Santa Rosa Press Democrat) are articles about people flocking to beaches, to beach towns, to local Target stores to do nothing but basically defy the Governor's edict to stay at home.  Because these idiots have been sequestered in their homes and neighborhoods for FIVE FUCKING DAYS, they now think they can remedy their "cabin fever" by wandering around enclosed shopping areas and by invading someone else's neighborhood, ignoring the pandemic to which they are contributing.  It defies everything: common sense, intelligence, the law, humanity, human values. It's as if these fat, selfish scum have no idea what situation our world is currently dealing with.

It leaves me speechless.  And it isn't just happening here. Spring break celebrators in Florida and New Orleans are doing the same, blatantly ignoring the "shelter in place" orders that are in effect almost everywhere in the U.S.  With this rampant disregard for the cold, hard truth of this virus, it's a certainty that the mess we are in is only going to get worse.  Much worse.

Be careful out there.  Make some bread or make soup or cookies. Stay indoors.

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Saturday, March 21, 2020

In the middle of the quarantine, seclusion, sheltering.......

Will we look back at this period of six, eight, twelve weeks of social distancing, of social quarantine, of mind numbing seclusion as anything but a time of fear and confusion?  Will there be revealed a benefit to these days of isolation when it's over? Well, if one escapes the virus, that will be a benefit of course. But at this moment, trying to both absorb the daily news, the body counts, the lack of services for all of us while at the same time trying to avoid all of the above, the possibility of a benefit seems remote. 

However, I have already seen more voice-to-voice communication in my small world than I would have imagined. Friends are calling. I am calling them. My siblings are chatting on the phone, we are all trying to enjoy the power of a voice if we cannot enjoy the power of a hug, of company.  Maybe that will continue, maybe those of us who are spared the dire consequences of this viral Grim Reaper will hold hard on our promise to "let's keep in touch, let's talk in a few days" that we are now making.  (Well, at least I am and some of my friends. Can't speak for the millions out there.)  Sometimes the sound of a friendly voice on the phone is all it takes to change the course of a depressing day.

Music, too.  I am listening to a Pandora channel right now, as I have for a while, that features Lucinda Williams, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss and the indomitable Patty Griffin, and Adele and so many others. For me, lyrics seem to figure into this imposed isolation and they often mean more than what's written on the page. Google "Patty Griffin Be Careful" and listen to it and pay attention.  It's powerful.

Still, we are in a vast, frightening unknown territory of possible darkness and death. Anything we can do to help our minds, hearts and psyches and health right now are fair game. Running in place, listening to loud music, eating noodles with garlic and cheese, walking and walking on empty roads, having a beer at 9:00 in the morning, whatever it takes, just do it. Learn to bake bread, bake a cake, clean out your closets and toss things you won't need once our metaphorical (and real) doors to the world reopen. Dance alone in your house or with your partner if that partner isn't a dog, like in my case. Sit outside in these days and sip some whiskey or wine and read a book. Read several.

OK, time to make some dinner with all the supplies I have stored up. Sesame noodles with leftover chicken and thinly sliced cucumber and carrots.  Or something like that.

With all this time, I will be writing more, just so the two people who read this will pay attention..... check in often.

Stay safe.  I love you all.

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Thursday, March 12, 2020

Safe to travel? Safe to exist in California? Safe to breathe? Who knows?

Before I threw up my hands because of indecision and decided to just rent a car and drive, I considered other options. Going to Europe, revisiting the South, going north to Seattle and Vancouver BC.  Well, oddly enough, the choice I made actually worked. Going to Europe would have been a disaster, if I had been able to even get there and get back. The South: tornados and flooding in the places I most wanted to visit, so no thanks on that one.  And Seattle, well, we don't need to talk about that.

It's a bit dicey going anywhere right now but in my little zippy Toyota I felt 100% safe and secure. No one was in the car but me (and my brother for a few hours but I am pretty sure he didn't have the virus) so no need to sterilize things before turning the key. The hotel rooms I stayed in were clean and nice, although I am sure a virus could have been lurking anywhere. I never went anywhere crowded, was a loner most of the time, which is how I usually travel.

It is probably more dangerous, if one is thinking along those danger lines, to go to the grocery store than to go out to dinner. People don't normally go out to dinner when they feel crappy but people go buy groceries even when they are sick. Crazy.... and we have a POTUS that two days ago said this virus thing would all blow over. Then he said we have no worries, we have plenty of test kits for everyone!  Today he backtracked again and misspoke over and over again and the U.S. still has almost no testing program for people who might be infected with the virus. What the fuck is going on?

But I am going to live in my little bubble and pretend  assume that the virus isn't going to come to Glen Ellen. I am a little concerned about my job since the hotel welcomes people from all over the world (although many from foreign lands have already cancelled) and we have a difficult time standing six feet away from guests. But washing my hands 100 times a day is possible, and not breathing air that is shared with others might be possible so I am hoping that will all be okay as well. I have enough food for a couple of weeks, especially if I eat sparingly and begin to forage for green things in my neighborhood.  (Miner's lettuce grows everywhere, of course, as does rosemary and who doesn't love a big bowl of fresh rosemary?)  

Tonight I enjoyed the unseasonable and totally wrong warm weather and grilled a fat pork chop and some veggies, pretending it was summer, the season I like the least. The dinner was good, grilling was nice, and I truly hope it rains soon. And for many days.

Stay healthy if you can.  If you can't, at least stay quiet and quarantined.  Good luck out there.

.


Tuesday, March 10, 2020

On the road again, and now back.

There are those who love road trips and there are those who don't like to drive. Some like to scurry down roads they have never seen before and some like to stick to the comfortable large highways. Many drivers want to get to their destination as quickly as possible and many others don't care about the immediacy of their journey, they are happy to toodle along and get there.... eventually.

As mentioned previously, I took a week off and rented a car and drove down the coast. That entire journey could have been done in one day down, one day back. It took me a week and in that week I drove more than a thousand miles and I only made it to Santa Barbara! My rental car had an even 1200 miles on it when I hopped into the driver's seat last Tuesday morning and now it has a ragged 2344 miles on that odometer and that clean little Toyota Corolla is dirty and tired. Guess I broke that baby in. It was a good car, great pep, comfy seats and there is nothing like a new car to take on the open road.

Out of the six nights, I stayed near the ocean four of those nights. Two were in Pacific Grove at a basic one star motel just across the street from Monterey Bay. That location compensated for the sadness of the motel. Yes, the place was clean: sheets, towels, floor, all were clean. But no hair dryer, a tiny bar of soap the size of a postage stamp, no shampoo, bad TV reception. The only reason to stay there was the location: the view was perfect and I fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves, a healing and soothing sound. Two other nights were in Santa Barbara, a Hyatt hotel across the street from the ocean, fine room, nice balcony looking out to the ocean.  My goal was to be near the water and those two places gave me that.

I thought I would read several books, figure out my life, eat great meals. None of that happened. One afternoon I spent several hours walking a path along Monterey Bay and sitting on a bench just watching the waves. Another afternoon I spent wandering through the over-priced shops in Carmel, shocked that people still shopped in that village and bought paintings of flowers that cost more than I make in six months. Every place I visited was lovely, every walk I took was fun and enjoyable, but my favorites were those that took me down different paths, where I had to stop and look around and figure out how to retrace my steps to get back to my hotel. For me, getting a little bit lost is part of the joy of walking in a new town.

In Paso Robles I was fortunate to see an amazing light extravaganza:  Sensorio, Field of Lights. What an amazingly brilliant display!  I got there a bit before sunset, when there was no color. Once the sun went down, the colors slowly began to appear. When it was finally dark, the field of color was astounding. If I can figure out how to get photos from my iphone camera to this ancient laptop, I will share some with you.

When I left my home on Tuesday, my mind was in a dark, depressed, sad place. Now my mind and myself feel like there is less darkness and more light sneaking in. I hope I can hold onto that. 

There's more to say about my week, and I will say some of it tomorrow. Below is a photo from the Sensorio website and it is even less grand than what one sees in person. 

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