Items

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  2020-08-16

  Mask Breath and Swamp Mouth

  In 2020 it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 + Celsius) in August in the eastern area of San Diego, California. I was working as a delivery driver for Amazon delivering packages around greater San Diego County. Having been about six months into the pandemic, masks were required pretty much everywhere. For health and safety, we were required to wear those masks while delivering. The picture above shows me wearing one of the masks which is made of cotton and double layered. These masks have a sleeve inside to insert a filter. Elastic strips with a stopper on the end goes around the ears to hold the mask over the nose and mouth. Because this mask irritated my ears, I took a bread wrapper twist and hooked it to the back and tied it so it wouldn't sit on my ears and was instead tied around the back of my head. This jerry rigged mask led to a tighter fit on my face. This in turn led to sweat and moisture collecting in the fabric of the mask throughout the day which led to an extremely pungent stench because of the sweat, mucus from a runny nose, and stinky breath. The other issue that caused more distress was the soaked mask. Especially on this particularly hot day, I was essentially breathing through a wet rag. Breathing through my mouth was the only option because my nose wasn't strong enough to draw in enough air. Climbing up stairs and up and down drive ways made it more difficult to breath. I had to take intermittent breaks to pull down the mask to get air and breath fresh air. Needless to say, mints, gum, and breath freshener was regularly on hand after this day. Along with lots and lots of water.
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  2021-01-25

  An atmospheric river could dump 10 feet of snow in California’s Sierra Nevada

  This article from the Washington Post discusses the possibility of snowstorms in the Sierra Nevadas at the end of January 2021. The article specifically mentions that the Sierra Nevada could see up to ten feet of snow. The article also forecasts the possibility of 80-mile-per-hour winds in California's eastern mountains. These storms turned out to be real and damaged Camp Wolfeboro's infrastructure.
• 
  October 14th 2020

  Socially Distanced Sports Performance

  Due to socially distancing guidelines at St. Mary's University the sports performance team has been forced to be creative in the ways they train their athletes. This includes having team workouts outdoors, using the spaces they have. This allows the teams to workout during the day together when the recreation and athletic center is being used by the public. The athletes are challenged by the Texas heat at times but they love a challenge.
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  2020-06-28

  A Summer of Pathogens and Dust: Saharan Dust Sweeps Through Kansas

  Amidst COVID-19's rising case numbers throughout the state, a massive plume of dust from the Sahara Desert swept across the Atlantic, the American South, and into the Great Plains, as seen in the gray-brownish haze in these photographs. The dust plume's arrival, while not an uncommon meteorological event, nevertheless prompted the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment to issue an air quality warning for vulnerable people, as it struggled to grapple with Kansas's growing COVID case load.
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  04/13/2020

  Living through Covid-19: 04/13/2020

  This is a journal entry that specifically focuses on the transition to online learning and the practice of social distancing. *anonymous *This was intentionally a journal/diary entry therefore it was done through a word doc.
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  03/15/2020

  “Knitting the Sky during the Year of Coronavirus”

  The image is of a scarf I’m knitting, where each morning I knit two rows for one year using yarn that matches the color of the sky. The project came from a book called “Knit the Sky, “ by Lea Redmond. At the time I started, March 16, no one knew that the Covid19 pandemic would cloister us away from everyone for what looks like could be a long time— by the time I finish, I’ll have something that marks the year— and gives structure to the start of each day. I’ve added clear beads and grey yarn to mark days it rained—and white yarn with “bobble stitches” when it snows! The grey and blue and white strands capture the days of the pandemic. *Date entry: "3/16/2020-03/15/2020"
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  2020-04-23

  Texts from New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell: Severe weather, volunteering, homicides

  When I realized I was going to be quarantined in New Orleans for the foreseeable future, I signed up for texts from the mayor. These three, sent within hours of one another, suggested an evocative sketch of the landscape that is New Orleans, encapsulating both the threats we face and the ways we respond to them. The first text was about the morning's severe weather (often a threat in New Orleans), which disrupted Covid testing. The next was about how we can help those facing the threat of food insecurity. The last compared the death rate from Covid to the city's homicide rate (which tells you as much about violence in the city as it does about the pandemic). I was talking on the phone last night with a friend who said she's heard a lot more gunfire in her Bronx neighborhood than usual. She said she worried about an increase in violence as the pandemic widens existing inequities in our country and people become more desperate.