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.

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.

 

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.  

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. 

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.