Items
Date is exactly
2020-04-19
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2020-04-19
Sunday double sized: Pandamic!!
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2020-04-19
St. Joesph's Patient Observations
This is a post that my Mom shared on Facebook while she was in St. Joseph's in Cheektowaga for Covid 19 care. My mom discusses her observations as a Covid patient in a Covid hospital in April of 2020. -
2020-04-19
Home gardening blooms around the world during coronavirus lockdowns
Gardening and growing one's own food is a major trend resulting from the pandemic. In Russia, the U.S., Singapore, and Great Britain, people are turning to gardening to combat fears of food shortages and going to grocery stores and to provide a fun activity for adults and children who are working or attending school at home. -
2020-04-19
The call has been answered
The article discusses the surge of pet adoptions from shelters during the pandemic. -
2020-04-19
New Vocabulary Related to the Covid-19 Pandemic in ASL
A lot of us were exposed to new vocabulary at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. This video was helpful to me when everything first started. From ASL Meredith: Full COVID-19 PLAYLIST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... This video teaches the American Sign Language (ASL) signs for related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Signs and timestamps below... 0:39 CORONAVIRUS 1:28 VIRUS intro (short), again slower at 3:47 after the parts that make it up: 1:43 SICK 2:25 DISEASE 2:49 SPREAD 3:47 VIRUS 4:31 PANDEMIC 5:15 WORLD 5:35 SLOW 6:01 "Flatten the curve" 6:27 STAY 6:49 HOME Learn how to sign SOCIAL DISTANCING or PHYSICAL DISTANCING: https://youtu.be/z974LyRWeEQ LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE REMOTELY: Here's the page with my tips and resources for learning ASL from home: https://aslmeredith.com/learn-from-home Here's my free email newsletter with learning tips and practice exercises: https://aslmeredith.com/newsletter Here's my online, self-paced ASL vocab + grammar beginner course: https://courses.aslmeredith.com/ -
2020-04-19
Covid-19 and its Impact on my Routine
When the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, it was very hard for myself and many other. Having to stay quarantined and not being able to see my friends and even family members was hard. On April 19th, 2020, it was my birthday and my parents knew all i wanted was to see my friends. They planned a drive by and one of my closest friends stayed the night at my house. 4 days I had learned that my friend tested positive for Covid-19, which ultimately led to myself getting the virus. This totally through my body out of balance. I sat around all day, barely ate, and constantly felt tired, but I knew I needed to do something about this. My older brother, who was at our house during quarantine, was an athletic trainer. He began to train me, even while I still had the virus. He set me up with workouts and I began to train in the basement of our house where we had dumbbells, bands, and a pullup/dip bar. I began working out 6 days a week and really noticed a change in my diet and mental state. It got me into a routine of getting good sleep, eating a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and kept me active and in better health. I went from being constantly tired, lazy, and not eating enough nor getting any sleep to always wanting to work hard, stay happy, and physically and mentally healthy. Although the pandemic has had many downsides, i learned to stay active in working out and staying in the best shape i possibly can be in. -
2020-04-19
Signs in California
The current pandemic has created visual devices that highlight: the growing severity of COVID, and the community's collective responsibility and attitude towards keeping everyone safe. These signs allow individuals to reflect that they aren't alone, and that they, being a part of the community, are both directly and indirectly accountable for keeping others safe. These signs encourage those to think about the community at large and inspire those that have waning spirits, to remain strong. Photographs taken in San Francisco's Inner Sunset and at Cowell Redwoods State Park -
2020-04-19
Coronavirus vs. The People
The photo shows nurses blocking an anti-lockdown protest in Denver. This picture is one of many photos taken the afternoon of April 19th, 2020. The protesters argued that they should be able to go out and get haircuts, have a drink at the bar, eat at a restaurant, and so on. The protesters argued that the mandatory stay-at-home and wearing of face masks went against their constitutional rights. One woman held up a sign saying, “land of the free” and shouted “This is a free country. Land of the free. Go to China if you want communism.” All the while the nurses stood silently in the cross walks during red lights in their scrubs and N95 masks, trying to show the effects and severity of Covid-19. This photo shows a mere glimpse of the anti-lockdown protests. The contrasting arguments of personal health vs. public health -
2020-04-19
Emptiness Around Us: Empty Plaza
The U.S. and New York State flags flying at half-mast in at the Empire State Plaza in Downtown Albany, NY in late April, after Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast in honor of all who have died from COVID-19. The New York State Museum is seen straight ahead centered between the two flags. -
2020-04-19
Emptiness Around Us: Empty Park
Taken at Washington Park in Albany, NY in late April. The sign notes that these swings are closed and cannot be used due to COVID-19. All other playgrounds and equipment in the park were closed and had similar signage. -
2020-04-19
Emptiness Around Us: Empty Street
Down an empty State Street in Downtown Albany, NY in late April. This photo was taken standing in the middle of the street, which normally would not be possible as this street is usually busy and packed with cars. The SUNY Central Administration building is seen straight ahead in the distance. -
2020-04-19
Emptiness Around Us: Empty Bus
A CDTA bus pulling up to a bus stop on State Street in Downtown Albany, NY in late April. All riders were required to wear masks, and there were barely any riders on the bus. Its electronic sign reads, “STOP THE SPREAD.” -
2020-04-19
Plague Journal, Day 37: No-fault recipe
I'm keeping a Covid-19 journal. The latest entry, with notes on my father's cooking style; my own culinary education; and my desire to impart wisdom to The Kid. -
2020-04-19
Another Day, Another Puzzle - Day 37
With calendars cleared as a result of shelter-in-place orders we have had more time to enjoy some of our family's favorite past-times. Cards and board games that were collecting dust have made their way out of cabinets. But what we've spent more time on than anything is puzzling. While each member of our family will puzzle here and there, our 5 year old son is a constant at the puzzle board. His attention and focus to puzzling is way beyond his years. Puzzling has given us the gifts of togetherness, joy, and consistency during these uncertain times. He is easily completing 300 piece puzzles on his own! It's quite the feat for a child his age. -
2020-04-19
Humans of Covid-19 AU: Ron Taft
“I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I remember the atmosphere of war time, but that was not the same. And we had the polio epidemic seventy years ago, which had dire consequences for children. That caused some panic but nothing like the widespread shut downs and health controls we are seeing today. Of course, the role of the media was completely different then. I live in an aged-care nursing home. We are completely shut down from physical contact with the outside world. We can arrange to talk through the fence. COVID doesn’t really make as much as a difference to my life as it does to younger people, who are used to being out and about. I’m actually having more communication now with family and friends than I had previously. Maybe the exceptional circumstances mean people want to reach out; could be having more time on one’s hands. Mobile phones are having a huge impact on people’s lives. I feel quite healthy. I survived a haematoma a couple of years ago. All going well, I turn 100 in about six weeks. The world has changed so very greatly over the century of my life.” Instagram post on Ron Taft, retired Professor of Social Psychology & nearly centenarian, and his experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives. -
2020-04-19
Humans of Covid-19 AU: Meg
“In some ways, my day-to-day life hasn’t really changed too much. I drive to work, 45 minutes each day, and go about my role in the distillery. The cellar door where I work has shut completely. A large stream of our revenue usually comes from hospitality venues and duty free, but obviously that can no longer happen, so now all revenue must come from retail. People really are drinking a lot of alcohol at this time - It's insane!. Our sales have gone from $2000-$3000 a day, to sometimes $30,000 a day - just from online. It’s worrying because I don't think this is sustainable. So many industries are not surviving at the moment, so it will all come crashing down at some point, it’s just unclear when. Not being able to go out is not the end of the world. Social media is amazing in this sense. I’m managing to stay connected with my friends and family. Tuesday night is quiz night that my mum organises, then Wednesday night is family sit-down dinner. Last year I was in a car accident and it taught me that I needed to slow down and enjoy my life. And this is another reminder that I need to be grateful for everything happening around me. I have picked up hobbies that I had put aside for a while, because I didn’t have time. A lot more creativity is coming back into my life that I love and had really missed. People are being a lot more compassionate and supportive of each other. It has restored a little bit of my faith in humanity.” Instagram post on Meg, distiller & cellar hand, and her experience during the pandemic, which was created by a psychology student living in Melbourne who was interested to hear about how COVID-19 was impacting on different peoples’ lives. -
2020-04-19
Prison in the Time of Coronavirus
This video, produced by CBS Sunday Morning, illustrates the unique problems created by coronavirus inside America's jails and prisons. The US currently has 2.3 million people incarcerated. Many of them are in jail awaiting trial and remain there only because they cannot pay their bail. They have not yet been convicted of a crime. As they point out in the video it is easy for the public to ignore the correctional facilities across the country, but the spread of the virus has changed this. An outbreak in prison can lead to an outbreak outside the prison. While prisons have internal medical facilities there are no ICU beds, which are often needed to treat severe cases of coronavirus. Instead severely ill prisoners are taken outside of the prison to the local hospital. In non-severe cases some prisoners are placed in solitary confinement as a way to quarantine them. This video, almost eight minutes long, mentions Rikers Island Jail in New York, San Quinton Prison in San Francisco, Marion Correctional Institute in Ohio, a Tampa man released early who is charged with murdering someone the following day, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, Orange is the New Black (book and TV show), and the podcast Ear Hustle. HST580, ASU -
2020-04-19
Taking COVID 19 test
After 14-days of quarantine in the hotel, we must take the COVID 19 test before we left to make sure that we were not virus carriers. I took the test on April 18, 8 A.M. We were suggested not to eat before taking the test because the test may cause stomach-churning. I received the report on the next day. The result showed negative and I was allowed to leave and end my 14-day quarantine life. -
2020-04-19
Happy Times
It’s important to me because I drew the place that allows me to have a voice and feel confident in myself. -
2020-04-19
A Light
Story -
2020-04-19
Sign Series #39
This is part of a series exploring the role of language, typography and design in informing the general public. #FordhamUniversity #VART3030 #SignSeries -
2020-04-19
Southern California Protests
This article details the protests that have recently been happening in cities like Huntington Beach and San Clemente in defiance of necessary stay at home orders. #HST643 -
2020-04-19
Happy Birthday Andrew
Happy Birthday Andrew! I took a walk later that evening and saw some party lights coming from inside your house. I hope you had a good birthday. - your neighbor -
2020-04-19
"The Hermit Herald" vol. 1, Issue 17
States start to rebel; Fake News spreaders; Fly me along. -
2020-04-19
COVID 19 Journal: 04/19/2020
COVID 19 Journal by Kaitlin Whalen written 04/19/2020 -
2020-04-19
Email Received: Why I Wear My Mask
An email sent from one neighbor to a group living in an intentional living community describing why she wears her mask after a difficult conversation about regulating shared spaces. -
2020-04-19
A Neighborhood Unified Together
During this pandemic it is important to stick together and lean on the people around us. This image captures neighbors coming together to support each other while maintaining social distancing. -
2020-04-19
The Covid Diaries Entry #16
My experiences of this pandemic.Entry 16. i had a transformative experience with the catfish given to me on Easter Sunday. (inspired by Aristotle’s animal biology.) April 19, 2020.Catfish are known as survival fish due to their reslience in adverse conditions and long length of life. They have no scales making them extremely sensitive to external elements. Their whiskers or ‘barbels’ (latin for little beard) serve as sensory feelers for protection and food detection. Since Corona inception to current -
2020-04-19
The Covid Diaries Entry #14
My experiences of this pandemic. Entry 14. i am greatly warmed by the neighborly exchange of goods that has resulted from this pandemic. my sister bakes two sourdough loaves a day and passes them out to neighbors. And Peter gifted me a produce basket of apples, pears, potatoes, and onions. April 15, 2020.FULL DISCLAIMER: the loaves did not exist physically in my reality - I only heard about them through story.Since Corona inception to current -
2020-04-19
The Covid Diaries Entry #13
My experiences of this pandemic.Entry 13. a friend’s birthday had me rifling through old photos and i always keep photos i love close by - we were playing backgammon and drinking bullet coffee at the sunrise shack in O’ahu. happy birthday, Dylan. April 13, 2020. Since Corona inception to current -
2020-04-19
The Covid Diaries Entry #12
My experiences of this pandemic.Entry 12. had a ‘stars - they’re just like us’ moment while on a walk the other day. April 11, 2020. those who know me know i communicate significantly better through letters, so I hold high veneration for the usps system - especially in this time as they con- tinue to gas up and keep us connected through their service. had me thinking about the history of stripes and the variations and effects of pride. Since Corona inception to current -
2020-04-19
The Covid Diaries Entry #11
My experiences of this pandemic.Entry 11. enter into the gauntlet that is Trader Joe’s, if you dare. (but not during critical week). April 8, 2020. I award a halo to Chris Steele for paying for my groceries when my card declined. I throw a pitchfork at the tomato sauce jar for smashing to the ground and creating a scene of much distress. Since Corona inception to current -
2020-04-19
The Covid Diaries Entry #10
My experiences of this pandemic.Entry 10. morning runs along the LA river alleviate my woes. April 6, 2020.fun finds: leather recliner, golf balls, provocative grafitti, soccer trophy, deflated beach ball, vintage vespa, album disc. Since Corona inception to current -
2020-04-19
The Covid Diaries Entry #9
My experiences of this pandemic Entry 9. cultivating the art of flaneuserie along silent n figueroa st. ‘dan l’oeil du flaneur.’ April 4, 2020. Since Corona inception to current -
2020-04-19
Meme of Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
In Scotland we have loads of wonderfully funny women, none more so than comedienne and broadcaster, Janey Godley. She often posts videos of politicians where she adds her own voiceover to the footage. She is a huge supporter of our wonderful First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon and recently posted a video of Ms Sturgeon giving a coronavirus briefing on TV. Her voiceover had her saying that if we didn’t all stay indoors she’d ‘put her toe up the crack of our arse’. This is the origin of the meme. -
2020-04-19
Empty shopping centre car park
Prior to COVID-19 this undercover car park at a local shopping complex would have been full of cars and people, on this day (a Sunday afternoon) it was almost empty. This image shows that people are adhering to social distancing laws and staying home unless they require essential grocery items. -
2020-04-19
Social Distancing and 90 Day Fiance
The quarentine has opened up the time for myself and my parents to binge watch the show 90 Day Fiance together. It has been a good way for us to get together, not get on each others nerves, and to take our minds off of the pandemic for a little bit. Recently the show has started a new small series where they have cast members vlog from home and discuss their experiences and how their lives have changed with the virus. It was interesting to so this kind of programming on cable. These days have been blurring together for a lot of us in my household, but having shows that post weekly helps orient myself to the day of week that it is. -
2020-04-19
Orthodox Easter: FaceTime with yiayia and Pappou.
Social distancing has meant families have celebrated Easter separately. Grandparents have felt the effects of isolation. FaceTime with their grandchildren put a smile on their face. Although Maria & George Tsagouris didn’t crack their eggs with their grandchildren they could exchanged Easter greetings-“Christos Anesti’ -
2020-04-19
Daily Walks Need a Purpose
Sydneysiders are allowed to leave home for exercise and essentials. Sporting activity has ceased so the streets are overflowing with people, prams, and dogs that have suddenly discovered the joy of walking. I seek out quiet places, but it is tedious to walk for the sake of walking, so I give myself little projects to make it more interesting. Last Sunday (a glorious Autumn day in Sydney), my goal was to find primary colours in a bushland park. There were yellow leaves and a blue pillar near the entrance, but no sign of red in my hour-long walk - until I came across this small reflector on a post in the car park. Mission accomplished! -
2020-04-19
Filipino sentiment on the Php 8000 stimulus
The image is a satire of how the 8,000 peso stimulus check is not enough for most Filipino families' needs and so I have been asked by my friend to create this meme to show that it really is not enough because we think the same thing. -
2020-04-19
Copeland's Is Humbled By the Food Contributions to First Responders, New Orleans, LA
The post reads exactly: "We are humbled by the individuals and organizations who’ve contributed to feeding the first responders this week. Copeland’s is proud to be part of such an amazing community. To our heroes, thank you isn’t enough ❤️" -
2020-04-19
Quarantine Companion: 6-week-old Puppy Ace
Most animal shelters are short staffed due to the virus, making it difficult to take care of all of the animals. The public can help by fostering and adopting dogs from their local animal shelters. With most of the population staying at home, it can get lonely, and what better way to cure that empty space with a furry friend! I've recently adopted a 6-week-old pitbull puppy named Ace (pictured). He's definitely made these difficult times more bearable and brightens my day up everyday. If we have to spend our days quarantined, I'm glad I'm with him. -
2020-04-19
Distance Learning TikTok for AP US History
TikTok made to remind AP US History students to not miss their Zoom, and to remind about the changes to the AP Exam due to COVID-19. Disseminated via Instagram to students. -
2020-04-19
One of Arizona's Creative Roadway Signs
Freeway sign heading north on I-10 near the Wild Horse Pass Casino. The signs states: Stay Home Stay Healthy Stop Covid-19 -
2020-04-19
My First TikTok Dance
It had been exactly 39 days since the last time I saw my partner. At the beginning of March, I made the decision to move in with my Mother in Tucson, where I had resolved to stay with her until the crisis was over. I needed to move out of my Tempe home by April 30th, so I made the trek from my parents’ house in Tucson back up to Tempe and enlisted my partner’s help in moving the last of my possessions. It felt dangerous, and even though it was essential travel and we’ve both been strict with social distancing since March, I must have asked at least ten times if she was sure it was safe. She assured me it was. I told her I was not sure if I could hug her. She told me it was okay. Before this whole crisis began, we had just started a conversation about moving in together. The 39 days apart provided some clarity: We wanted to take that leap as soon as it was safe to do so. As we looked at the stacks of boxes on my kitchen floor, we decided that some could be stored in her apartment. It was strange, because when 2020 began I had this vision of us packing up my stuff and moving in together. Here it was happening, but it wasn’t this joyous event, it just felt solemn. She cleared out space in her guestroom and we hauled boxes up three flights of stairs before we sat, winded, in her living room. It was so bittersweet—the hope of imagining this future together and the reality of our current separation. My favorite thing about our relationship is that it’s been defined by laughter. We’re always on some type of adventure, working on some new inside joke, and always pranking the other. But in isolation, it’s been hard for us to keep up the playful parts of our relationship. We can’t go on adventures, we can’t prank one another, and sometimes everything feels too serious to joke at all. Somedays, we’re too tired and sad to even talk much. As we moved things from my apartment to hers, she tried her best to cheer me up. She checked in with frequent are-you-okays and trotted out her best comedic material to elicit laughs. She’s become quite the TikTok aficionado in quarantine, and many of our jokes right now are shaped by the absurdist videos on the internet. Sure enough, each time we placed a new box in the car, she loudly yelled “CAROLE BASKIN”, a reference to the TikTok Tiger King inspired dance. Soon, throughout the afternoon, we’d both break out in the TikTok Song. CAROLE BASKIN! Killed her husband, WHACKED HIM. Can’t convince me that it didn’t HAPPEN Fed him to tigers THEY SNACKIN CAROLE BASKIN! As we sat in her apartment on Sunday evening, I got an idea. I walked to the front of the couch like I was presenting at a conference. “Play the music!” “What music?” “Play the Carole Basking song!” It took me a few times before I began to freestyle some moves. “You have to use your hips more!” she directed. “What? No, I don’t!” She pulled up another video for reference. “All the good TikTok dancers use their hips!” I tried again, this time bouncing my hips in ridiculous fashion. CAROLE BASKIN! (I shook my hands above my head) Killed her (I drew my thumb across my throat) husband (I pointed to my ring finger) WHACKED HIM (I mimicked an axe movement) Can’t convince me that it didn’t (I wagged my fingers and made an X across my chest with my arms) HAPPEN (I tapped my arms by my side) Fed him to tigers (I gestured from my chest out) THEY SNACKIN (My outward arms made the alligator chomp twice on beat, before I drew my arms up to claws) CAROLE BASKIN! (I bounced on my hip and flared my tiger claws outward with a rawr expression) By the time the dance was over, my partner was howling with laughter and I was too. It was the hardest we had laughed together in weeks. Before this pandemic started, I thought TikTok was silly. I still have no plans to join TikTok and I sincerely hope my TikTok dances never end up on the internet. I’ve also never seen Tiger King and I have no plans to and I keep hearing about Joe Exotic with no idea who that is. But honestly it doesn’t matter what I think about TikTok or Tiger King, because I know they make my partner laugh. They bring her joy during this terrible time. I know that a lot of other people feel that way right now too. So here I am, documenting my first TikTok dance; Or, as I like to think of it, a strange act of love in the midst of this pandemic. -
2020-04-18
Diary in the Time of Corona
I woke up this morning and decided to write. Why today? What’s different about today than yesterday, or the day before? I have no answers to these questions. It’s Day 25 of the quarantine. The sky is dull gray and it’s raining, my windows streaked with wet wavy lines that make them look like etched glass. Today is not so different from yesterday, except yesterday it wasn’t raining. And yesterday we went to the supermarket. That place fills me with terror. The aisles are not wide enough to keep the required six feet social distance. In the produce section it’s inevitable that two or more people will end up inspecting the bananas or the lettuce at the same time. When that happens we move apart as far as we can but we don’t walk away, as if the lettuce or the bananas or whatever are a territory we refuse to surrender. We do avert our eyes, ashamed to look our adversaries in the face. Upstairs in my bedroom I hear the rain against the roof, a soft, steady patter. The marsh is enveloped in a fine mist with ochre and green grasses and a few trees yielding small mauve flowers. I’m waiting for phone calls from the dead: my father, who passed away nineteen years ago and my mother, who passed away three years ago. Why do we want what we cannot have? Or is this the nature of grief, that after the sharp stabbing pains of loss a knot of slow sadness begins to form and 2 wind itself around our hearts, once in a while tugging so hard we’re reminded sharply once again of those who are gone? Maybe that’s what writing is for: not the documentation of what we have but the recovery of what we’ve lost. I’m reading a book by Lydia Davis called The End of the Story. It’s a novel about a woman writing a novel about a brief but intense love affair that ended thirteen years earlier. She can’t finish the novel because she can’t find the right way to end it, or so she says. But we know she can’t finish the novel because finishing it will end her connection to her lost lover, and she doesn’t want to experience such pain and grief all over again. The rain has stopped and the sky has shifted to a softer gray. The yellow and dark greens of the leaves are startling and bright in the thin light. Lydia Davis is a descriptive writer. She paints vivid pictures of the natural world: sound of ocean waves, piquant scent of eucalyptus, aggressive jade plants. But in her obsessions and delusions and isolation from friends she is not the best companion for me right now. ** Day 26. I am a witness to the pandemic. Everyone is a witness. But I’m not risking my life like the nurses and doctors and other workers on the front lines. I feel like a coward. 3 Today is sunny, with a cloudless sky of soft, washed blue. When you are quarantined weather becomes very important, like a prophecy or a sign of progress, or stagnation. On fine days I could go outside for a walk but usually I don’t want to. On the days I’ve gone for walks there’s an unspoken tug-of-war on the sidewalk when others approach: who will be first to step out of the way. My husband and I are always first to move. We agree we tend to give a wide berth earlier than necessary. Still, each time we veer into the street so walkers can pass I feel we’ve offered a consideration that was not reciprocated. This gives me a feeling of victimization that makes me even more irritable than I already am. On a recent walk I couldn’t help noticing that everything in my neighborhood reminded me of the virus. Small shrubs with crimson buds. A mask in the middle of the asphalt, awaiting asphyxiation. Street signs that say Dead End. I never realized there were so many dead ends where I live. When I’m overcome with anxiousness I prepare a meal. Before the time of corona I was a reluctant cook, and we often ate dinners at the local trattoria. But of course that’s no longer possible. I don’t have the patience or creativity to be a decent home cook. But now I find comfort in assembling a dish or two. I experience a sense of accomplishment in completing what feels like a meaningful activity. Food is no longer readily or easily available. If I’m missing an ingredient I won’t run to the supermarket wearing with my mask and disposable gloves. With every trip to the market comes the risk of 4 additional exposure. Grocery shopping demands enormous amounts of energy. So I try to plan ahead, which isn’t easy when you’re anxious all the time. Today’s side dish is quinoa tabbouleh with scallions, tomatoes, feta, and fresh lemon. Even writing the word “fresh” refreshes my depleted spirits. Before preparing the tabbouleh I looked out the window, my gateway, my connection to the world outside my home. My attention was drawn to a single orange-breasted robin stepping across the grass. I watched for a while, since now I have time for such contemplative activity. The robin began to peck at the ground, circling and wandering, circling and pecking. I had the idea he was searching for food and not finding any. I turned away. Things I never noticed before. The whiskered tips on the scallions, like a man’s white-gray beard. The amount of plastic and paper towels I waste even though I claim to be pro-environment. I think of my mother growing up during the Great Depression with barely enough food and not enough money. I have coats in the closet, sweaters in the drawers, a stocked refrigerator. Was I really so clueless and ungrateful? ** Day 27. Be mindful, stay in the present. I am trying to be present but the news on the morning radio announced 40,000 Americans are dead from the virus. How is this possible? The future has become our dystopian present. 5 Last night we visited with our kids on Zoom. Such interactions are one of the challenges of this particular moment, the physical separation from loved ones. These meetings in cyberspace reinforce the sense of enforced isolation: my adult children isolated in their homes within an hour or so of mine. I miss them. They might as well be living on the moon. I’ve heard stories of doctors and nurses sleeping in their garages so as not expose their families. This is worse than my experience, much worse, because their lives are in imminent danger. Nonetheless, their experience does not erase the pain I feel as a mother and new grandmother who can’t touch or hug my children. In my home state of New Jersey, 40 percent of more than 4,200 coronavirus deaths have been linked to long-term care facilities. My mother was a dementia patient in one such facility for six years. I thank heaven I do not have to worry about the virus killing my mother in a nursing home. The past seeps into the present. The present is the future, for the time-being. I’m reminded of the words of T.S. Eliot: “Time present and time past/ are both perhaps present in time future/ And time future contained in time past.” Perhaps our sense of separation between past, present, and future was always illusory. My brother contracted the virus a few weeks ago and was ill with a fever that spiked as high as 102.8. Mercifully he is recovering well. Past, present, and future, they are merged into the nightmare of the virus. I just read about a 25-year-old woman, a Latino grad student studying marriage and family therapy, who died of complications from the virus which she 6 likely contracted while working at a clinic for Latinos in one of the corona hotspots in Queens. I am overcome. I can’t write anymore. -
2020-04-19
People demanding the right to be eaten by zombies
@Kellydavio writes "What zombie movies got wrong about the actual apocalypse, part 1,487: they omitted scenes of people on the street demanding the right to be eaten by zombies." Kelly Davio refers to recent protests in Michigan and Denver, CO where protestors took to the streets to protest shelter-in-place guidelines in Michigan and Colorado. Commentary includes Memes that show protestors as Zombies. -
2020-04-19
Venice Beach Skate Park filled with sand
Venice Beach Skate Park was filled with sand to deter skaters from gathering during social distancing -
2020-04-19
Green Lights of Kentucky #12
(Pictured: Semi with green cabin lights) On March 21, 2020, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear asked Kentuckians to show green lights each night a COVID-19 fatality is reported — a show of solidarity and resilience that unites the Commonwealth. “Every night that I have to report a fatality, it’s a small thing, but we’re going to light the Kentucky Governor’s Mansion green. Green is the color of compassion, it’s the color of empathy. It’s also a color of renewal. According to my faith, when you pass from this world, your body is just a vessel and your soul moves to an ever better and more special place.” -
2020-04-19
'Liberate Colorado:' Large crowds gather at State Capitol to protest COVID-19 stay-at-home order
Hundreds gathered at the steps of the State Capitol Sunday to protest Colorado’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order, which protesters argue is an overreach of the state’s authority.