March 2021 – Meandering on the Way

March 29, 2021

Pandemic Diary — March 22 to 28, 2021

Monday, March 22 Deaths 2,365 (+2) New cases 178

M shopped at Safeway this morning so he could use his ten percent off coupon. The Safeway nearest us is a big store and it took him a long time to find everything. The store was a little eerie at 8:30 on a Monday, its long aisles mostly empty of customers, very quiet. It was nothing at all like the scene at a store called Kings Soopers in Boulder, Colorado just a few hours later. Ten people were killed there this afternoon. A suspect is in custody.

E also survived her trip to the Co-op, so we are once again supplied with foodstuffs. She then did Zoom yoga and some reading. It was raining early, but just before lunch the sun came out and M went out to attach the legs onto our new outdoor table. After lunch, he broke ground for his newest hardscape project. Oh boy. Elsewhere in the backyard, our forsythia are starting to bloom and there is even an early tulip on Hummock #1. In the front yard, two fully open hyacinths have been neatly bitten off two inches above the round. Fie on the front yard.

For dinner E made spinach and gorgonzola pasta and a green salad. M supplied a cheap French red from TJ’s. Budapest is almost finished. We have only the buildings left to add. Wonder how the original builders would feel about that?

Tuesday, March 23 Deaths 2,367 (+2) New cases 316

A beautiful sunny day, with temps in the fifties. Dog Pepper spent some time with us in the morning, a lot of it bouncing around the backyard. E noticed that Pepper has the herding dog’s attitude toward playing with a ball. If the ball is moving, he’s very interested. But once it stops, it no longer merits his attention. The concept of fetching is not a part of his world.

We returned Pepper to his owner just before noon. Shortly afterward, as we were driving along, we saw our old neighbor B out for a walk. We lived near B and his wife for 17 years out in the forest, before they moved into the Stonybrook area, where Pepper and his owner now also dwell. Had a nice talk. Good to see him out and around.

From there we proceeded immediately to the The Vietnamese Baguette for a couple of sandwiches. We ate them sitting on a bench in the sun beside the river. Then it was back home to change cars and give the Porsche some exercise. We did a loop down south that took us through farmland and forest on mostly empty roads. On the way home we stopped for coffee at Randy’s Main Street Cafe in Brownsville. They had a very inviting greeting painted on their window, “You don’t have to go home. You can stay here with us.” So we stayed. As we sat in the sun with our lattes, we noticed that they had an old cookstove as part of their outdoor décor. The stove is mostly metal but the oven door and a few other bits are white ceramic. In the middle of the oven door there is a gauge labelled “Heat Indicator.” Behind the indicator needle there is a cautionary note: Temperature of oven varies with quantity and kind of fuel, flue, and atmospheric conditions. Words to live by, we’d say, a metaphor for pretty much everything.

Randy’s Cafe is in the main part of town just across the street from a newish building that houses the Brownsville City Hall, the Brownsville Fire Department, and an art gallery. You don’t see that combination much. The photo below shows just the City Hall part.

A beautiful day, but cold and windy at times. For individuals under a certain age, it was a great day for top down motoring. We are past that age.

Wednesday, March 24 Deaths 2,368 (+1) New cases 879

The rain is back and we’re staying mostly inside. E spent her day working on her SMART project. SMART’s in-school reading program has been cancelled for this year, but the program has asked for volunteers to make videos to fill the gap, reading a book aloud and turning the pages just as they would in person. E foolishly offered to do this and SMART sent her a book called Jabari Salta, a book about a young boy’s jumping and diving adventures. So today she did lots of practice reading and then enlisted M’s help in figuring out just how to video the performance. After a few failed attempts and much head scratching, we set up an ad hoc camera stand and finally made what we hope will be an acceptable video.

The plan for dinner was to eat Cirello’s pizza while watching a Zoom talk about dirt. The last talk we heard about dirt was really good, so we were excited. But no. Technical difficulties of some kind caused the dirt talk to be cancelled. The bright side is that we were able to give our full attention to the pizza.

The Budapest puzzle is finished–at least as far as we’re going to finish it. We’ve done everything except push the buildings down into their foundations. Here ‘tis:

Thursday, March 25 Deaths 2,370 (+2) New cases 422

FaceTime Tertulia this morning, then more work E’s video project. We had a good enough video, but we also had an idea for better sound and a little more efficiency in page turning. So we set up our studio again and produced an improved version..

Later on M went outside and occupied himself pulling cartloads of dirt from project to prairie and cartloads of gravel from prairie to project. An hour or so was enough of that.

After lunch we went for a forest walk in search of wildflowers. It’s early days yet, but yellow violets (yellows?) and early trilliums were making themselves available. It seems, in fact, to be a great year for trilliums; they’re popping up all over.

After the forest walk, we did some errands and rested a bit. Then we uploaded E’s video to Google Drive as instructed. Whew.

Then, fools that we are, we watched more of 20 Minutes. Is Melek still in prison? Yes. Is Ali trying frantically to get her out? Yes. Is he facing impossible odds? Well, this is Episode 22 and we know there are a total of 59. So his chances of finding a happy ending in the next 36 episodes are virtually nil. The worst thing that he faces right now is that he is beginning to doubt Melek’s innocence! Ouch. Also, the bad guys have bugged his house, he owes 13,000 Turkish Lira to a loan shark, his daughter Duru is keeping something from him, and Özgür has disappeared, having likely been abducted by the bad guys. Özgür, of course, was Melek’s assistant in her cake shop. He is a pleasant young man who became a family friend and he has been keeping Melek’s business going while she’s away. (Stop me if you know this already…)

Friday, March 26 Deaths 2,373 (+3) New cases 505

We learned recently from an alert reader that chef Didier, the patissier himself, is back in action! The shop is open three days a week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Today, by felicitous synchronicity, our favorite courier service also resumed operations. Eve returned from her early morning walk promptly at 8:12, carrying four croissants–two chocolate and two almond paste. The espresso was finished just a half a minute later. All was well. Soon, only two croissants remained, safely stored away for Sunday.

It was also a beautiful sunny day. M went outside to finish making his base stations for the Adirondack chairs. Eve went out again, by car this time, and brought home a pineapple and some Veggie Birdnests. These are frozen tempura things with soy dipping sauce. It seems we’ve been invited to supper on Sunday at J and B’s and we’re contributing bird nests. The plan is to eat outside in the folly. E then went downtown to obtain several other necessities, including a couple of books she’d ordered, a new silk jacket, and some bird food.

In the afternoon E did Zoom yoga and ran some errands to help her friend S. M took advantage of the dry conditions to mow the back lawn, certain parts of which seem to be growing with way too much enthusiasm these days.

Later we watched a bit of 20 Minutes. It was a busy episode, but the high point for us was a brief scene of Melek sleeping in her prison cell. She was nestled comfortably under a traditional Turkish style wool blanket, very similar to the one we dragged back with us from Turkey eleven years ago and which still smells of lanolin every time we use it. In fact, E suddenly remembered, hadn’t she taken ours to the cleaners almost two weeks ago? Probably time to go pick it up…

Melek’s prison cell, by the way, is pretty nice. It’s quite spacious, with a small table and three chairs plus two double tier beds. Melek has only two cellmates, so one of the bunks is unoccupied. The cell has its own attached private half bath. Plus, we can attest to the fact that those wool blankets are really warm. Presumably all Turkish prisons have these amenities; but we cannot confirm this as we were never imprisoned while we were there.

Saturday, March 27 Deaths 2,375 (+2) New cases 428

We meant to pick up that blanket today. Didn’t make it. Did take a walk, though, up Garryanna and down Rolling Green, the steepest walk in the neighborhood. Then M went out to work in the yard while E did chores of one kind or another. E got another call from S and made a quick trip to Bi-Mart to get her what she needed. After lunch we were both outside for a while. It was very sunny and warm. Dinner was take-out from Sky High Brewery. It was good, but they didn’t get our orders quite right. Eve ordered a Ceasar salad was especially looking forward to their homemade croutons. When we opened up the salad, what did we find? Croutons yok! Mafeesh! Arimasen! None! We nearly had a riot on our hands. When he opened his order, M found that they have given him a side salad instead of french fries. Now that’s a disappointment. M took it philosophically, however, saying that there was no way he actually needed a big pile of french fries at this particular point in time.

We had been thinking about Ba’s Vietnamese, but it seems they are closed for a couple of weeks making preparations for resuming inside dining and also adding an outdoor seating area. That sounds kind of exciting. The place was always on the small side.

Decided to skip 20 Minutes today. Instead we watched an episode of Tokyo Diner and then checked back in with 45 RPM to see what they were up to. Who are they, you ask? Robert is a Spanish rock and roll singer, very talented but also suffering from an incurable disease. Guillermo is the passionate maverick record producer who believes in Robert. Maribel is Guillermo’s bright young P.A. who is torn between a career in the music business and marriage to Diego, a handsome banker. Zabala is nominally Guillermo’s supervisor at the record company and is a man who despises rock and roll. His wife and Guillermo were once a couple. Clara is Rober’s twin sister, who has come to Madrid after their parents back in Alicante threw her out of the house for having become involved with a married man. Rober can’t bring himself to tell her that he is dying. But his first single has been released and appears to be a hit…

Sunday, March 28 Deaths 2,375 (+0) New cases 253

COVID deaths in Oregon have been low this week, a pattern that we hope will continue. One million people in Oregon have been either fully or partly vaccinated, including large numbers of older people who had vaccine priority. Since is it usually older people who die from COVID, it seems reasonable to expect fewer deaths even if overall case numbers remain high.

M was attacked by pollen allergies Saturday night and did not sleep well. In the morning E recommended a dose of chocolate croissant and coffee, which helped. He worked a little in the garden, then spent much of the day sleeping. (Just what is he doing out there in the yard? PD needs to investigate.)

E combined her morning walk with grocery shopping and came home with milk and other necessities. At four we got down to business and wrote out our weekly meal plan and our respective shopping lists for tomorrow. Then we prepared some food to take with us to B and J’s place where were we had been invited for a light supper out in the folly.

We arrived at 5:30, just as the weather turned really nasty with blustery winds and showers. But there was a fire in the pizza oven and the folly had its winter siding up to protect us from the wind. It turned out to be a Trader’s Joe’s feast, as J had heated up a TJ’s vegetarian pizza and E had heated up some TJ’s vegetarian Bird Nests. This latter dish, we have to say, wasn’t very good. For dessert, M had carved up a TJ’s organic pineapple to which E had added some sliced strawberries. Those were better.

March 22, 2021March 22, 2021

Pandemic Diary — March 15 to 21, 2021

(Bu hafta, türkce versiyonu yok. Türkce versiyon yazarımız sinirli bir çiğdem tarafından saldırıya uğradı ve klavye kullanamıyor. Rahatsızlıktan dolayı özür deleriz.)

Monday, March 15 Deaths 2,324 (+2) New cases 178

For obvious reasons, the search for the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has taken a back seat to the search for effective vaccines and treatments. But how the virus came to be is a matter of interest and it is being addressed. At this point, three possibilities have been discussed. Some have suggested that it was deliberately released by the Chinese in order to weaken or destroy their enemies. Although not impossible, this theory doesn’t make very much sense. What exactly did they expect to gain? Why would they have released it in that particular way? It’s a stretch. Another possibility is that a virus that was present in animals became dangerous to humans via natural mutation. There is no direct evidence for this, but we know that it has happened before with other diseases. We also know that there is a disease that affects bats which is caused by a virus that is in some ways similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But there are a few technical factors that have muddied the waters concerning a natural origin in this particular case. The final possibility is that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was created in a lab–possibly as a potential weapon but more likely as part of legitimate medical research aimed at preventing epidemics–and that at some point it escaped from that lab due to an accident. Listed below are some information sources.

An open letter from scientists that notes the many limitations of the World Health Organization investigation and describes what a full investigation would look like.

A recent Politico story by Josh Rogin. The article details some of the reasons why the accidental escape theory is so compelling. Rogin also points out the barriers that stand in the way of a full investigation.

An article by Nicholson Baker in New York Magazine. I have linked to this before. It is a long piece, but take my word for it, the history of virus research in the last decade has been really fascinating. Baker makes it clear that the case for the accidental release of an engineered virus is all circumstantial; but what a set of circumstances they are!

Tuesday, March 16 Deaths 2,346 (+22) New cases 267

E did her exercise class and listened to a Zoom talk on how to talk to Alzheimer’s patients, which had a number of very good suggestions. E has the slides if anyone is interested. Otherwise we spent the morning packing for another trip to Bend. We got on the road by 1:30. Before we left, though, we had a visitor out front.

In Bend we stayed at a Marriot Residence Inn in a room with a small kitchen. Quite a come-down from those deluxe view condos that we stayed in previously, but nice. Did you know that in a Marriot you’re not supposed to hang anything from the ceiling sprinklers? When we first noticed it, we could see the ‘no hanger’ symbol easily, but it was almost impossible to make out the text without a ladder. There should be another sticker next to the first: Caution: Do Not Stand on Bed to Read This.

We had take-out dinner from Joolz: seared haloumi with capers, sun dried tomatoes, arugula, and red onions; dukka with bread; and Moroccan Forbidden Black Rice Chicken. All wonderful. Nothing like this back home.

For TV, we watched National Velvet on TCM. This film, of course, features Elizabeth Taylor when she was twelve, young enough that Mickey Rooney was noticeably taller than she was.

Wednesday, March 17 Deaths 2,349 (+3) New cases 239

We went back to Dutchman’s Flat for skiing. It was a nice sunny day. Spring on the mountain means that the days are warm enough in the afternoon that the snow starts to melt. It the night it freezes again. We got our skis on and started out at 10:30 in the morning. The surface was quite icy, which was not bad on level ground, so we zipped right along. But even slight inclines were tricky, either in the up direction or the down. At 11:30, we came to a long downhill section of the trail that would have been great fun on a normal day, but was just plain crazy on the ice, especially for oldsters. We solved this by going off piste and zigzagging across the main slope. That was fun too, but required lots of calculation and concentration. Surviving that, we reached our destination, a thing called The Water Tower, and had lunch there. The temperature was steadily rising and by the time we sat down to eat, it was relatively balmy. On the way back we found that the surface had softened and was well into the melting phase. Much easier for us to deal with.

The Water Tower. We’re almost sure this is not a natural formation.

In the evening we had dinner from Bethlyn’s Asian Fusion and watched a 1965 movie about the Irish playwright Sean O’Casey, screened in honor of St. Patrick’s day. It was called Young Cassidy, and featured Rod Taylor as well as two young up and coming actresses: Julie Christie and Maggie Smith.

Thursday, March 18 Deaths 2,353 (+4) New cases 393

Just a few minutes from the Residence Inn, there’s a shop called Ginger’s Kitchenware. We stopped there in search of small sauté pan. Found just the right thing. Nice. Corvallis lacks a really good kitchen shop. Ginger also stocks something we’d never seen before: a large bulk section of infused olive oils and infused vinegars. There were only about ten olive oil infusions on display, but there were lots of vinegars. We were very tempted to get all ten of the olive oils and about fourteen vinegars. That way we could have had a different vinegar and oil combination every single night for almost five months! Wow. But then we thought, naw, that’d be a lot of trouble.

Instead we went back home to Corvallis and unpacked. For dinner, M set out some leftover dukka and made a shrimp cocktail. After dinner, we worked on our puzzle. The first layer of 4D Budapest is now finished, which takes us up to 1884. At that time, the city is just a narrow band along the river; the rest of the area was farmland.

Friday, March 19 Deaths 2,357 (+4) New cases 381

Back here in valley, we had wind and rain in the morning. Not very pleasant. But eventually the day improved–less wind, less rain, a patch of sun here and there. M worked in the garden while E managed correspondence. In the afternoon E went back to the football stadium to get her second shot of the Pfizer vaccine. Again everything went well. And again it was a little cold out there.

In the evening we started the second level of the Budapest puzzle, then watched an episode of 20 Minutes. Melek’s husband Ali has a plan to break her out of prison. He’s getting advice from a crafty ex-con named The Cat, and also a bit of help from Cat’s grown daughter, Raven, who is played by Turkish actor Müjde Uzman. Ali has managed to get himself hired as a cleaner in the staff housing wing of the prison. But the prison blueprints that he and The Cat used in their planning are out of date, and Ali finds a wall where he expected a door! Rats. Now, he’ll have to improvise. Tension!

Saturday, March 20 Deaths 2,362 (+5) New cases 339

Our old outdoor table is gone, the one that Eve got while she lived on Estaview Circle almost 30 years ago. It was a rustic, wooden thing that had served us well. We had tightened its bolts two or three times over the years and restained it often. It was still solid but the top pieces were warped a little and it was too big for the spot under the apple tree where a table is needed these days. So today we put it out by the curb along with two old flower pots and a ‘Free’ sign. Within hours, only the sign remained.

E felt pretty lousy for much of the day, probably as a reaction to yesterday’s shot, but was still very active. She went downtown for a hair appointment and then went around town picking up a few things she’s been needing. For dinner we got tacos and virgin margaritas from Tacovore and matched them with our own taco sauce and tequila. After dinner we worked more on Budapest.

Sunday, March 21 Deaths 2,363 (+1) New cases 224

Today is the 360th day of Pandemic Diary record-keeping. Time for another chart of the Oregon death toll. In the period ending March 21st, the average death rate was less than five per day. As you see, this is a steep decline from the previous period. The rate of positive tests in the last ten days has been under 2.5%.

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Today we needed to get some fish for dinner and a few other things at the grocery store. We decided to walk so as to get some exercise and took along M’s cheapo backpack to carry stuff. It was a very dull day, cool and overcast. But it was mostly rainless, so walking was pleasant enough.

We’re excited to be making travel plans, thinking about a trip to New York in August. At this point, brother J is helping us to possibly find a place to stay at Lake George.

We’ve been doing some more work on the modern map of Budapest, which fits over the top of the 1884 one. Now it looks like this.

March 15, 2021

Pandemic Diary — March 8 to 14, 2021

(Türkce versiyonunu görmek için aşağı kaydırın.)

Monday, March 8 Deaths 2,298 (+2) New cases 234

The pandemic continues to take its toll in Oregon with an average of more than 10 deaths per day during the period of March 2-11. This is roughly the same level as in the previous thirty days. New case numbers and test positive rates continue to be relatively low.

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Monday is shopping day and we spent money like water this morning, E at the Co-op and M at Mother of Markets and Trader Joe’s. In return we have obtained a cornucopia of wonders: organic grapefruit juice, cheapish wine, even cheaper black tea, dried apricots, crusty bread, ridiculously expensive frozen prawns…the list goes on and on, all the way to the pièce de résistance: a big box of Frosted Mini-Wheats. Eve did her shopping in-person for the first time in a while. She says she bought a lot more that way because, you know, what you see is what you buy, especially if you haven’t seen for a while.

After shopping M made heroic efforts to clean up from his great project and manage the great volume of gravel remaining in the driveway. A neighbor wants to take some and that’s excellent. The rest needs to be stored somewhere else, perhaps for use in future projects. But let’s not think about that now.

In the late afternoon M got his first COVID shot. Unlike Eve, who got her first shot at a large scale administration run by the public health authorities, M went to Safeway. The two venues could not have been more different. Eve’s was outside, in a large covered area built into the east side of the OSU football stadium. Parking was down the road a ways, and as soon as Eve entered the lot, she and her friend was asked if they needed or wanted a golf cart ride to inoculation area. There were lots of people coming and going and lots of volunteers to assist them. Eve’s friend took the cart while E said she’d walk. In the main area everyone had to go through a series of three checkpoints to confirm their identity and answer questions about their current condition. At the third of these Eve got a purple sticker to put on her jacket lapel and she was directed to one of the inoculation stations. There were two separate inoculation areas, each with at least eight stations. E’s section was for first Pfizer shots; the other was for second Modernas. When she got her shot, she got another sticker, a white one on which was written the exact time of her shot. She was then directed to a waiting area with chairs spaced six feet apart. A staff person monitored this area, checking how much time had elapsed since each person’s shot. At this point E was again accompanying her friend, who, as it happens, had gotten her shot two minutes before E had gotten hers. When it came time for the friend to go, the staffer assisted her to stand up, telling her to move very slowly. The staffer then looked at E and asked her to stand as well, even though technically E still had a minute and a half to go. But the staffer said that was okay and off they went to the next checkpoint. There, another staffer gave their vaccination cards. Also at that station everyone was scheduled for their second appointments. After that, they were directed to the exit where another volunteer offered them a ride in the golf cart back to the parking lot, saying that she was having trouble keeping the cart drivers busy. Both E and her friend graciously accepted. E said later that the cart was kind of fun.

So it was all very organized and ran very smoothly. Because it was all outside, E said she was feeling pretty cold toward the end. But it appeared that hundreds of people per hour were going through the process. As has been reported in other U.S. locations, volunteers had the possibility of receiving vaccinations as a reward for their help.

E’s experience included one small snafu. After it was all over, when she and her friend were both safely home, she discovered that she had been given her friend’s vaccination card and that her friend had gotten hers.

No such errors occurred at Safeway. But nor were there any golf carts or any signage of any kind. M had to just wander in and find his way to the pharmacy area. There he found someone talking to a cashier and paying for a prescription. There was no other sign of life except for another fellow roughly M’s age who appeared to also be looking around for some sign that there might be a vaccination clinic somewhere. When the prescription customer was done, this other fellow spoke to the cashier and was told to go to the prescription drop-off window at the other end of the counter. There was no one there, but the cashier quickly left her register area and went over to check him in for a shot. M too moved in that direction and he was in turn checked in by the rather brusque cashier, who also directed him to a fully enclosed waiting room at the other end of the pharmacy area. This was not a large room, but was easily large enough to maintain eight or twelve feet of distance, given there were never more than two people seated in the room. After a short time, a pharmacist came in and beckoned the first fellow into a smaller room where she gave the shots. Then it was M’s turn. After the shot, she filled out his vaccination record, gave him an information sheet and told him to go back to the waiting room and stay for twenty minutes. She then hurried back to her work, presumably in the prescription prep room. M dutifully waited for twenty minutes and then left.

The Safeway system could process only four vaccinations per hour. It did not make use of volunteers and did not require any paid staff beyond the cashier and pharmacist who were normally on duty. When he looked at his vaccination record, M saw that it wasn’t nearly as neat and official looking as E’s. On the other hand, it was accompanied by a coupon for 10% off on his next grocery purchase. Considering how much he had spent that day at those other stores, that sounded pretty good.

Tuesday, March 9 Deaths 2,303 (+5) New cases 517

M went out early and finished clearing gravel off the driveway, then came in and worked on his article. E had her Better Bones and Balance class. At 10:00 we went off into the world, ending up at a garden center where we bought a pot of tulips, some violets, and a table and chair set. We were so excited by the latter that we rushed home, set it up in the back yard and had a cup of coffee. Aah. Beautiful.

Full disclosure, our set differs slightly from the one in this photo, mainly in the areas of the plants, the patio paving, the stone wall, the coffee service, the background scene, and the sunshine.

We then went to the OSU forest for a quick hike up to the lake and back. We were home by 12:30 in time to get ready for yet another celebration of E’s birthday, this time at her friend H’s house, she of the covered back patio. That do started at 1:00 and involved take-out Vietnamese food and house-made cardamom tea. More importantly, there were two kinds of cake.

Later, back at home, hilarity ensued when E mistakenly prepared our dinner, even though it was M’s night to cook. After dinner we watched a bit more of 20 Minutes.

Wednesday, March 10 Deaths 2,305 (+2) New cases 306

Another coolish day with occasional light showers and periods of warm sun. M worked on his article for a couple of hours and then went outside to spread bark rock here and there. E did her correspondence chores–paper and electronic–and then went out to visit Pepper and his owner.

After some nice TLT sandwiches for supper, we watched episode 11 of 20 Minutes. Nothing of any great significance occurred, but it was all very dramatic. So far our heroine Melek has been found guilty of assault rather than murder because the man she was accused of attacking has been lingering in a coma. But soon, it seems, he is going to die. If he does, her sentence will be changed from 20 years to life. But what does that even matter, given that the dying man’s father–the evil and powerful Mayor–has sworn to have Melek and her whole family slaughtered within the next ten years. Meanwhile, the one police detective who suspects that Melek is innocent is in trouble with his boss and is being ostracized by his colleagues–including the guy who delivers the tea–because he has tried to reopen her case. Inside the prison Melek has befriended another prisoner, a young pregnant woman who is serving time because her husband made her work as as drug mule. Melek is doing this because Melek is nice. How could she not be? The word melek in Turkish means angel.

Thursday, March 11 Deaths 2,316 (+11) New cases 367

A beautiful day and a busy one. We had tertulia early with J and R, who helped M figure out just how he had managed to order so much gravel. His difficulty had to do with something that is apparently called “arithmetic.” So that mystery is cleared up; it will take a little longer to clear up the extra gravel. After tertulia, E had Zoom yoga and M went to the dentist.

At 10:30, M did FaceTime with colleague D to wrap up the article. He came out of the meeting to find E busy in the front yard. She was doing some spring cleaning work on her mini-garden out by the road. This inspired M to go outside also. He spread a few cartloads of bark rock. Bark rock, he reports, is approximately 1,000 times lighter than gravel. Given his level of arithmetic skills, he is almost certainly wrong.

In the late afternoon E had Laughter Yoga while M prepared his ingredients for a stir-fry.

Friday, March 12 Deaths 2,319 (+2) New cases 402

Cloudless skies and overnight temperature in the thirties made for a cold morning, but things warmed up nicely as the day went on. Around midday we took a long forest walk followed by a picnic lunch at the lake. E. had Zoom yoga at 1:30 and later had a long phone call with her brother. M did desk work and dropped off some things at the post office. At four we had a conference call with R and G and talked about a date for getting together at their house for dinner. What a strange idea! In the evening we skipped TV and started a 4D jigsaw puzzle of Budapest.

Saturday, March 13 Deaths 2,322 (+3) New cases 365

Spring cleaning day for our rather crowded back door closet. It was a bright and sunny day, so we took all our winter coats and hats and yoga stuff out to bake in the sun. Once the space was empty, E scrubbed and vacuumed.

Later in the day E had a little outdoor party with her friends J and C. The menu featured dolmas, spinach pastries, crackers, brie and possibly some wine. For once it was warm enough, mostly, to be comfortable sitting outside. M started doing our taxes, then dined on a Burgerville sandwich and fries washed down by a glass of Origon, a Catalan red, cheap but tasty.

Then we went back to work on building Budapest. We’re still plugging away at the 1884 map. So far we’ve only finished the Danube.

We also watched a little of 20 Minutes. The young woman whom Melek befriended has been coerced into betraying her. Wouldn’t you know it.

Sunday, March 14 Deaths 2,322 (+0) New cases 234

For breakfast we had chocolate croissants–not, alas, from the Patissier, which remains closed, but from Trader Joe’s. They came frozen and as instructed we set them out on parchment paper and let them thaw and rise all night, then cooked them in the morning. They were very good. M noticed that they had too much chocolate; E did not. After breakfast we finished up our income tax returns and sent them off across the internet.

After lunch Eve went walking on the west side of the OSU campus, which has long been the home grounds of the College of Agriculture. There’s a multi-use path that begins on what she still calls Pig Farm Road. These days the road still provides access to the Swine Center, but also to the OSU Dairy, the Animal Nutrition Center, and the Precision Agricultural Systems Center. We’re not sure if we want to know what goes on in the Precision Agricultural Systems Center. The building itself gives no clue.

But anyway, beyond all that, the road continues as a walking/biking route that leads through the fields in the direction of the Benton County Fairgrounds. Fifty years ago someone rescued an old covered bridge that was being replaced somewhere else in the county and moved it to where the path crosses Oak Creek. We remember walking there once or twice in the old days when we both worked on campus. Today, E says, it was cold and windy.

Pandemi Günlüğü, 8-14 Mart, 2021

Pazaretesi, 8 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,298 (+2) Yeni vakalar: 234

Salgın Oregon’da devan ediyor. 2 Mart’tan 11 Mart’a kadar günde ondan fazla ölüme neden oldu.

Pazartesi bakkal alışveriş günü ve bugün çok para harcadık. E bir mağazaya, M iki mağazaya daha gitti. Eve birçok harika şey getirdik: Kaliforniya’dan organik greyfurt suyu, İspanya’dan ucuz şarap, Türkiye’den kuru kayısı, Oregon’dan ekmek ve the pièce de résistance–buyuk bir kutu Frosted Mini Wheats. Vay!

Öğleden sonra M, bir Safeway süpermarkette ilk COVID atışını yaptı. Süreç sorunsuz ve kolaydı. Ama Eve’in aşı yaptırdığı zamandan çok farklıydı. E bir futbol stadyumuna gitti. Çok sayıda personel ve çok sayıda gönüllü asistan vardı. Saatte yüzlerce doz aşı yaptılar. Safeway’de her zaman eczane bölümünde çalışan sadece iki personel vardı. Saatte dört aşı yaptılar. Hangisi daha iyiydi? Hmm. Peki, M Safeway için yüzde son indirim kuponu aldı. E bir futbol maçı için yüzde on indirim aldı mı? Hayır.

Sali, 9 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,2303 (+5) Yeni vakalar: 517

Biraz bahçe işi ve E’nin egzersiz dersinden sonra, büyük dünyaya gittik. Bir bahçe merkezine gittik ve bir lale, biraz menekşe ve bir dış mekan masa ve sandalye seti aldık. Masa ve sandalyeyi eve geri götürdük ve bahçemize koyduk. Sonra bir fincan kahve ile rahatladık. Ah … güzel.

11567839608862.jpg.webp — Tam açıklama: Setimiz bu resimden biraz farklı, ancak yalnızca bitkiler, alçak duvar, taş teras, kahve servisi ve arka plan açısından.

Daha sonra hızlı bir orman yürüyüşüne çıktık ve saat 1: 00’de öğle yemeği için H’nin evine gittik. Vietnam yemekleri ve doğum günü pastası yedik. Akşam 20 Dakikalık bir bölüm daha izledik.

Çarşamba, 10 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,305 (+2) Yeni vakalar: 306

Biraz yağmur ve biraz güneşle başka bir gün. M makalesi üzerinde çalışırken, E yazışmalar yaptı ve Pepper and Pepper’ın sahibini ziyarete gitti. Akşam 20 Dakika daha izledik. Zavallı Melek! 20 yıl hapis yatıyor. Belki ömür boyu hapiste. Ama zaman önemli değil çünkü kötü Belediye Başkanı Solmaz onun ölmesini istiyor. Onu hapishane duş odasında öldürmek için bir plan yaptı. Melek’in masum olabileceğini düşünen bir polis dedektifi var. Ama başı dertte. Patronu kızgın ve kimse onunla konuşmayacak, çaycı bile. Melek cezaevinde başka bir mahkuma yardım ediyor. Bunu nazik olduğu için yapıyor. O tam bir melek.

Perşembe, 11 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,316 (+11) Yeni vakalar: 367

Güzel ve yoğun bir gün. FaceTime’da J ve R ile konuştuk. M’nin neden bu kadar çakıl taşıdığını anlamasına yardımcı oldular. Zorluk, ‘aritmetik’ denen bir şeydi. Sonra E Zoom yoga yaptı ve M dişçıye gitti. Bundan sonra M başka bir FaceTime toplantısı yaptı ve E ön bahçede çalıştı. M ayrıca dışarı çıktı ve ağaç kabuğu yaymaya çalıştı. Kabuğun çakıldan 1000 kat daha hafif olduğunu söylüyor. Matematik becerilerinin seviyesi düşünüldüğünde, muhtemelen çok yanılıyor. Öğleden sonra arkadaşlarımızla telefonla konuştuk. Şimdi hepimiz aşı oluyoruz, bu yüzden bir veya iki hafta içinde onların evinde akşam yemeği yiyeceğiz. Ne tuhaf bir fikir!

Akşam televizyonu izlemedik. Bunun yerine 4D testere bulmacası başlattık.

Cuma, 12 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,319 (+3) Yeni vakalar: 402

Bulutsuz gökkynüzü ve soğuk bir sabah. Ormanda uzun bir yürüyüşe çıktık ve göl kenarında piknik yaptık. E 1: 30’da Zoom yoga yaptı ve daha sonra erkek kardeşi ile telefonda konuştu. Saat 4: 00’te arkadaşlarımız R ve G ile konuştuk. Yakında evlerinde akşam yemeği yemeyi planlıyoruz. Bu yeni bir fikir! Akşam televizyon izlemedik. Budapeşte’nin 4D yapbozunu başlattık.

Cumartesi, 13 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,322 (+3) Yeni vakalar: 365

Bahar temizliği günü, en az bir dolap için. Sıcak güneşli bir gündü, bu yüzden kışlık paltolarımızı, şapkalarımızı ve eşyalarımızı dışarı çıkardık. E dolabı temizledi ve süpürdü. Günün ilerleyen saatlerinde E arkadaşları J ve C ile küçük bir açık hava partisi yaptı. Dolmalar, ıspanaklı hamur işleri, brie ve kraker vardı. Çok soğuk değildi. E arkadaşlarıyla oynarken M vergilerimizi yaptı. Akşam yemeğinde hamburger, patates kızartması ve şarap yedi. Şarap Katalunya’dandı. Ucuz ama güzel.

Sonra Budapeşte’de çalıştık ve biraz 20 Dakika izledik. Melek’in yardım ettiği genç kadın ona ihanet etti. Sürpriz değil.

Pazar, 14 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,322 (+0) Yeni vakalar: 234

Kahvaltıda Trader Joes’dan çikolatalı kruvasan yedik. M çok fazla çikolataları olduğunu söyledi. E fark etmedi.

Öğle yemeğinden sonra Eve, OSU kampüsünün batı tarafında yürüyüşe çıktı. Ziraat Koleji’nin evi. Domuz Merkezi, OSU Mandıra, Hayvan Besleme Merkezi ve Hassas Tarım Sistemleri Merkezi’nden geçti. Hassas Tarım Sistemleri Merkezi nedir? Bilmek istemiyoruz. Bina uğursuz görünüyor.

March 8, 2021

Pandemic Diary — March 1 to 7, 2021

(Türkce versiyonunu görmek için aşağı kaydırın.)

Monday, March 1 Deaths 2,212 (+4) New cases 197

Oregon’s first COVID diagnosis was made on March 1, 2020. The Pandemic Diary database began tracking deaths on March 27. As can be seen below, the death toll for the first four months was relatively low in Oregon, averaging around two deaths per day. In July, things got a little worse; in late November they got a lot worse. These days, during the most recent ten-day period, the death rate has fallen to early November levels. New case numbers and test positive percentages have also been low. So…lot’s of good signs.

Screen Shot 2021-03-01 at 9.14.20 PM.png

In our town today we had warm spring weather. E busied herself with plant care, garage organizing, Zoom yoga, and grocery ordering; then she relaxed with a long and joyful phone talk with an old friend. The only dark spot was that it was her night to cook. She got through it somehow.

M saw an eye doctor today, a process that required two separate visits to the office. On the first visit the receptionist refused to allow him to see the doctor! This on the flimsiest of pretexts, something about how he had arrived an hour early. Incredible. Of course M persevered. He went to AutoZone and got some windshield washer fluid and filled up the tank on the Mazda, which made the yellow warning light go off. Ha! Then he went back to the eye doctor. In the afternoon he went out and worked on his paving project.

Tuesday, March 2 Deaths 2,225 (+13) New cases 269

More beautiful weather. M went shopping early at Mother of Markets. Except for the usual wincing at the check-out counter when the total was announced, it was a pleasant experience. E went to see her friend S and came back with Pepper, who requested a visit to the Chambeck day spa. In response to an overwhelming number of requests (one), we are posting another photo of this charismatic canine.

M worked outside until completely exhausted–which didn’t take all that long–and then had lunch. After a repast of chips, salsa and leftover steelhead, he went into the study to install our new cable modem. That process was fraught with peril, as it requires surviving for a certain amount of time WITH NO INTERNET WHATSOEVER. And what if the new modem didn’t work? And then what if the old modem–understandably bitter over being cast aside–refused to work either? Land sakes alive! Fortunately the process was not as terrible as it might have been. Whew.

Wednesday, March 3 Deaths 2,252 (+27) New cases 276

We woke up to thick fog this morning. M went out to do an errand and reports that traffic was slow and conditions eerie. By 11:00 or so the fog had mostly burned off, after which it was another fine day. E did Zoom yoga and later went to fetch her grocery order from the Co-op. There have been some communication issues and E is thinking it’s time to go back to doing her Co-op shopping the old fashioned way. M worked on his paver project and did some lawn mowing. In late afternoon E went to the plant nursery and bought some native tufted grasses. We plan to put a couple in the front and a couple in the back.

Thursday, March 4 Deaths 2,284 (+32) New cases 392

Quite a high number of Oregon COVID deaths in the last three days, averaging over twenty per day. But the daily tolls have always varied a lot, so we can’t make too much of this yet.

FaceTime tertulia with J and R. They have found out that their grandkids will be going back to school soon, one of them as soon as Monday, others by the beginning of April. The district plan is for each child to have just two days a week of in-class instruction, presumably for the rest of this school year. Also on the education front, the Univ. of Oregon in Eugene has announced that they will be returning to normal course delivery starting Fall term. Also on the virus front, M has a vaccine appointment for next Monday.

Another pretty nice day, cloudy and warm in the morning, some light rain coming on around 3:00 in the afternoon. We were both laboring for hours in the garden, planting the new tuft grass and ornamental thyme that E got yesterday, as well as taking two roses out of their big pots and placing them into big holes. We are slowly gaining ground in the effort to fill all the bare space that we created by last year’s various lawn removals.

Also in the back, these are native camas shoots. E planted the bulbs last fall.

And finally, here’s a spy photo of E tending her butterfly.

Friday, February 5 Deaths 2,293 (+9) New cases 251

We did more garden work today, despite the fact that it was raining. M, being a complete fool, has ordered himself nine cubic feet of gravel, which was delivered at noon. He was tired of never having enough. Now he’s got way too much. Despite his work today, a lot of it is still sitting in the driveway. Much progress has been made on the paving project, but it is fiendishly complex and still far from finished. Like many infrastructure projects, it has suffered from ongoing design changes and cost overruns. There is also dissension among the project staff. The designer has maligned the competence of the entire crew, while the construction supervisor claims that the initial design was “incoherent.” Fewer difficulties have occurred in the front yard where E today planted two new primroses and an aster.

In the afternoon, E had another meeting of her HEPAJ group. They all met outside at H’s place to share tea, coffee, and snacks. We suppose there was also some conversation. It was E’s turn to provide the snacks. The weather was rainy and cool but H does have a covered back patio. E came home dry but chilled. It took her a couple of hours and a hot shower to warm up. All of the HEPAJ members are getting vaccinations now, so it won’t be long–we hope–till the group can meet indoors.

Saturday, March 6 Deaths 2,296 (+3) New cases 202

A nice Spring day with lots of sun and lots of showers, each type of weather very politely taking it’s turn throughout the day. E brought Pepper for another visit and M worked on the great paving project. Thankfully, this project has at last been ~~abandoned!~~ completed!

In other news, E’s amaryllis has bloomed. She is especially pleased because this is the second year that it has flowered for her, thus rewarding the care she gave it over the last twelve months.

It was a big TV night for us. First we watched another episode of 20 Minutes (20 Dakika), a Turkish series about a woman imprisoned for a grisly murder that she–probably–did not commit. It stars Tuba Büyüküştün, whom we are very fond of, despite or maybe because of her crooked front tooth. She also starred in Black Money Love, where her character was also imprisoned for a grisly murder that she did not commit. She’s good at this sort of role, though we expect that after doing it a couple of times, she might be getting tired of it. Anyway, we basically hate this show–it is so sappy–and yet we are inexorably drawn to it–probably due to mental deficiency.

After that, we watched the first episode of 45 RPM (45 Revoluciones), a Spanish drama series set in Madrid in the early to mid 1960s. It’s all about the recording industry and advent of the rock and roll era. E first went to Spain the 1968, so it’s fun for her to see how the series tries to recreate the sights and sounds of that era. Episode 1 of the series features a recreation of a performance by a group called Los Pekenikes. This is a real group whose name E thinks she recalls. Apparently the group was formed in Spain in 1959 and once opened for the Beatles when they came to Madrid. So far the series seems to have interesting characters and plenty of drama. Has anyone else seen this show? Is it worth following?

Sunday, March 7 Deaths 2,296 (+0) New cases 211

Bad news for E in the front garden. Someone, either a gentle deer or a feral human, has pulled out one of her newly planted primroses and eaten all its flowers. She put the plant back in the ground and thinks it will probably be okay.

One part of the front yard that we haven’t messed with is the daffodil and rhodie section created by the previous owners.

The daffs are out; the rhododendron buds still have a couple of months to go.

Pandemi Günlüğü — 1-7 Mart, 2021

Pazartesi, 1 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,212 (+4) Yeni vakalar: 197

Oregon’da ilk COVID teşhisi 1 Mart 2020’de geldi. Aşağıdaki grafikte görebileceğiniz gibi ilk dört ay çok kötü geçmedi. Temmuz ayında pandemik daha da kötüleşti. Kasım sonunda durum çok daha kötüye gitti. Bu günler içinde ölüm oranı Kasım ayı başlarındaki seviyelere düştü. Yani bu oldukça iyi bir haber.

Bugün kasabamızda ılk bahar havası yaşadık. E biraz bitki bakımı yaptı. Sonra Zoom yoga dersi aldı ve Kooperatif’ten yemek siparişi etti. Sonra eski bir arkadaşıyla uzun ve neşeli bir telefon konuşması yaptı. M’nin sabah bir göz doktoru randevusu vardı. Öğleden sonra finişer projesi üzerinde çalıştı.

Sali, 2 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,225 (+13) Yeni vakalar: 269

Daha güzel hava. M, Pazar Ana’ya erken alışverişe gitti. Sonunda toplamı görmesi dışında hoştu. E Pepper’ı kısa bir ziyaret için evimize getirdi. İstek üzerine, işte bu karizmatik köpeğin bir fotoğrafı.

M, öğle yemeğinden önce dışarıda çalıştı. Öğle yemeğinden sonra yeni bir kablo modem bağladı. Yeni modem ile indirme hızı 275’ten 465 Mbs’ye yükseldi. Harika!

Çarşamba, 3 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,252 (+27) Yeni vakalar: 276

Bu sabah uyandığımızda yoğun bir sis bulduk. 11: 00’de sis yandı ve çok güzel bir gündü. E, Zoom yoga yaptı ve Kooperatif’ten yiyecek almaya gitti. Bu süreçte sorunlar var. E, bunu durduracağını düşünüyor. Öğleden sonra bahçe merkezine gitti ve daha fazla bitki satın aldı.

Perşembe, 4 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,225 (+13) Yeni vakalar: 269

FaceTime’da J ve R ile konuştuk. Torunları yakında okula dönüyor. Ama haftada sadece iki gün gidecekler. Oregon’un en büyük üniversiteleri, sonbaharda normal olarak açılacağını söylüyor.

Güzel bir gün daha. Bahçede saatlerce çalıştık. Yeni bitkileri toprağa koyduk ve bazı eski bitkileri de taşıdık.

Bu camas lily. E tohumları geçen sonbaharda ekti. Camas, güzel mavi çiçekleri olan yerli bir bitkidir. Avrupalılar gelmeden önce burada yaşayanlar için önemli bir yemekti.

Son olarak, işte E ve kelebeğinin casus fotoğrafı.

Cuma, 5 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,296 (+3) Yeni vakalar: 202

Bugün yağmura rağmen bahçede çalıştık. M’ın çakıl yükü öğlen teslim edildi. İlk önce hiç yetmedi. Şimdi çok fazla şeye sahip. Aptalca ama normal. Çok ilerleme sağlandı. Ancak çok daha fazla iş kaldı. Ayrıca işçiler arasında anlaşmazlık var. Tasarımcı, işçilerin tembel ve vasıfsız olduğunu söylüyor. İşçiler ilk tasarımın “tutarsız” olduğunu söylüyor.

Evin önünde daha az sorun var. Bugün E iki çuha çiçeği dikti ve bir aster dikti. Öğleden sonra HEPAJ grubuyla ziyarete gitti. E çok hoşuna gitti, ama toplantı dışarıdaydı ve oldukça soğuktu. İyi haber şu ki, grubun tüm üyeleri aşı oluyor. Yakında içeride olabilecekler.

Cumartesi, 6 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,225 (+13) Yeni vakalar: 269

Bol güneş ve bol yağmurlu güzel bir bahar günü. E, başka bir ziyaret için Pepper’ı ele geçirdi. M, Büyük Proje’de çalıştı. Neyse ki bu proje ~~artık terk edildi~~ tamamlandı.

Diğer haber ise E’nin nergis zambağı çiçek açmış. E mutlu çünkü bu çiçek açtığı ikinci yıl.

Bu gece çok televizyon izledik. Önce 20 Dakika‘nın bir bölüm izledik. Bu dizide bir kadın cinayetle suçlanarak hapse giriyor. Oyuncu Tuba Büyüküstün’dır. Çarpık dişi olmasına rağmen biz onu çok seviyoruz. Onu başka bir dizide gördük–Kara Para Aşk. O dizide o da hapishanede masum bir kadındı. Bu oyuncu hapishanede çok zaman geçiriyor. Aslında bu yeni diziden nefret ediyoruz. Ama uzak kalamayız. Bu bizim kaderimiz.

Sonra 45 RPM’in ilk bölümü izledik. Bu dizi 1960’larda Madrid’de geçiyor. E okumak için ilk olarak 1968’de Madrid’e gitti. Dizinin o dönemi nasıl gösterdiğini görmek istiyor. Hikaye pop müzik hakkındadır. İlginç görünüyor.

Pazar, 7 Mart Oregon’daki ölümler: 2,225 (+13) Yeni vakalar: 269

Bahçedeki Eve için kötü haber. Bir hayvan, belki bir geyik, yeni çuha çiçeği bitkilerinden birini çekip çiçekleri yedi. E onu yere geri koydu. Sorun olmayacağını düşünüyor. Bahçenin nergis ve ormangülü bölümleri iyi gidiyor.

Şimdi nergis zamanı. Ormangülü çiçeği birkaç ay içinde gelecek.

March 1, 2021

Pandemic Diary — February 22 to 28

Monday, February 22 Deaths 2,155 (+0) New cases 324

E had a nap in the afternoon today, which meant that she stayed up kind of late, which meant that she checked her email at 10:00 p.m., which meant that she was able to schedule a COVID shot for Friday. Consequently, she has moderated her criticism of the state and local public health authorities. The lesson here, we suppose, is that taking a nap can yield health dividends.

Tuesday, February 23 Deaths 2.162 (+8) New cases 528

Planning for E’s birthday is proceeding. We are meeting Andrea in Salem on Saturday. We’ll pay a visit to the clock shop, walk along the river, and, hopefully, have a piece of cake.

Wednesday, February 24 Deaths 2,2194 (+32) New cases 437

Packed up again and headed off to Bend. Got a take-out dinner from Hola at the Old Mill: lomo saltado, portobello quesadilla.

Thursday, February 25 Deaths 2,2204 (+10) New cases 553

Cross-country skiing today, a four-mile loop at Swampy Lakes. Kind of crazy weather, low clouds alternating with bright sun. Lots of strong swirling wind, including a few gusts powerful enough to push a person around. At one point, M was standing on his skis, motionless, admiring the scene, when suddenly he a got a hefty push from behind and found himself on the way down the hill. Yikes.

Take-out dinner from Bethlyn’s Asian Fusion on Newport Avenue. Bibimbap and Thai green curry. Yum, great discovery.

This is at the parking area, but the blowing snow was with us almost all the time.

We had lunch during a moment of calm and had a visit from a gray jay looking for a handout. We still had a few crumbs, but not many.

Friday, February 26 Deaths 2,206 (+2) New cases 336

Up early so as to make it back to Corvallis in time for E’s vaccination appointment. Woke to heavy snow, which was a little worrisome, but once we got on the road conditions improved. Lots of snow in the passes, but little ice. Beautiful. Got home in plenty of time.

Highway 20 over Tombstone Pass was quiet and lovely.

So E got a shot of the Pfizer vaccine today and has an appointment in three weeks for another. She said the process was all very organized and moved fast, with lots of volunteers and a very upbeat atmosphere. She still finds it a little difficult to believe that it has finally happened.

Saturday, February 27 Deaths 2,208 (+2) New cases 465

Birthday! Birthday! Birthday! We met Andrea and her giant insect balloon at the Salem Clock Shop. After locking the insect in the car, we went into the shop and walked around listening to clocks chiming. They have hundreds of wonderful clocks, including dozens of grandfathers and scores of cuckoos, both new fangled and old. E picked out something more moderate.

When we were done clock shopping, we had a picnic lunch at the riverfront park and then walked over the slough into the Minto-Brown Natural Area. Then it was back into our cars for a short hop over to Gerry Frank’s Konditorei.

Eve started feeling a little icky later that night. Was it from yesterday’s vaccination? Or was it the Barney’s Blackout?

Sunday, February 28 Deaths 2,208 (+0) New cases 292

MORE BIRTHDAY!

A day after Eve’s birthday, her brother celebrated his. It was one of those birthdays ending in a zero, so the family had to do something a bit special. So there was a Zoom conference with more than a dozen attendees including one aunt and two siblings, various children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews plus cousins of all sorts. It was a chance to share stories and try to express our appreciation for his kindness and sterling character. Also shared were some wonderful old photos. Here is E’s contribution. Birthday boy is the one wearing the Hopalong Cassidy outfit. E, of course, has somehow managed to be placed in the center of things.