Monday, May 17 Deaths 2,590 (+3) New cases 310
At the beginning of March, the rate at which people in Oregon tested positive for COVID was fairly low, about 3%. At the end of March, though, the rate started to creep up. It April it rose to more than 5% and this rate continued into the first week of May. It is interesting to see that in the middle of that period the daily death rate also began rising. So, first came a rise in the positive test rate and then, a little later, came the rise in deaths. If we look at the present time, we see that deaths are still a little high, but the positive test rate is falling. Hopefully that’s a good sign.
Today E had not one, not two, not three, but four visits to various medical facilities. That’s a first for her, a new personal best you might say. Or you might not. But all told, the news is good, so we are not complaining. And between appointments, E bought a new pair of shoes. We also thought about ice cream, but, alas, did not eat any. We had a good dinner though. Leftover boeuf bourguignon.
On 20 Minutes, Melek is definitely dead. Dead and buried. Sad.
Tuesday, May 18 Deaths 2,594 (+4) New cases 484
Just one medical appointment today for E. How dull. No challenge to that. After her infusion we went to the Vietnamese Baguette to get some sandwiches. We get the same sandwiches there every time, a number seven and a number ten. What a rut we’re in! And happy to be in it! We took the sandwiches to Avery Park and had our lunch at a picnic table near the rose garden. There weren’t many roses blooming. The roses there are in a sunny but exposed location, which may explain why our backyard roses are blooming sooner.
In the late afternoon E attended a meeting of the Lemon Meringue Pie Society. The full membership was in attendance. Over the past year the Society’s meeting schedule has been irregular due to the pandemic, so there was a lot to catch up on, especially pie eating.
On 20 Minutes, Melek is very much alive. It was all a trick! (Or maybe she is dead and these scenes of a living Melek are just dreams from which Ali will wake. It’s hard to be sure.) M has been pondering about the difference between an actor pretending to be a character who is sad and an actor pretending to be a character who is pretending to be sad. M may include a chapter about it in his next book, “Reality III.”
Wednesday, May 19 Deaths 2,601 (+7) New cases 394
We had some rain today, not much but very welcome. E had a fairly quiet day with no Zoom classes and only one medical appointment. She used this free time to prepare a rather complicated vegetarian meal involving sauerkraut, potatoes, tempeh, meatless sausage, and juniper berries. M worked outside for a little while, then spent much of the day reading an Ivan Doig novel. In the afternoon E did some sewing and M made refrigerator pickles.
In the evening we watched the last episodes of 20 Minutes. The ending was good. And of course the plot was not resolved until the final seven minutes of this 59-episode show. In both of these last two episodes things moved so fast that we didn’t have time to pay too much attention to the many, many details that made no sense whatever. And besides, there was no point in chasing plausibility at this point. That critter went extinct 50 episodes back. No, the main thing you want after watching a show like this is an ending that is emotionally satisfying. And they got that right. As usual, a couple of secondary good characters had to die. But the main characters survived, the younger lovers found each other, and the main villains all went down in very appropriate ways. The very last scene began at the graves of the two good characters who had died. Their graves were on a verdant hillside above a beautiful and secluded beach. Down on the beach Ali, Melek, and the kids were laughing and chasing each other around, with Melek and Duru both wearing two-piece(!) swimsuits. Where was this scene? A private island maybe? Or maybe it was heaven and it only happened after the whole family died? It was kind of ridiculous, but also…just right.
Thursday, May 20 Deaths 2,606 (+5) New cases 603
It’s the 420th day of pandemic record keeping. About a month ago the Oregon COVID fatality rate fell to its lowest point since July of last year. Since then, however, it has been rising again. Here’s the new chart.
Tertulia today in the morning sunshine at Coffee Culture. Construction has begun on J & R’s house addition. During preliminary excavations, workers accidentally severed an underground cable, leading to J & R being left without wireless internet. A repair person from the cable company has promised to come sometime today. To get that arranged, of course, was a major triumph. Nothing is ever easy when dealing with the cable company.
In the morning M did some work on the edging for Hummock #3, breaking off when it started to rain. E had her exercise class and then went for her infusion. During these infusion sessions, the staff at the center usually offer her a juice or some tea. Yesterday, she was disappointed to have been offered nothing. But today? Today she got an egg salad sandwich! Life is good.
We’re having H over for dinner tonight. E and H have long had the custom of taking each other out to dinner for their birthdays and H’s birthday is imminent. Since going out to eat is not so pleasant these days, we’re dining here and getting take-out from one of her favorite restaurants.
M has been transported back to his childhood by a passage in the novel he’s reading. There’s a long section that describes haying as it was done back in the 1930’s. One of the jobs at harvest time was to drive the team that pulled the horse-drawn scatter rake. M is much too young to have seen a horse-drawn hay rake in action, but on the farm where he lived when he was ten, there was a long obsolete example rusting away in one corner of the barnyard. It looked pretty much like the one in the photo below. M used to spend hours sitting on the comfortable iron seat, occasionally trying to work the rust-bound control lever. What exactly he was imagining all that time we do not know.
Friday, May 21 Deaths 2,613 (+7) New cases 504
A certain amount of living room rearranging went on today, after which we both napped. Thus refreshed, we proceeded to do some late afternoon anniversary present shopping at the jewelry store. Perked us right up. Apparently some kind of geegaw was purchased. For the next few days M’s job is to keep the package hidden and E’s job is to try and forget what’s in it so that she can be pleasantly surprised on Tuesday.
Saturday, May 22 Deaths 2,618 (+5) New cases 509
Something of an unusual Saturday. We started with a very light breakfast before E’s 9 AM infusion appointment. M did something in the yard while she was gone. But he didn’t stay out for long because when E returned she was carrying chocolate croissants so that we could have a real breakfast. Very sensible. A while later M went out the grocery store to buy some salmon and asparagus for supper. Normally Saturday is take-out day, but we just had a big Indian meal with H and we are planning to actually go out and eat in a restaurant on Tuesday. So. Let’s do something simple at home. E’s project for the day was to clean her car, inside and out. First she went to the car wash to use their vacuum and to rinse off the bark dust. Bark dust? Well, it seems that while she was parked at one of the many lots in the sprawling medical complex that her infusers call home, the bark mulch unit arrived to spread a new layer on all the flowerbeds. The bark mulch is applied via a giant air hose that spews tons of the stuff, some of which drifts off into the air and covers any vehicles who happen to be near. So that was one reason for the cleaning, and that part of the process was done at the car wash. Another issue, was that the interior hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned since last fall. E attacked that aspect here in the driveway in front of the garage. It was a long process and when it was done, the car looked beautiful. But it wouldn’t start. Deadsville. E scrubbed it so hard she killed it.
Or…it could have been more or less coincidental. The battery had already shown some signs that it was wearing out. Today turned out the be the first day of actual failure. Well. What to do? E was counting on having the car to get to tomorrow’s 9 AM appointment. Could we get it fixed today? Let’s see, it’s 5:30 now, how late is the parts store open? Till six? No, actually till 10:00. Okay then.
M removed the old battery, put it in the back of the truck, and went off to AutoZone to trade it for a new one. When M returned, we stopped for dinner, which was pretty good, and then M skipped dessert and went out to install the new battery. E offered to help and when her assistance was declined, she had some maple sugar candy instead.
Sunday, May 23 Deaths 2,622 (+4) New cases 334
After an early morning infusion in an mostly deserted medical facility, E did weekly chores at home and went card shopping. M went into the woods again–into the Coast Range where it rains a lot. Today, for example, it rained for fifteen minutes in Corvallis where E was, but it rained for about three hours where M was, just 35 miles west. M saw mostly just trees and got lost twice; all he really found was a old Ford log truck.
When M got back to town, his own truck was in a such a state that it required a visit to the car wash before it could return to the driveway. A little later on we had a Zoom meeting with E’s brothers. We discussed plans for the summer at the lake and were invited to drop in for ice cream any time. The suggestion was well-received.
On TV we watched episode 8 of Templanza, a Spanish series set in the Jerez wine country in the late 1800’s. More on that later. We also finished up Atlantic Crossing.