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Monday, January 25 Deaths 1,882 (+2) New cases 436
Another Monday and again we felt compelled to seek out yet more food items from our local markets. Will this matter of cooking and eating never end? And why–after M got up so early and braved the perils of the supermarket–were there no Little Schoolboy cookies on the shelf? How can that be right?
We’ve been trying to avoid this next topic, but we can’t stand it anymore. What the heck is going on in the house across the street?
The neighbor who used to live there was a fellow in his forties. He had a nice pickup truck that was usually attached to a box trailer. He went to work everyday and often worked long hours, but often came home at lunch time. He looked to be a builder or carpenter and the trailer was almost surely his toolbox. There was a younger guy, possibly a son, who came by often, sometimes seeming to stay there for days at a time. His pride and joy was a very old VW van that he worked on every weekend. But then, last summer, that tenant moved out.
Soon after that, there was a period of great activity, lots of pickups and cars, lots of miscellaneous debris being hauled away. The most frequent visitors were a middle-aged couple. They started to spiff things up in hurry. The lawn was cut and edged to perfection. Shrubs were trimmed and the big tree was pruned. The weeds growing from the cracks in the driveway disappeared. Flowers were planted and the roof was swept. The house hadn’t looked bad before, but obviously they thought it needed to look better. Was the house being prepped for the next rental or possible sale? It got a new patio sliding door and all new windows. Interior painters came and went for weeks and weeks. This is a small house, how much paint did it need? Then the work tapered off. The house stood empty for a couple of months, making us curiouser and curiouser. Just before Christmas someone put a Santa on the doorstep and a bunch of lights on the front yard tree. We know that someone was keeping an eye on the house because Santa fell down a couple of times, but was always set up again within a day. The lights on the big tree remained on twenty-four hours a day for three or four weeks. That seemed odd. These days, Santa is gone, but the lights are still there, only now they go off in the daytime and only come on in the evening. Once in a while painter’s van arrives and stays for an hour or two, sometimes late in the evening. About a week ago a mysterious gray car stayed in the driveway all night. We haven’t seen it since. So now we are really curious.
But not so curious as to miss dinner. After a day spent chasing rainbows…
…E cooked trout in a red wine sauce. Trucha a la Navarra is said to be an old recipe from what is now the Navarre Autonomous Community in northern Spain. The sauce includes onions, olive oil and twenty peppercorns. It came with steamed potatoes to soak up the sauce and red cabbage on the side. It was delicious, so good that we decided to follow up with ice cream and Snow’s Mandarin Orange Dark Chocolate Sauce, a more modern recipe from the foothills of the Sierra Madre in California.
Tuesday, January 26 Deaths 1,904 (+22) New cases 796
Quite a day today. We planned to drive out into the forests west of town to explore a place called Ritner Creek Park. The park appears on no maps, nor could we find it on google earth, but M remembered seeing a sign for it pointing down a gravel road leading into the timberlands. We knew that snow was forecast for the afternoon, which made it all the more interesting. We packed up a few picnic staples: pineapple juice, two small rations of Swiss chocolate, and a flask of Aberfeldy; and then went and got some oversized sandwiches from the 57th Street Grill. (Which, as we mentioned last year, is not on 57th Street and is not a grill–but that’s another story.)
Forty-five minutes later we found the sign and headed for the park. Except for having to squeeze past a huge loaded log truck that came barreling toward us and then having to also squeeze past a huge empty gravel truck that also came barreling toward us, the drive to the park was uneventful. It wasn’t very far. Ritner Creek Park turned out to be wonderful, very simple and very lovely. All we could see at first was a parking area, a restroom and a gravel path along the north side of the creek. We parked and got out to explore. The sky was dark and the air was heavy with moisture. Eventually we found a footbridge that led to the south side of the creek. Just as we approached the bridge, the snow started to fall.
On the far side of the creek we found a longer gravel path and a scattering of picnic spots. The trees were all native maples, some of them ancient.
Lovely as the scene was, our lunch was in the car, so that’s where we went next. Once there, we decided to drive back down Bourbon Road and take Highway 223 to the old Ritner Creek Covered Bridge, just a few miles away.
We had our lunch there and then started for home. For reasons too complicated to explain, we decided to return to Corvallis via U.S. Highway 20 rather than on the back roads we had taken on the way out. Bad choice. Traffic was snarled. We waited twenty minutes to get onto Highway 20 from 223. After another twenty minutes we had progressed just fifty yards or so from where we got on. Bah. We turned around and retraced our journey back up 223 to King’s Valley, and went home via Airlie and Tampico. It was snowing hard, but the hills weren’t terribly steep, there were few other cars, and M’s foot was gentle on the throttle. Snow is a lovely thing in the forest. When we got back to town, it didn’t look nearly as nice.
Wednesday, January 27 Deaths 1,924 (+20) New cases 731
In the morning E walked over snow and ice to WINCO for some groceries and then started making a blackberry pie. Then we had lunch and she went off to Salem for an appointment, making it back in plenty of time to serve dinner: green salad and sardines followed by pie. Yum! What a cook!
M worked at the computer and also read a few chapters in a William Robbins’ book Hard Times in Paradise, a history of Coos Bay, Oregon.
In Turkish television land, Havva is walking on air. Despite having been put out of the mansion, she has been able to spend some time with Yusuf, who is clearly smitten. Betül, Yusuf’s old girlfriend, has given up the chase and gone back to Istanbul. The series is filmed on location in Cappadocia, and so–as was inevitable–Yusuf and Havva went for a ride in a hot air balloon. Toprak, on the other hand, stayed home and knitted Yusuf a scarf.
Thursday, January 28 Deaths 1,930 (+6) New cases 750
Our tractor has been attacked and overturned by a rogue crocus! Fortunately, no one was injured, although the driver is nowhere in sight. Just another reminder of the power of nature…
It turns out that our insurance policy will not cover any damages. Losses due to crocus attack are specifically excluded unless you opt for the “Small Monocoteyledon Supplement” and pay an additional $4.85 a month premium, which we have not been doing. Oh well.
Friday, January 29 Deaths 1,938 (+8) New cases 976
A relatively quiet day, mostly overcast and mostly dry. E attended a meeting of her HEPAJ group at Pat’s Open Air Garage and Tea Room. E was pleased by the chance to socialize over key lime pie and other treats. After the meeting E and P went walking in Martin Luther King Park where they met up with M on the trail. P then took us on a tour of the new housing development on the north side of the park. There’s a lot that she’s thinking of acquiring. It borders the park at just the spot where a donated bench commemorates her late husband.
Saturday, January 30 Deaths 1,957 (+19) New cases 707
Oregon’s COVID death rate has dropped over the last ten days. In the most recent period, January 21-30, the rate was 12.6 deaths per day, as compared to 22.7 in the previous period. Recent test positive percentages and new case numbers have also been low.
A total of 407,869 first and second vaccine doses have been administered in Oregon so far. Health care workers have had the highest priority. Beginning Monday, educators will also be eligible. One week later, eligibility will extended to older Oregonians, beginning with those over 80. The Governor Brown has received some criticism for prioritizing educators over seniors. As far as we know, she is the only governor to have done so. She says that it is important to get schools open.
Sunday, January 31 Deaths NA (+NA) New cases NA
Yet another overcast day, with light rain showers every hour or two. In the morning E had a Zoom meeting with her friends S and Mrs. H. while M watched an OSU women’s basketball. They were playing at Utah, M’s alma mater. It was Beavers over Utes 84-74.
In the afternoon we went for a long walk in a neighborhood where there are some very interesting houses. We just had to take a photo of this one.
Later we watched an episode of Love is in the Air. When Havva’s former fiance, Cüneyt, was causing problems, her dad, Remzi the Mad, dealt with it by telling the police about Cüneyt’s drug dealing. Remzi hoped that he could remain anonymous, but now Cüneyt has found out who ratted and has sworn to take vengance. Cüneyt is still in jail for now, but Remzi is nervous. Meanwhile, Havva and her constantly scheming aunt, Sultan, have intercepted a DNA test result letter. The letter is for Yusuf and it confirms that he is not the father of little Rüzgar, whom Toprak has been nursing. This is not the result that Sultan and Havva were hoping for. So Havva has altered the report so that it seems to confirm that Yusuf is the father. E and M were not at all surprised by this. Judging from all the Turkish series we have seen, it is apparent that no one in Turkey has ever received accurate DNA test results. We wonder why people even bother having them done. Don’t they watch TV?
Pandemi Günlüğü 25-31 Ocak
Pazartesi, 25 Ocak Oregon’daki ölümler: 1,882 (+2) yeni vakalar: 436
Başka bir pazartesi, başka bir market alışverşi günü. Hiç bitmeyecek mi? M’un Little Schoolboy kurabiyeleri bulamaması dışında alışveriş iyiydi. Bah!
Eve yoğun bir gün geçirdi. Öğleden sonra bir gökkuşağı buldu. Akşam Trucha ala Navarra’yı pişirdi. Sos kırmızı şarap, zeytinyağı, soğan ve yermi karabiber ile yapıldı. Kuzey İspanya’dan eski bir reçetedir. Çok lessetliydi.
Salı, 26 Ocak Oregon’daki ölümler: 1,904 (+22) yeni vakalar: 796
Bugün pikniğe gittik. Önce biraz yiyecek hazırladık: ananas suyu, İsviçre çıkolatası, ve kuçuk bir şişe Aberfeldy. Sonra Taylor Street Ovens’tan sandviç aldık. Planımız Ritner Creek Park’a getmekti. O park haritada yok. Google Earth’da yok. Amah M otoyolda bir işareti hatırladı. Batıya gittik ve Peedee kasabası yakınlarında doğru yolu bulduk. On dakika sonra parkı bulduk. Park basit ve çok güzeldi. Arabayı derenin kuzey tarafına park ettik. Yaya köprüsü var. Köprüyü geçerken kar yağmaya başladı.
Parktaki ağaçlar akçaağaçlar. Bazıları çok yaşlı.
Parkı keşfettikten sonra eski bir kapalı köprüyü ziyaret etmeye karar verdik. Kapalı köprü 1926’da yapıldı. Öğle yemeğimizi orada arabada yedik.
Çarşamba, 27 Ocak Oregon’daki ölümler: 1,924 (+20) yeni vakalar: 731
Sabah E kurabiye ve salata için WINCO’ya yürüdü ve sonra mutfakta çalıştı. Öğle yemeği yedikten sonra o Salem’e gittik. Akşam yemeği servis etmek için tam zamanında geri geldi. Bir büyük yeshil salata ve bir büyük böğürtlenli turta yedik. Nefis. M bilgisayarda çalıştı ve William Robbins’in bir kitabında birkaç bölüm okudu.
Yemekten sonra Gök Yer Aşk’in bir bölümünü izledik. Havva çok mutlu çünkü düşmanlarından birini yendi. Yusuf’un eski sevgilisi Betül İstanbul’a geri döndü. Havva’nın annesi meraklıdır. “Gözlerindeki o ışık nedir?” soruyor. Havva cevap vermiyor. Planını sadece babası ve teyzesi biliyor. Dizi Kapadokya’da geçiyor. Tabii ki balonlarımız olmalı. Havva ve Yusuf birlikte gökyüzüne gittiler. Tatlı küçük Toprak evde kaldı ve Yusuf’a bir fular ördü.
Perşembe, 28 Ocak Oregon’daki ölümler: 1,930 (+6) yeni vakalar: 750
Felaket! Traktörümüz çiğdem tarafından devrildi. Doğanın güçünü gösterir. Neyşe ki kimse yarlanmadı.
Sigortamız hiçbir şey ödemeyecek. Çiğdemlerden korunmak istiyorsak fazladan ödeme yapmamız gerektiğini söylüyorlar.
Cuma, 29 Ocak Oregon’daki ölümler: 1,938 (+8) yeni vakalar: 976
Sakin bir gün. E arkadaşlarıyla Pat’s Open Air Garage and Tea Room’a gitti. Çok fazla tatlıları olduğunu söylüyor, ama beğendi. Toplantı bittikten sonra E ve P MLK parkında yürüyüşe çıktı.
M da parka geldi. P bizi yeni konut projesini gezmeye gezdirdi. Orada bir yer satın almayı düşünüyor.
Cumartesi, 30 Ocak Oregon’daki ölümler: 1,957 (+19) yeni vakalar: 707
Bu salgının 310. günü. Oregon’daki COVID hakkında bazı iyi haberler var. Ölum oranı biraz düştü. İşte grafik.
Yeni vaka oranı da daha düşük.
Pazar, 31 Ocak Oregon’daki ölümler: (müsait değil) yeni vakalar: (m.d.)
Başka bir bulutlu gün. Aralıklı yağmur. Sabah E arkadaşları S ve Mrs. H ile Zoom görüşmesi yaptı. M bir kadın basketbol maçı izledi. Oregon Eyalet Üniversitesi, Utah Üniverstesi’nde oynadı. Kuduzlar 84-74 kazandı.
Öğle yemeğinden sonra birçok ilginç evin bulunduğu bir mahallede yürüdük. İşte bunlardan girinin fotoğrafı.
Daha sonra Gök Yer Aşk bir bölümünü izledik. Yusuf’a önemli bir mektup geldi. DNA testinin sonuçlarını içerir. Sinsi Sultan, Yusuf görmeden mektubu açtı. Mektup Yusuf’un Rüzgar’ın babası olmadığını bildiriyor. Sultan bundan hiç hoşlanmıdı. Sultan ve Havva mektubu değiştirdi ve şimdi Yusuf babası olduğunu sanıyor. Biz şaşırmadık. Diğer Türk dizilerinden, Türkiye’de hiç kimsenin doğru bir DNA raporu almadığını biliyoruz.