--And it's not always a nightmare. Sometimes it's happy. I cringed when I saw Anthony Fauci placing his hand on his forehead in a reserved effort to cope with POTUS. I was yelling at the TV, "Take your hand off your face! We need you! We remember what you did for AIDS research and treatment!" But I dream of the day when I can scratch my nose. When I don't think twice about doing so, or even notice that I've scratched it. I learn new skills--wonder if I can unroll toilet paper with my elbows? How long do I have to stay six feet away from people in the park, and does it count if I hold my breath when I have to pass someone with only two feet between us?
Invisible enemies are the stuff of science fiction, normally. A few weeks ago all our talk was off getting a tree surgeon for the dead pine in the yard, finding a service that did basement mold, but even then our neighbor said, "oh, you could do it yourself if you could get those N95 masks--"
--"what are those?"I asked.
"Oh, but you can't get them now anyway," he said, "there's some new illness." We had all heard something about some new illness and I figured the basement could wait.
The basement is waiting, along with everything else.
I read aloud to one of my kids today. When you're concentrating on turning pages, you're not touching your face.
It was a good book, too.
What was the book? I just returned from grocery shopping for my 80-something neighbors. I wear latex gloves and they keep me from touching my face, but make me feel like a burglar. I'm sure that soon it will be the new normal!
ReplyDeleteChaim Potok's The Chosen--which I'll be teaching soonish, online, I guess.
ReplyDeleteManhattanite here: The streets are empty which makes sleeping a bit better in our apartment high above 2nd Avenue. Grocery stores are still open, but with limited stock. Our son who still can go out got about 60% of my list from the local Whole Foods. There was a line to get in.
ReplyDeleteThe local grocery stores have instituted special shopping hours for senior citizens, disabled people and the immune compromised. I qualify, but the thought of leaving my nice cozy bed to shop between 7 and 8 AM is a non-starter.
He teaches English as a 2nd language, and his school has closed for now, so he teaches the few students who are left online for several hours a day. He does not like teaching online, but it is a lifeline until it closes down.
OH, stay safe! Latex gloves, mouth guards, plastic face mask from whatever you have. Sounds like the apocalypse.
ReplyDeleteHere in my neighborhood in Germany, I can still go out and really avoid people--take a walk in the forest. Thanks for writing.
A walk in the forest! What an amazing idea, and glad you are still able to commune with nature. I have to stay in. My son reports that the parks are very crowded when he goes out for long bike rides after teaching online for 4-6 hours a day. Here, they are building tent-hospitals in Central Park, across from Mt. Sinai, where he was born. Javits has been converted into a hospital. A Navy Hospital Ship arrived this morning at a pier on the West side, near 50th Street. A friend who can still go out reports their is a huge refrigerated truck near the service entrance at Lenox Hill, one of our many local hospitals.
ReplyDeleteStay well!