covid

LUCK BETWEEN THE LINES

/ janpriddyoregon / 9 Comments

Everything I know about promotion, bias, and lies I learned from television ads. The pain reliever that claims to alleviate most headaches when taken with a glass of water? My dad pointed out way back in the 1950s that most headaches are caused by dehydration. They only needed the water. My dad taught me habits of skepticism that have served me well throughout my life. I question everything, consider the angles of possible deception, and sometimes I see right through the pitch while only half trying.

Found on my first run since Covid, the day before yesterday: It’s not your imagination. The base of this tree has grown right around the fire hydrant, which is still seems usable.

Years ago, an educator handed me the new biography, Three Cups of Tea, and assured me it was better than Mountains Beyond Mountains. I had been teaching Pulitzer-winner Tracy Kidder’s book about Dr. Paul Farmer’s campaign to serve the poor in Haiti and elsewhere. Could this memoir be better?

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EASY DOES IT

/ janpriddyoregon / 4 Comments

We’ve been sorting and clearing for a few years. It’s gone well so far. The attics are empty. Most of my books are prioritized and the most precious of mine have moved East. We’ve talked a lot about the art and furniture that is important to us both. Gary even completely cleared his corner of the living room!

Gary emptied his desk—everything! The desk remains empty, the contents shown here are sorted and stashed invisibly in Portland. Other of his things are set in prominent locations but they do not show in this photo. It all matters to him, and so do the 29 boxes he constructed from my roll cardboard I using on my loom. Each has a shelf of CDs. They will fit under the bed, and Gary wants them kept though he’s not sure he will ever open those carefully constructed and labeled boxes.
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YEAR THREE

/ janpriddyoregon / 13 Comments

I think of March 9th as the start of the pandemic because 9 March 2020 was the day I stopped seeing people, the day I began taking precautions. Gary or the news might tell me we started on another day, in my head it was the 9th. I had shopped in Portland, played Scrabble with a friend, entered stores unmasked. And I stopped doing those things. I stopped hugging. We did not see our family for almost a year.

Two shawls from the same warp.

I know people who considered the pandemic restrictions mere inconvenience. They continued to hold family parties, go on cruises, fly for work and vacations. My husband and I didn’t do most of those things. We invited our sons and their families to visit once we were all vaccinated and boosted and tested. At other times we wore our masks indoors except at home unless we could keep yards away from anyone. We have eaten at an indoor restaurant four times in two years, and while I can’t say I regret taking that risk, and am very, very grateful to be healthy. I won’t be doing it again.

I am retired. I have more choices than most.

This winter I began putting monthly warps on my loom. Above is February. March is below. At twenty skeins each, I hope weaving monthly warps will work through my stash. (But you know I still order yarn, so… )

It is useful work and also avoidance, because I do not want to think too much about avoiding disease or missing people.

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