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  2021-02-27

  Pandemic Fashion

  Since the beginning of the pandemic, I wore a mask. I think I went one place without one on Friday, March 13, as the world fell apart and I was driving home to Phoenix from my mother’s house in San Diego County. But since then, I have been collecting masks the way I would collect graphic and band tees as a teenager and young adult. I have developed “criteria” for what I like, prefer, and even need in a mask. I think about it when I pick one each day. If I am wearing patterns, I grab a solid mask in a complementary color. Solid outfits open up the gates to lots of options. Very quickly, I realized I needed a way to manage these masks. The two hooks that hang near our front door for stocking at Christmas promptly became something else. A bin of clean masks hangs on one hook and a lingerie bag on another. The routine is simple, grab a mask from the container as you leave, come home and drop it in the bag. When the bag is full, zip it up and drop it in the wash. Done! So here are some of my favorites: • Baby Yoda • Disneyland Spirit Jersey style • Old Navy, Old Navy, Old Navy – they come in five packs, available for every season and holiday, prints and solids, easy to grab, cannot say enough • And, of course – the true hero of the pandemic, masks made with love. My coworkers and I have chosen the raccoon for our library mascot. My boss’ mom had this beaver fabric just sitting around, so she made one for each of us (bonus points, this one has a nose wire), and finally, the same wonderful ex-co-worker of our department who made us all the raccoon masks made school-themed ones for us, the Desert Vista Thunder, one with lightning bolts and one with the school colors in the plaid. • Our other library theme is rainbows and all things equality – down to the matching rainbow Apple Watch bands we have to pair perfectly with this rainbow hearts mask from the Human Rights Campaign. I am not ready to give up wearing masks. I have both doses of Pfizer, and it has been two weeks, but I still think masks are a good idea and something that I will for sure be wearing when I feel any kind of sick post-pandemic if that ever happens. It’s the responsible thing to do, and frankly, I have too much invested into my masks and management system to say goodbye to it anytime soon.