Meandering on the Way

Monday, November 16     Deaths   765 (+4)   Cases  57,646 (+781)

Grocery shopping, Yoga, revision of the instructional tech article. We’re still pondering the Thanksgiving question. We’re thinking now that eating together with the Andees is just too problematic. Might just meet briefly on the Tuesday before and give them a pie. 

Tuesday, November 17     Deaths   778 (+13)   Cases  58,570 (+935)

Quite a busy morning as we had to get ready for the cleaner, fit in a Zoom exercise class, make corrections to the latest diary posting, and pack a picnic lunch, all of this before 10:00. At ten, we drove out to North Albany to deliver a small birthday cake to the B’s and walk around to see how their greenhouse is coming. Then we went back to town and got shingles shots, for E it was her second, for M his first. Then we stopped at the post office before heading south on Peoria road, searching for the picturesquely named Snag Boat Bend Unit of the Finley National Wildlife Refuge. That’s a long name for a fairly small area, but it is lovely and not much frequented. We had only vague memories of the place and we were pleased to see how nice it was. It was a damp and breezy day with intermittent light rain and temperatures in the fifties.  We hiked along among the backwaters of the Willamette, past a picnic table at the halfway point and all the way to the blind at the end. On the way back we followed a flicker who flashed from tree to tree going our way for a minute or two and then disappeared. We saw some lovely tall slender trees, tops swaying in the wind. Poplars maybe?

Then we had lunch, not out in the wind and rain, but rather back in the car with the heater on. It was leftover Indian food. It was great! Once we got home we got down to the important business of taking naps and then had a cup of tea and studied Turkish for an hour. Then M made dinner while E did mysterious things on her computer. Later, there was an after dinner bon-bon for each of us and an hour or so of Winter Sun. As expected, there’s trouble. Efruz, the bright young doctor, has been fired for faking a death certificate in order to spring her long-lost dad from jail. He’s back in jail now and things look bad for both of them. Efe is jealous of Bora, the new guy in Nisan’s workplace and Nisan is jealous of Efruz, whom Efe seems awfully eager to comfort whenever she’s down. Plus, Seda knows that Nisan has not told Efe that evil Yakup, thought to have drowned, is actually still alive. Seda is plotting how best to use that little tidbit to make both Nisan and Efe as miserable as possible. And now for some vocabulary. First, Nisan means April in Turkish. We’re not sure what Seda means in Turkish, but we know it means silk in Spanish. The name Efe reminds us of the similar Turkish word Efes, which refers to Ephesus, a town on the west coat of Turkey, ancient home of the biblical Ephesians and modern site of some excellent Roman ruins. These days, Efes is also the name of a popular brand of Turkish beer. Good to know, eh? You betcha!

Wednesday, November18     Deaths   788 (+10)   Cases 59,669 (+1099)

Grim COVID news today with a relatively high level of both deaths per day and new cases per day. 

When analyzed by age groups, the statistics continue to show that the infection is much more dangerous for older people than for younger ones. Ninety percent of all deaths have been in the age group of sixty and above. (Eighty years and above: 50%. Sixty to seventy-nine: 40%. Zero to sixty: 10%) 

This does not mean that younger people in Oregon are not getting COVID. On the contrary. People under sixty account for eighty-four percent of all confirmed cases. But when they do get the disease, younger people are less likely to require hospitalization and much less likely to die. 

Thursday, November 19     Deaths   808 (+20)   Cases  60,873 (+1,204)

FaceTime tertulia this morning with J and R. They are both doing well. After discussions with their family, they have decided that the best way for them to celebrate Thanksgiving is to just stay home and not try to sit down with anyone else. Instead, they will be dish sharing with the family and then having remote contact via Zoom. We have been thinking along similar lines , though it will be a bit trickier for us since Andrea and Andy are two hours away. Still, it can be done. E will make a pie for them at least and we will deliver it on the Tuesday before the holiday, when we hope that traffic will be lighter. 

Yesterday E went to Coffee Culture and got us two very tasty sweet rolls. We had them for breakfast today just before our FaceTime tertulia. They were delicious. It reminded us of what we used to do when we could meet J and R in person at the café. After tertulia, M went outside to work in the yard and E had her Zoom exercise class. M raked leaves and did yet more lawn mowing–hopefully for the last time this season. E came out too, to plant her ornamental cabbage plants. It was a splendid fall day, not too cold with a mix of bright sun and light clouds. Just a drop or two of rain. It’s time to get the patio and garden ready for winter. Besides cutting back some dead and drooping stalks here and there, we also put away some hoses and put the cover on the big patio umbrella. 

In the afternoon E went to a HEPAJ meeting. It was held in P’s garage, which she has furnished with a big piece of carpet and strings of lights. Also, of course, the place was neat as a pin. How do people manage that? P had also made cookies, which everyone thought were delicious. She confessed that when she had first tasted them, fresh from the oven, she had found them to be a bit dry. Her remedy was to spread butter on them. Very sensible. 

After that, E still wasn’t done. She got back in time to do her Zoom based Laughter Yoga class. The class is going on right now, actually, as M is writing these notes. The class theme for this week is Australia. What’s so funny, you might ask, about Australia? We shall see.

Tonight’s dinner plan is for M to make Haloumi pita sandwiches. Haloumi is a cheese from Cyprus, where we lived for a couple of years. Cyprus is a bicultural island, part Greek speaking and part Turkish speaking. Haloumi is the Greek name; it’s Helim in Turkish. 

Friday, November 20     Deaths   812 (+4)   Cases  62,175 (+1,302)

Some time ago we sent out four audio cassettes and 1 VHS video to have them digitized. E downloaded the results yesterday and this morning we spent time figuring out how to play and store the results. The cassettes were from Eve and were recorded many years ago. In one of them we hear the voices of both Becca and Andrea. Andrea was mostly incomprehensible. That seems strange for someone who is so articulate now. Of course she was only about six months old at that time.

The video that we sent was from M. It was a compendium of stuff from when he lived in Yemen in the late eighties. Boy did we get a surprise when we went to play that. Instead of an hour and half of Yemen scenes, we got three minutes and forty-nine seconds of a group of twenty contestants rehearsing a group dance segment for a statewide beauty pageant–Miss Minnesota, to be exact. The year wasn’t clear, but appeared to be in the eighties or nineties. The dancers were all enthusiastic and energetic, but somehow M was still a little disappointed. 

After that excitement, we did some garden planning and research. E then called around to some local plant places, but no one had Pearly Everlasting. We ended up ordering seeds from Joyful Butterfly. Besides the Pearly, we went for some Common Milkweed. (Seeds seem pretty cheap at JB.) That done, we rested until lunch. In the afternoon we ran some errands and took an hour-long forest walk on the Calloway Creek Trail north of town. For transportation we took the Porsche, which had been sitting unused for many weeks. We’re going to have to put that car into storage for the winter, especially if we want our garage to be as lovely as the garage that Eve was invited to on Thursday.

The days are short now and by the time we had done a grocery stop and had a rest, the daylight hours were over. Dinner was what E calls the week in review, with a green salad for freshness. Friday is nobody’s night to cook, so we had to cooperate. With two of us hungry, preparation just zoomed along.

After dinner, we watched Turkish TV. (Akşam yemeği sonra Türk televizyonunu izledik.) Burak bought a diamond ring and proposed to Nadide. (Burak bir elmas yüzük aldı ve Nadide’ye evlenme teklif etti.) So they’re very happy. (Yani çok mutlular.) But a lot of people are miserable. (Ama birçok insan mutsuz.) Efe is mad about everything. (Efe her şeye kızıyor.) Kadim and Efruz feel terrible. (Kadim ve Efruz berbat hissediyorlar.) Everyone hates Nisan and now she has leukemia! (Herkes Nisan’dan nefret etiyorlar ve şimdi lösemisi var!) Only Bora is being kind to her. (Sadece Bora ona iyi davranıyor.)

Saturday, November 21     Deaths   819 (+7)   Cases  63,668 (+1,493)

This is the 240th day of the Pandemic Diary curve tracker database. We use the db to generate average death rates per each ten-day period. As can be seen below, the Oregon death rate is continuing a steep rise. There have been 77 deaths in Oregon in the last ten days, for a daily average of 7.7. This has required a change to the scale of the PD chart. On previous charts the vertical scale went from zero to six. On the new chart it goes up to eight.

Our chart maker well remembers the early days, when thirty deaths in ten days seemed like a lot and when the drop down to one death per day at the end of May seemed like a such a hopeful sign. It seemed possible that the pandemic might soon end. Well…that didn’t happen.

Sunday, November 22     Deaths   820 (+1)   Cases  66,170 (+1,502)

So, this person goes into a store and asks ”Are there any eggs?” (Yumurta var mı?) and the person behind the counter answers “Nope, no eggs.” (Hayır, yumurta yok.) Hilarious, right? 

On Winter Sun, Nisan’s leukemia was not responding as well as the doctors had hoped, so she needed to be hospitalized. On her way to check in, however, she got kidnapped. The thugs took her into the woods and locked her into the back room of a charming little hunting lodge. She escaped by breaking a window shutter, but now she’s lost in the forest and the thugs are tracking her with a pair of bloodhounds. They will almost certainly recapture her, because how else could the head bad guy call Efe and make his demands? We shall see. 

Monday, November 9  Deaths   734 (+4)   Cases  51,155 (+707)

We did grocery shopping today. M went to Market of Choice and Eve to the Co-op. We know that some of the items that we buy in both these places are available elsewhere for quite a bit less, but we just don’t feel like chasing around town. Partly this is laziness; partly it is caution.

Partly cloudy today and quite cold, thirties in the morning and forties in the afternoon. M did a little yard work today despite the conditions. E did Zoom yoga and worked on her photo project. She has been planning with Andrea about how to get together on Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 10     Deaths  737 (+3)   Cases  52,770 (+754)

Still cleaning up the garage, M made trips to Bottle Drop and Goodwill and then did some raking and lawn mowing. Lawn mowing at this time of year? Bah! E did a dog walk with a friend and had Laughter Yoga in the afternoon. Her photo project is done–500 photos sent off for scanning, six or eight albums emptied. M made stew for dinner and E had a Zoom meeting with what we call the knitting group, a bunch of old friends from work.

After that, we watched another episode and a half of Kış Günesi. Sadly, Efe is now divorced from Nisan and married to Seda. But wait, you might say, how can he get divorced from Nisan if he was never married to her? And is he really married to Seda if he married her under an assumed name? Bilmiyoruz. Farketmez. (We don’t know. Never mind.) Whatever the legal tangle, the emotional tangle is worse. 

Wednesday, November 11    Deaths   742 (+5)   Cases  47,839 (+861)

Tis the 230th day of record keeping here at PD, time for a new chart. The death rate in Oregon has climbed again, up to an average of of 5.1 deaths per day over the last ten days. The latest deaths bring Oregon’s overall death rate to 17.25 per 100,000. The rate for the U.S. as a whole is now 73.26. 

Meanwhile, it is M’s turn to cook today, but he’s not really cooking. He’s getting a pizza and making a salad. (O gerçekten pişirmiyor. Pizza getiriyor ve salata yapıyor.) 

After a long internal debate, E decided to risk her life today by visiting the seamstress. The workshop is a vast, high-ceilinged room in an old bank building downtown and generally there is only one customer in the place at one time. Plus, if you don’t stop to talk too much, a visit can be quite brief. So that’s all good. But it’s also true that, for whatever reason, appointments don’t always go off like clockwork, shall we say. So E had to deal with a bit of overlap with a mom, dad and two children who were there unexpectedly. But the seamstress shooed them away fairly quickly. After the appointment E went to reward herself with a coffee from Tried and True just down the street and on her way came across a young man talking on a cell phone saying “Yes, I’m waiting for you.” Only he didn’t actually say those words but said instead “Evet, seni bekliyorum.” He said it twice and Eve understood it both times. She was excited.

Thursday, November 12     Deaths   746 (+4)   Cases  53,879 (+1,109)

Zoom terutulia today with J and R. Later, E took her friend’s dog Pepper to the vet, a major operation as Pepper lives way out in the country on the opposite side of town from the vet’s. As anyone could see from the energy Pepper exhibited running around our back yard today, the dog is not seriously ill; he just needed some shots. 

Eve’s turn to cook today. She’s making minestrone soup. (Sebzeli italyan çorbası yapıyor.) Delicious.

Last night we watched episode 30 of Kış Gunesi. The situation is grim. Efe and Nissan are both having personal crises related to what they are finding out about their families’ pasts, but they are estranged due to the Seda problem and thus each must face it alone.

Friday, November 13     Deaths   753 (+7)   Cases  54,937 (+1,058)

M worked today on some old work stuff. Long ago, he co-wrote an article about what language program administrators need to know about educational technology. It was published as part of a handbook used for administrator training. A few years ago, the handbook was revised and the article had to be updated. Now, there is the possibility of yet another edition of the handbook and once again the editors have requested an updated version. So there he was this morning, slaving away, thinking about things that he hasn’t thought about in a while. 

In the middle of the day, we went for a visit to the wildlife refuge to see the swans that J and R had told us about at tertulia on Thursday. First we took a rainy stroll on a boardwalk through a wetland ash forest. 

We finished our walk just as the rain eased off and then, while driving farther into the refuge, we came across a herd of about 40 elk, who were happily munching on new grass that often pops out in these parts when the fall rains come. Finally we went off to see the swans. They did not disappoint. 

The temperatures are no lower than they’ve been recently, but the dampness got to us and we felt chilly for most of the afternoon. For dinner we had thoroughly heated leftover stew, which helped. 

Another odd tweet from the President today. In the first sentence he boasted of his administration’s unprecedented success in ensuring that U.S. elections were unriggable and in the next sentence asserted that the most recent U.S. election was rigged. In other news, he has also asserted that the voting results that we now have show show him losing by just the “thinnest of margins.” He did not mention that in the electoral college his losing margin in 2020 was exactly the same as his winning margin in 2016, which he described at that time as “the biggest landslide in history.”

Saturday, November 14     Deaths   759 (+6)   Cases  47,839 (+790)

The COVID situation is worsening in many parts of the country and Oregon is no exception. OHA has reported more than 10,000 new cases per day for three straight days. Test positive rates have averaged more than 10% for the last fourteen days and daily death rates have climbed to near record levels. Governor Brown has announced a two-week freeze to begin next Wednesday. During the freeze restaurants and bars will be limited to take-out service, all indoor recreational and cultural facilities will be closed, church services will be limited to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors and the prohibition of indoor visits to long-term care facilities will be re-instated.

Up until this week, we had no personal connection to anyone who had the virus. But now one friend has reported that her daughter and granddaughter have both tested positive. Another friend reports that one of her granddaughters is also affected. 

Our activities today included Eve going out to the country to walk Pepper and Michael collecting leaves from the front lawn and taking them around back to mulch things. Dinner was take-out from an Indian restaurant, not exactly a low calorie meal, but pretty tasty. After dinner we watched TV, another hour or so of our Turkish soap. Big doings there, as Efe/Mete finally revealed to everyone that he is really Efe and that his twin brother Mete was the one who was murdered. Efe’s adoptive mother–the saintly Fatma–is ecstatic; his birth mother, Leyla, is devastated. Leyla has lost her husband (one of the guilty parties) and is also terribly hurt by Efe’s deception. And Seda, who was pregnant with Mete’s child, got so upset that she had a sad but convenient miscarriage. Efe is miserable too. He has succeeded in finding out who killed his father 20 years ago and his brother just recently and it seems that the guilty parties have been punished. But he now sees that this success has come at great cost and he just wishes that none of it had every happened. He just wants everything to get back to normal. We know, however, that this is only episode 34 of 50. There’s not going to be much time for regretting or for normal anything because his troubles aren’t even close to being over.

Sunday, November 15     Deaths   761 (+2)   Cases  56,880 (+862)

Andrea came by in the afternoon today. In the morning, E made an applesauce cake for the occasion. When Andrea arrived the three of us first did an exercise walk around the neighborhood and then we sat down with our cake and tea out on the patio. The rain held off for most of the day and temperature was in the mid 50’s, so being outside was not so bad. We talked about what to do about Thanksgiving. The tentative plan is for us to go up there and have a meal on their back patio, but that’s not ideal, especially if it is stormy. We’ve also thought about doing a meal in our garage, with doors arranged to give lots of ventilation. It’s all plausible, but is it worth the stress factor? Should we just all eat in our own homes and make a Zoom connection instead? Don’t know.

Monday, 11/ 2/20     Deaths   692 (+1)   Cases  45,976 (+549)

Shopping day, M going to one store, E to another. We had fairly short lists today; a lot of edibles were already on the premises. What shall we do with all that Halloween candy? 

M tore down the old cooktop, separating the metal parts from the nonmetal ones. Lots of metal in those old appliances. Simple construction too, easy to take apart with just a screwdriver or two. You get to see how it was made, which is fun. Then you haul the metal off to the recycling center. Just half a grocery bag of non-metal pieces left over for the landfill. 

Bright sunny day. Warm enough to be outside and have coffee with a friend. Met R at 2:30 at Coffee Culture. No free tables on the terrace when we arrived because everyone had the same idea. And then…just when our order was ready, a couple of guys got up and walked away. Had a nice talk remembering our adventures in various foreign parts. R had a new Dodgers hat, celebrating a World Series victory by his favorite team.

We’ve settled on one hour a week for this month’s Turkish lessons, starting Wednesday. Harika!

Tuesday, November 3     Deaths   701 (+9)   Cases  46,460 (+482)

Here we are finally at election day. A scary moment. All kinds of optimism among those hoping to get rid of Trump. Living in a dream world. Why do we have so much faith in polls when we know for sure that polls don’t work, a lesson learned just four years ago? Humans are strange. 

At 8:45 p.m. Pacific Time Biden is leading in the electoral college race 192-114. But all the decider states are leaning red. What would it be like to be in a state where your vote really mattered? Maybe not so good, considering who half your neighbors would be. I read a thing that suggested that most voters are casual voters. They mostly vote party lines and don’t pay a lot attention to the issues, especially if they are complicated. They feel no need or desire to dig out the truth behind the slogans. They don’t much care because the government is mostly not real. The government never actually helps you, they just take your money and tell you all kinds of things that you’re not allowed to do. No wonder people instantly respond to the idea that making the government smaller will make a lot of problems just go away. 

It was another busy day for E and M. E went over to the optician and ordered herself some new glasses, something she’d been meaning to do for a long time. She also got some fabric for our custom made storage rack, which will consist–if we get it finished–of a cloth-covered wooden frame with two shelves. After lunch she went over to H’s house for a visit, walking part of the way there and all the way home. M stayed home working on cleanup and organization of the garage and shed environments. He broke up some stuff, again separating metal from other materials. The metal pieces are now stowed in the back of the car waiting another run to recycling. He then started installing hooks and holders in the shed so as to bring forth order from chaos. Busy hands are happy hands.

At 10:15 it’s Biden 215 to 171, with Trump closing fast, having just won Florida. At 10:30 it’s Biden 219 to 209.

Wednesday, November 4     Deaths   705 (+4)   Cases  47,049 (+589)

We had the first of our new Turkish lessons today and had a great time. We learned how to say “seventy million idiot voters” (seçmenlerin yetmiş milyonu aptal)  and “We want a new country.” After that, to pass the time while waiting on election results, E researched native plants and wrapped a package. M worked on the garden shed (bahçe kulübesi), installing the last of the wall hooks and then giving the place a good sweeping. For lunch we went for a short walk and picnic up in the forest, stopping off at the recycling center on the way. After that we had some Türk Kahvesi and worked on a couple of other projects. 

By 4:00 p.m. both PBS and Fox have Biden up 264 to 214, with four states still in play–Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.  

One of M’s projects involved wandering through different times and different places. Somewhere or other he ran into this cowgirl. Quite a looker.

Thursday, November 5     Deaths   710 (+5)   Cases  47,839 (+790)

M went in for dental surgery today, part of the implant process. All is going well. Post-op instructions require a diet of (and we quote) “ice cream, pudding, yogurt, milkshakes and cold drinks.” Dutiful patient that he is, M jumped on that train immediately. Another appointment in two weeks, then on to the business of getting the crown. Nine months or so from start to finish. 

Later on M opened up his new iMac up and got it running. Somewhere along the line it had been stored in a place with water on the floor. The bottom two or three inches of both the outer and inner boxes were permeated, the outer one being a little drier. Because of the way it was packed, the dampness never reached any part of the computer. Still, it was disconcerting.

The electoral vote count is unchanged. Sigh. Surely something will happen tomorrow?

Friday, November 6     Deaths   716 (+6)   Cases  48,608 (+769)

Lots of seasonal garden work today–M was raking leaves and E was planting bulbs and seeds that need to winter over. M is mulching the new meadow area in the back with leaves from the neighbor’s tree in the front. It’s a big tree and it’s upwind from our yard. It should provide all the leaves we need before it’s done. M keeps on working despite being forced to survive on a diet of ice cream, chocolate pudding and liquids. Enough is enough, though, and he is planning to eat the food he is cooking for dinner tonight: samosas, sag paneer, and leftover purple cauliflower. 

The election seems to have gone to Biden, but the interminable wait for a final count goes on and on. Meanwhile virus case numbers are rising steeply all over the country, including in Oregon.

Saturday, November 7     Deaths   729 (+13)   Cases  49,587 (+979)

The AP called Pennsylvania for Biden at a little after 9:00 this morning, which put him past the 270 electoral votes that are needed to win the presidential election. E and M heard about this almost as soon as it happened by means of an email from a friend in Chile. Lots of people are celebrating; there is even a certain amount of smiling here at the house on Oak Avenue.

Part of the festivities included a Japanese take-out dinner from Sada. E had vegetable tempura and grilled salmon. M had curry katsu, which he loves, partly because he considers it one of the most ridiculous dishes he has ever run across. For TV, we watched two episodes of Winter Sun (Kış Gunesi). Not much politics there. Who has time? Someone is trying to have Kadim killed while he is in prison, but Kadim is very hard to kill. His long lost wife Farise has finally stirred from her coma. She can’t move but is able to speak, at least enough to tell Efruz about the key to Reşat’s safe deposit box, which contains information that may help Kadim get out of prision. Reşat, a dirty cop who for many years took orders from criminal mastermind Yakup, is dead, having been killed by another of Yakup’s henchmen because he knew too much. Efe and Nisan now have the key and are trying to figure out how to access the box. But Efe has been busy dealing with Seda, who is pregnant with Mete’s child, but who has become Efe’s problem because Mete is actually dead. Efe and Mete are twins and Efe has taken Mete’s place because he thinks that’s the only way to find out who is actually behind all the killing and gun running. (Only E, M, and 300 million other viewers worldwide know that the real bad guy is Yakup, who also happens to be Nisan’s father. And of course Nisan and Efe are becoming friends, so, you know, possible trouble ahead there.)  Anyway, Efe (as Mete) has just promised to divorce Nisan and marry Seda because Seda convinced him that otherwise she’s getting an abortion. Both Efe and Nisan want the baby to be born because it is all that is left of Mete, their childhood friend, who was also Nisan’s husband although they never really clicked. She knows he’s dead and has agreed to help Efe unravel it all, but nobody else knows that except for Kadim and Efe’s best friend Burat. But the point of it all is that Efe and Nisan are living together as husband and wife even though they totally aren’t. Of course they’re not sleeping together or even kissing, but boy are they starting to think about it. 

Sunday, November 8     Deaths   730 (+1)   Cases  50,448 (+861)

We did grocery shopping today. M went to Market of Choice and Eve to the Co-op. We know that some of the items that we buy in both these places are available elsewhere for quite a bit less, but we just don’t feel like chasing around town. Some of this is laziness; some of it is caution.

Partly cloudy today and quite cold, thirties in the morning and forties in the afternoon. M will do a little yard work today despite the conditions. E will do Zoom yoga and work on her photo project. She has been planning with Andrea about how to celebrate Thanksgiving. Possibly, we will be having a meal on their back patio. 

A couple of things about the election come to mind. One is that the margin of victory was much smaller than any of the polls predicted. That makes two elections in a row wherein pollsters seriously underestimated Trump’s appeal. Will poll makers learn from making the same mistake twice in a row? Probably not. Will we all pay really close attention to the polls next time anyway? Oh yeah. There are some arguments against having polls at all. Some countries have laws that prohibit release of polling data in the weeks immediately preceding an election. Which reminds us that 22 countries worldwide, including Australia, have laws that require all citizens to vote. There’s a thought.

Beyond election technicalities, however, there is a larger issue. How do we come to terms with the fact that more than sixty million people would vote for a candidate like Trump? We want to find an underlying cause. Maybe it’s something that could be fixed. But–people being what they are–that probably won’t happen. And you know what they say: You can choose your friends and these days you can even choose your gender, but you can’t choose your species. 

Monday, October 26     Deaths   655 (+2)   Cases  42,436 (+335)

Erken kalktık (We got up early) so as to have a time for a little more study before Turkish class. Class went pretty well. Çarşamba ekimdeki son dersimiz. (Wednesday is our last class in October.) We need to decide in the next day or two whether to continue for another month. We’re conflicted. 

Tuesday, October 27     Deaths   664 (+9)   Cases  42,808 (+372)

Wednesday, October 28     Deaths   671 (+7)   Cases  43,228 (+420)

Beautiful weather this week, very cold nights and mornings but warm afternoons. We decided to seize the day and change tertulia from the breakfast hour to happy hour. J and R brought pastries and we supplied tea and a bottle of Bordeaux on our patio. Nice. 

We had our last Turkish lesson of the month today and talked to the teacher about continuing. We’d like to continue but three hours per week is too much for us. So we’re thinking of maybe changing to just one hour a week if the school can work that out. Today we learned how to say Kendine iyi bak–Take good care of yourself–a useful notion for these times.

Thursday, October 29     Deaths   673 (+2)   Cases  43,793 (+565)

M went for a drive today, taking Highway 22 from Stayton to Santiam Junction. That stretch includes the towns of Mill City, Gates and Detroit Lake, which were all in the path of the Beachie Creek fire. (Video news report here, including an account of how it felt to be evacuating with burning trees on both sides of the road.) Here are some scenes from that area today. This is the town of Detroit Lake.

The fire spread very fast in the 40-50 mph wind. This fire truck was caught in it, perhaps while the crew was trying save this building. The left side of the truck looks fine; the right side, not so much. The sideways lean comes from the fact that the tires on the right side are gone while those on the driver’s side are intact. M felt a little ghoulish taking pictures of all this misfortune. Not that there weren’t plenty of other people there doing the same thing…

About 45 minutes after leaving Detroit Lake, M found somehow found himself 50 miles further east waiting in line outside the Sisters Bakery. So he pretty much had to go in and get something. Fifteen minutes later, he made these notes:

Sisters, Oregon 1:20 P.M.  Chocolate donut? Check. Fritter for tomorrow? Check. Half cup of caffeinated coffee? Check. Full tank of premium gas? Check. Is the Mackenzie Pass highway around here somewhere? Oh yeah.

The last time M went over MacKenzie pass he was in the Jaguar. That car handled the road competently, but it was really too big for the tight, narrow curves. On the other hand, there were no bicyclists on the road that day. This day there were just enough cyclists to make M very cautious. You have to just assume someone’s going to be there every time you go around a blind curve–and all the curves are blind to some degree or other. Doesn’t mean you can’t go a little fast, but you’re constantly recalculating based on angles of vision.

When an exhausted M got home, he found E in the living room doing yet another Zoom class. 

Friday, October 30     Deaths   675 (+2)   Cases  44,349 (+556)

There have been over 1,100 new COVID cases reported over the last two days. The Oregon Department of Education has announced new metrics for school re-openings. Some districts will be able meet standards now, but many more have a long way to go. 

Saturday, October 31     Deaths   689 (+14)   Cases  44,932 (+583)

Fourteen COVID deaths reported today, a new daily record. The youngest victim was 66. All had underlying conditions. 

We did a number of errands today, some of which involved going downtown. The weather was nice and lots of people were out and about. Everyone was masked, but with so many people on the sidewalks, we didn’t feel all that comfortable, even outside. Paranoid maybe, but there it is. We did not linger. 

We learned that the Habitat for Humanity store has reopened on a limited basis and is accepting donations. We have a couple of largish items that we have been saving for them. Donations are accepted by appointment. E made us one for Thursday.

Sunday, November 1     Deaths   691 (+2)   Cases  45,429 (+497) 

This is the 220th day of the Pandemic Diary database. During the last ten days, the daily COVID death rate average was 4.5 per day. This is slightly lower that the previous period, a welcome change after forty straight days of steadily increasing rates.

It got down to 28 degrees last night, but today is sunny and warm. Nov. 1 is the first day of our annual respite from the horror that is Daylight Saving Time. Must enjoy it while we can. M is doing DIY today: mini towel bar in the kitchen, light fixtures for illuminating the new pantry cupboard in the garage, building a lightweight storage rack to go on top of new pantry cupboard. Still to come is the installation of the solar powered light for the interior of the equipment shed plus the assembly and testing of the new cordless pruning gizmo. Project mania. It will pass.

E is doing good again today by taking care of dog Pepper for a few hours while new furniture is being delivered at his owner’s house. The dog is very active, always nervous. E is tired.

Monday, October 19     Deaths   628  (+8)   Cases  39,794 (+262)

A couple of short walks, just around the neighborhood. E had Better Bones and Balance via Zoom while M did a final run-through of his Chile talk. Then we did an hour of Turkish study , preparing for our next lesson, which will be on Wednesday since the regular Monday class has been changed to Thursday. E also did a last run-through for Chile; then she switched gears and practiced using the LearnCube white board for Turkish. But that was after she went to Bi-Mart for misc. goods and Halloween candy. E made another simple and healthy dinner. Then we settled in to watch the last episode of Season 2 of The Gift. It was very disappointing. The show has many virtues, but without a good season-ender we don’t feel that it has been a good investment of our time and attention. Will we ever watch Season 3? Well…it’s not impossible.

It was a cool and partly cloudy day with a beautiful sunset. Probably should be spending more time outside instead of doing all this digital interaction. 

Tuesday, October 20     Deaths  633  (+6)   Cases  40,136 (+242)

The Chile webinar, long awaited and much feared, has now come and gone. It went okay. M forgot to tell the young teachers to be that they’re going to have to love their students, but that might have been a little too mushy anyway. It’s a great relief to have it over with.

We celebrated with a take-out dinner from Tacovore, complete with a large glass of their incomparable lime juice, which we knew how to turn into a couple of margaritas. 

Wednesday, October 21     Deaths   635 (+2)   Cases  40,443 (+307)

In Turkish class today we learned how to say on the left/right side of something (street, page, river, etc.) You start with the thing you’re talking about, such as street. Then you make that word possessive by adding the proper possessive ending (in,nin,ın or nın). Then you add sağ (right) or sol (left) followed by the correct genetive ending (i/si/ı/sı). Then you add the locative suffix “da” but when you do that you have to remember to use the “n” spacer. Oh, and don’t forget that when you add the possessive ending to a word ending in “k”, such as “sokak” (street) the “k” changes to a silent ğ. So there you have it, sokağnın sağında, on the right side of the street. Wasn’t that easy? No. But is it logical? Yeah, it pretty much is. 

After class, we were off to the nursery to buy some trees and poppy seeds. We’ve been considering what to get for a long time. We are committed now to making our yard more of a native environment for birds, caterpillars and whatever, so we needed native plants. Garland has a good selection of natives, all in one place. Nice. For trees we ended up choosing a cascara and a vine maple. Then it was time for lunch, after which E went off on more garden related business, picking up some bulbs and seeds at the fall plant sale connected to the Tribal Native Plant Program of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. M headed out to the back yard to begin the process of converting a portion of our back lawn to some sort of prairie. 

In the evening we watched a couple of episodes of Winter Sun (Kış Günesi) a Turkish series we watched once before long ago. We’re trying to see if we catch more Turkish this time. So far, M has understood mostly just the old standbys: I love you, calm down, etc. But E is understanding a number of bits and pieces, including Trust me, which another basic staple of Turkish dramatic dialog.

Thursday, October 22     Deaths   646 (+11)   Cases  40,810 (+367)

Nice talk with J and R today. We had to do a Zoom tertulia this time since the temperature in the morning was too far down the scale to allow having coffee and scones outside. This time the menu was oatmeal for J and R, waffles with blueberries for M and E. We had to cut tertulia a little short so as to be ready for Turkish at 9:00. A kind of review and catch up lesson today. We went over the endings for present/present continuous verbs. It’s a bit like Spanish, in that the person is shown by a verb ending and you don’t actually need a pronoun. For example, in English we have a series of three-word sentences: I am happy, you are happy, she is happy, we are happy, you(all) are happy, and they are happy. Spanish does it with a series of two-word sentences: estoy contento, estas contento, esta contenta, estamos contentos, estais contentos, estan contentos. Turkish does it with a series of one-word sentences: mutluyum, mutlusun, mutlu, mutluyuz, mutlusunuz, mutlular. More importantly, we learned that the word for hot (sıcak), when it is used to describe a person, indicates that the person is warm-hearted, not that they are that other thing. 

After Turkish, it was time for rest, recovery and lunch. Then E had to get ready for her HEPAJ meeting at H’s house, from which she had to hurry home to do laughter Yoga. M dug in the dirt and planted trees.

On this the 210th day of PD recording keeping, the Oregon COVID news is not so good. In the most recent 10-day period, we had an average of almost five deaths per day, continuing the upward trend of the last 30 days and coming close to the peaks we had in August and early September. Here’s the updated chart.

Friday, October 23     Deaths   649 (+3)   Cases  41,348 (+538)

Did an outing today with B and B up to Mary’s Peak, up to the top where one of the B’s had never been. Drove in separate cars up to the parking lot, then hiked together up to the summit. Mostly sunny when we arrived with great views in all directions. Cold wind, though, and we all bundled up. It got considerably cloudier as we walked back down to the cars. To get out of the wind, we drove down to the campground to have lunch. Delicious! B–the one who does most of the cooking–had made chocolate chip cookies. Super, as the Turks say, (although when they say it, they stress the second syllable, so it sounds like zoo-PEAR). E brought a thermos of hot tea, which was extremely welcome. M brought a flask with just enough Aberfeldy for everyone to have a mini-shot. Also welcome. When we got back to town the temperature was up in the mid 50’s and our coats were way too warm.

E talked to her old friend L. in Vanautu in the afternoon, a FaceTime call out of the blue. L left upstate New York many moons ago and went to live with husband T in a tropical paradise. We visited them in the late nineties to see it for ourselves. Some years later L came to Turkey while we were there and we traveled around Ephesus together. E and L hadn’t been in touch for the last few years, so it was wonderful for them to catch up.

The last little while has been crazy full of international contact. Besides Vanuatu, we had Zoom Turkish lessons from Germany, Zoom webinar presentations to Chile and the Skype call with Margie in Spain. It makes M’s head spin.

Saturday, October 24     Deaths   653 (+4)   Cases  41,739 (+391)

Eve did her usual heroic Saturday duties. First she walked over to the Patissier for croissants. She says that the guy with the oxygen canister on his belt was there again, serving as an example to us all. Let not a mere breathing problem keep you from croissants. She then went out to do a dog walk for her friend but found the dog cowering indoors because of some shooting going on out there in the country. She decided to bring Pepper back to our place in town and let him run around the back yard for a while. That worked fine; Pepper pretty much stayed in constant motion till it was time to take him home. M, meanwhile, was still digging in the dirt, preparing an area of lawn to become a ‘meadow’ next spring. The dog made a contribution. 

Dinner was take-out from Ba’s Vietnamese Comfort Rood in Albany. We had to take the Porsche to pick it up because the Mazda was ailing. E got the vegan curry, M the beef pho. We both got the large size portions, which we carefully halved as soon as we got home, one half to eat and one to save for another day. 

After dinner we had a FaceTime call with Andi and Andy. Andy is settling into his new job working for the Post Office. He has to work tomorrow, as the USPS does package work for Amazon on Sundays. Andrea is starting a new job with Banfield next week, one that she expects will be more challenging and more interesting than what she has been doing.

Sunday, October 25     Deaths   653(+0)   Cases  41,101 (+362)

Zoom meeting with the siblings today, E from Corvallis, Jim from Clifton Park, and John from the new cottage at the lake. Jim reported that he has not been getting messages on his phone as it is locked outside in his car. Joanne can still answer a landline however, so that’s how the meeting organizer was finally able to contact him. Jim still has his old Corvette and they’ve been out in it quite recently. Good for them. John moved his camera to show us his canine friend, Mabel, who is currently keeping him company up at the lake. Mabel is a Puerto Rican immigrant, a refugee from Hurricane Maria. E showed a picture that she had come across while perusing old albums. It was of one of their great grandfathers on their mother’s side, one Luther Ochampaugh, a Vermonter worked with his brother as a cheesemaker. 

After the meeting E and M put the jumper cables on the Mazda and got it going again. Once it started up, we noticed that the gas gauge read empty, which seemed absurd, but there it was.  M put in half a gallon and we headed off to the gas station. After half a block, the gauge jumped up to one eighth full. Good news. After three blocks it jumped to more than a quarter full. By the time we got to the station it had settled in at about three fourths full. Very peculiar.

After lunch we got outside for a bit and then, when we were nice and tired, our Turkish teacher sent us the homework for tomorrow. Dragged ourselves through that. We’ve learned that preparation pays. 

Dinner was roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad. Lezzetli! (Delicious!) Daha sonra iki televizyon programı izledik. (Later two television programs we watched.) One was an episode of Kış Güneşi and the other was Part 4 of Flesh and Blood on PBS. We’ve now watched all four parts of the latter. It’s not terrible, but that’s as far as we’ll go.

Monday, October 12     Deaths   599  (+0)   Cases  37,467 (+218)

Having seen a near record high number of deaths reported last Thursday, we now get a second straight day of zero deaths. That helps some, but the trend is again upward. Here’s an updated chart on this the 200th day of the Pandemic Diary database. 

Tuesday, October 13     Deaths   605  (+6)   Cases  37,770  (+259)

Last night we watched more of The Gift, a Netflix series filmed in Turkey by a Turkish production company. It’s very good. There are lots of beautiful location scenes, both in the city and out in the Anatolian steppes. Much of the action in Episode 4 took place on Mount Nemrut, a site in southeastern Turkey where lie the ruins of the tomb-sanctuary of King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. In Episode 3 Atiye dodged one bullet by bailing out of her wedding just in time. She’d been conflicted already, and when she learned that her mother had lied to her about nearly everything, that did it and she was out of there. But she cannot dodge her destiny. By the end of Episode 4 we understand that the mantle has been passed. Her sister Cansu, meanwhile, has broken out of the friend zone…but now feels terrible.

This morning E had an exercise class and doctor’s appointment; M did some grocery shopping. Weather wet and blustery. Turkish homework in the afternoon. 

Wednesday, October 14     Deaths   608  (+3)   Cases  38,160 (+380)

Turkish lesson this morning. We learned how to say “Shopping to do going am I” which is of course  “Alışveriş yapmaya gidiyorum.” That means we should also be able to say “Shopping to do went I” (Alışveriş yapmaya gittim.) So the next time M or E goes shopping at the Co-op, we should be able to report the fact in Turkish–provided that we remember any of this beyond the next few hours.

With all this attention toTurkey, we have been thinking a lot about our good friend Neşe, who unfortunately passed away about two years ago. Eve met her when both were working at the Turkish American Association in Ankara. After we left Turkey, Neşe came to visit us in Oregon. It was blackberry season when she was here and our neighbor Rich invited us to come picking at a place just south of town. Rich, who has also since passed away, was a former professional football player. Here’s a picture of the two of them. Presumably, Rich picked the high-up berries while Neşe got the ones lower down…

We also visited Neşe after she had moved from Ankara to the Mediterranean coastal city of Alanya, where she worked with a Georgetown study abroad program. Here’s one of our favorite photos from that time.

Thursday, October 15     Deaths   611  (+3)   Cases  38,525 (+365)

Tertulia at Bohdi’s once again. Although the sky was clear and the sun was bright, and it was a little chilly at 8:30 in the morning. You have to dress for it. At the other end of the day, we had dinner and wine with J and B (or was it B and J? We forget.) Anyway, that was also very nice. They have a large front porch that was designed–along with the rest of house–by B himself. It’s just right for this pandemicky sort of entertaining. Even if it had rained we would have been cozy. 

Friday, October 16     Deaths   617  (+6)   Cases  38,935 (+410)

Worked on Zoom skills in the morning. At lunchtime we went hiking once again in Mcdonald Forest. Several miles, so not just a walk. Had a visit from R. who came over by bicycle around 4:00. He’s looking well. Our friend P. also came over around 5:00. Weather was fine and we entertained both the guests on the back patio. Nice. Had some olive and cheese sandwiches with P and then later on dined on leftover chili. We got some carrot cake cupcakes from Trader Joe’s in honor of P’s birthday. Hm. Probably won’t do that again.

Saturday, October 17     Deaths   620  (+3)   Cases  39,316 (+381)

Spent most of the day prepping for seminar coming up next Tuesday. Ridiculous behavior. Splurged on take-out dinners from Sybaris. M liked his entree; E was disappointed by her pumpkin stuffed ravioli. We shared a Boston cream pie for dessert. Neither of us was disappointed by that. We were thinking that while we do miss going out to restaurants, having restaurant food at home also has its points. You can say whatever you want or laugh as load as you want anytime; plus the wine is a lot cheaper.

After dinner we watched more of The Gift.

Sunday, October 18     Deaths   620  (+0)   Cases  39,532 (+216)

The Patissier was closed but E fetched breakfast for us anyway on her morning walk–a chocolate donut for M, a cherry danish for herself. Then more Zoom practice. Then E had a Skype visit with her friend M in Madrid. M reports that the virus continues to be a serious problem in Spain. She says that most people wear masks while walking down the street, but then they go into crowded bars to meet their friends and of course everyone removes their masks to drink and talk. Sigh. M has two granddaughters, one seven and one three (?). She wants to teach them some English while they’re young. She’s having some success with the older one but less with the younger. The little one has been known to say (in a three-year-old’s Spanish) “I want to sit with grandma now, but not for studying English.”

M meanwhile was opening up our newish furnace to check the filter. Sure enough, the weeks of smoke and ash from the fires has left it sorely in need of replacement. The filter size turns out to be not a common one, so he had to order online. Once he started thinking about the garage, M was moved to try and tidy it up a bit. This involved moving the Porsche out so as to get better access to some storage shelves and etc. and etc. We still have debris from the great cupboard delivery and he got rid of some of that as well. Then, since the little car was already out in the driveway, it seemed like a good time to take a quick ride. While he was gone and the garage was sort of clear, E rearranged some of her stuff in her quest to create more free space, possibly enough for a bicycle. Then it was time for a walk, which took us to exotic places like Anjni Circle and Angelika Avenue. We ran across a street party, a dozen or more neighbors on lawn chairs arranged in a large circle on the pavement in the center of their cul-de-sac turnaround. They were a friendly group, even offering to let us join them if we paid a $2.50 entry fee. Back at home we had a bit of Turkish study and then E jumped in the car and took our completed ballots down to the drop box at the courthouse. It turned out to be a kind of party atmosphere with a line of cars and people saying ‘Yay for voting!” She says it was an energizing experience. When she got home, it was time for dinner: leftover spinach dal (once cooked by M), leftover raita (once whipped up by E), and fresh cooked but oddly mushy rice also courtesy of one who shall be nameless. Sunday night TV included two episodes of The Gift and and one episode of Flesh and Blood on PBS. Lastly we had to check the daily Oregon COVID news and as noted above, it turns out nobody died that day, which is quite fine and deserves a mention.

Monday, October 5     Deaths   572  (+0)   Cases  35,049  (+279)

Had our first Turkish lesson today, coming to us from Rostock, Germany via LearnCube. Yo! It was hard! LearnCube seems pretty cool but first we have to learn how to use the tools and remember how to type the Turkish alphabet. We have bitten off a lot here.

After class we had to pack up for the coast, including food for the first 24 hours. Did a poor job of this. As it happened, M remembered to pack many items of food, but not the three most important ones, one of which was the fat slab of chocolate lovers cake from the Market of Choice bakery! Had to make an emergency stop at Ray’s Food Place in Waldport. Arrived at the hotel around 4:00. Beautiful day, sunny and cool. Big waves.

As the sun set we had our dinner in the room with food brought from home and Ray’s. Quite adequate. The Adobe Resort was built in the 70’s (we remember) and was quite a place back then. It’s still very nice, although a few bits of seventies décor are looking tired. There are spectacular views from the restaurant and bar, where almost every table is at or very near one of the long wraparound windows. And there were definitely people eating and drinking in there, seated at every other table. We’re still leery of indoor dining.

Tuesday, October 6     Deaths   581  (+9   Cases  35,340  (+291)

Hiking day. Leisurely breakfast in the room, then a short drive down to Cape Perpetua. We hiked the Cook’s Ridge trail, which leads eastward away from the sea and climbs 1100 feet into the beginnings of the Coast Range. We knew better than to do the 8.0 mile loop and instead did a 5.8 mile up and back. That was plenty. Amazing trees. They grow fast here, so even the big ones are only 100 to 200 years old. The trees were hemlock and Sitka spruce in the first half of the climb and later some cedar and fir. We learned from a signboard that in this climate hemlock will outgrow Douglas fir; M had thought that nothing could. More beautiful weather. Here’s E about a mile up the trail exploring the remains of a very old tree, probably a hemlock.

For dinner we got take-out from the hotel restaurant and again ate in the room. Very good food. E loved her vegetable cacciatore. When you first look at the Adobe menu, it seems a little too regular American. But looking deeper E found a non-pasta vegetarian entrée–that in itself is a miracle around here–and it turned out to be really delicious. M had halibut fish and chips, also very pleasing. We washed it down with Rioja brought from home.

Wednesday, October 7     Deaths   583  (+2)   Cases  35,634  (+294)

Another hour and a half Turkish lesson today. We had not expected to be doing it on this particular date when we made hotel reservations. But…things change. Turkish and LearnCube are still hard, but we’re getting excited. We might possibly learn something. (Which we will then proceed to forget, but never mind.) But wait, our 9:00 A.M. Turkish class was not the first important event of the day. At 7:30 sharp we were third in line when the doors opened at the Green Salmon Coffee Shop in downtown Yachats. M had a star-shaped classic Danish and E had a cherry-rhubarb turnover. Plus we had our half cafs. We took it all back to the room and sat looking at the sea and making happiness sounds until it was time to start the class. 

After class it was time to check out. The drive home took just over an hour. We spent the whole time trying to master possessive adjectives. In English that would be my, your, his, her, its, our and their. Seven words and you’d be done. But not in Turkish, oh no. In Turkish there are twenty-eight; six basic words each with four different variations, except for third person plural, which seems to have eight variations. In practice Turkish possessives are quite logical–there are good reasons for all those variations–but it’s not easy to remember them all. 

Thursday, October 8     Deaths   594  (+11)   Cases  36,116 (+482)

A sobering number of Oregon COVID deaths was reported today, the highest Oregon daily total since Aug. 17 and the third highest ever. The fatality rate per 100,000 is now 13.8. 

We did an hour of Turkish study on our own this morning. Such motivation! E also had laughter yoga. Both us spent time catching up on paperwork and bill paying. We’re worrying about our Chilean presentations. Florencia sent us a copy of the seminar announcement. Our names were on the list of presenters. Oh no! We only have ten days to prepare! We’ll never be ready in time! 

Friday, October 9     Deaths   597  (+3)   Cases  36,526  (+410)

Grocery shopping this morning, M went to Winco and E went to the Co-op. Then Andrea stopped by for lunch on the back patio–cucumber sandwiches and a can of Amy’s lentil soup. Good cooperation from the weather. After that E contacted Chile to nail down some specifics of how our presentations would go. Then we worked on how to adapt our stuff to Zoom. Mostly we practiced screen sharing.

Online shopping update: M’s EarPods arrived.

Saturday, October 10     Deaths   599  (+2)  Cases  36,924  (+398)

The Corvallis Greek Fest is going on this weekend, but not in the usual way. Usually it’s a big party with food, drink, music and dancing in a giant party tent. This year there was no tent, no dancing, no drinks and no music. They did the food though, by golly, serving it up drive-through style. When we heard the plan we wondered how that would work. Friday was the first day and we heard that some people had to wait an hour and a quarter. So when we went on Saturday we took some reading materials with us–Turkish lessons actually–so as to have something to pass the time. But when we arrived around noon, there were only eight or ten cars ahead of us and the line was moving fast. E had typed up what we wanted to order (for ourselves and a friend) and there was a big crew of clipboard carrying order takers and tablet carrying payment staff. We took our haul over to H’s house, where she had set up a beautiful fall themed table on her covered back patio. It was a damp, cool day with intermittent splashes of rain, so we had to bundle up. But the menu was grand: pork souvlaki, falafel, spanakopita, Moroccan Chicken, braised lamb, vegan dolmas, fasolia, and pasticcio plus baklava and a bunch of kinds of cake. We didn’t actually order all of that, but we did our best. M made Greek coffee in his new Turkish coffee maker and served it in cups he had brought along for the occasion. 

Later on we started watching a new Turkish TV series. It’s called The Gift and concerns a painter living in Istanbul who discovers a mysterious connection between the images that have always inspired her painting and some images recently discovered during archeological work on an Anatolian hillside. Her obsession begins to affect her behavior and becomes a cause of  concern for her family and for her rich and rather boorish fiance, whom she inexplicably seems to be excited about marrying. At first everyone thinks she is just goofy, including the handsome young archeology professor that she tracks down, hoping that he can give her some explanation for what is happening to her. He initially assumes that she is just a nut and shoos her away. But he is forced to rethink when he begins to find evidence for some of the crazy things she claims, things that she could not have known, secrets that been buried deep in the earth for at least 15,000 years… 

Sunday, October 11     Deaths   599  (+0)   Cases  37,225  (+331)

Zoom meeting today with two siblings and one cuz. Nice to catch up with them. John is still in his new cottage at the lake and is thinking of living there through December. Cuz’s sabbatical year is being disrupted by the pandemic. She had planned to be doing a number of projects involving international travel, but that’s not going to work. She is adapting. J and J had some severe storms in their area last week and lost power for many hours, which would have been long enough to melt their ice cream had they not taken pre-emptive measures. E and M have been trying to learn how to use their new green screen. One thing we discovered was that when E wore a particular green turtleneck and vest, the computer assumed that her torso was part of the background and erased it, which left only her head floating in the middle of the screen. A little unsettling but hilarious. We wanted to let the group see this. Unfortunately the computer began to get smarter and in this session it insisted on keeping her torso firmly present. So disappointing. By changing up the lighting and camera angles, however, we were able to briefly recreate the effect. So everybody got to see the floating head, if only for a few seconds. 

Next we needed to do a little Turkish. The teacher has sent us feedback about our compositions, plus an extensive word list and lots of grammar notes. Argh!

Chili and corn bread for dinner. Flesh and Blood on Masterpiece for TV.

Monday, September 28      Deaths   547  (+0)   Cases  32,994  (+174)

Grocery shopping day. We went to the Co-op together (bad) but we did separate once we got in. That got us in and out fairly fast. Just so you know, the frozen salmon at the Co-op is way, way cheaper than at Market of Choice. Once we’d got our stuff loaded into the car, E set out for home on foot to get her steps in. M went over to Natural Grocers to get some particular things that they’re good at. Then later E went out to the Peoria Road farm market searching for tomatoes and peppers that meet her standards. We haven’t eaten them yet, but they look pretty good. Later E had Zoom yoga and M didn’t do anything except open his box that arrived from the Walgreen’s online. On the plus side, he did manage to get through a whole day without ordering anything else.

Tuesday, September 29      Deaths   555  (+8   Cases  33,291  (+297)

It was the first day of E’s new Better Bones and Balance class. The teacher introduced each student and had each one say hello. E was a bit upset. If she had known what to expect, she would have worn a nicer tee. 

Later she met a friend  for a socially distanced, bring-you-own-chair meeting at MLK park. She says they had an enjoyable wide-ranging conversation, which included the topic of what dating must be like these days, compared to what it was when the two of them were starting out. While they were talking, some folks began laying out a soccer field just next to them, using a bunch of orange plastic markers that she swears looked liked little caps or beanies. E left before the game started, but not before seeing the two teams arrive, several gaggles of seven or eight-year olds and their support staff. How is that allowed these days, she wondered, soccer being a sport that does involve some close contact?

M attempted repairs to the back lawn by over-seeding some dead spots. He then provided E with salmon, steamed potatoes and green beans for dinner, which seems to have satisfied her. After dinner, we watched episode one of a British series called Bodyguard, which features the actor who play mama Durrel in the The Durrels on Corfu. This new role makes a change of pace for her for sure. The drama is a little too tense for us old folks, but whole thing is quite well-done.

Last, and maybe least, it was a red letter day in the world of garbage containers. Of our three containers, two were getting terribly shabby and broken down, so M had requested new ones. As if by magic, they appeared today. M feels so much better now. Plus, E need no longer be ashamed of her trash containers when friends come to the back yard. (Which we suspect she has plans for.)

Online shopping update:: two articles of clothing arrived

Wednesday, September 30      Deaths   559  (+4)   Cases  33,509  (+218)

The Oregon COVID death rate has reached 13 per 100,000. This compares favorably to some places–New York 137, Florida 70–but not so favorably to others–Australia 3.55, Japan 1.24.

Busy day today, starting with a twenty-minute walk around town just before tertulia. At Bodi’s with R and J,  we had one chocolate orange scone, one beignet and two half-caf coffees. The latter gave us more of a jolt than we’re used to, so we had to rush off and do more crazy stuff. First E went off for another walk while M went to the grocery store for emergency essentials such as party supplies and tonic water. E then spent a couple of hours in the garden, dead heading, weeding, lavender trimming and generally cleaning up to prepare for having guests on Thursday. M joined in to do edging and lawn mowing. After lunch E made gazpacho. She had to do it early so as to allow it time para reposar tres horas antes de cenar. Just before dinner she made croutons and chopped up a couple of boiled eggs for guarnición. We also finished the leftover fish, washing it down with a sort-of-local pinot noir. Beautiful!

Online shopping update: M’s Turkish coffee maker arrived.

Thursday, October 1      Deaths   560  (+1)   Cases  33,862   (+353)

Hazy morning. We often get early morning fog this time of year, but now we are also getting smoke from California wildfires. There’s a weather system that is blowing the California smoke out to sea, circulating it north and then moving it back inland 450 miles from where it started. Most of the smoke seems to be up high; air quality at ground level is moderate. 

M took the Porsche on a drive out, first west to Alsea, then back to Monroe via Alsea Falls. Very little traffic on that leg, three cars oncoming in 30 minutes of driving. The road is narrow and curvy and runs through thick forest. Great fun in the Boxster, but it was even more fun years ago in the Miata. The lack of visibility around the turns makes going fast a fool’s game. Instead the route rewards liveliness and lightness of foot. Whereas the Boxster is an athlete; the Miata was a dancer. 

But as it happened this drive had something for everyone. After a sedate jog south on Highway 99, Porsche and driver slipped over to Harrisburg (via Lancaster) to cross the Willamette. From there we crossed over I-5 into some out-of-way farm country. First there was a miles long stretch of flat straight road. No traffic at all, perfect visibility in all directions. The Porsche liked that fine. The old Jaguar XKR would have liked it just as much if not more. The Miata would have been gasping, groaning and bored stiff. After that came a sort of miracle, a giant, sweeping S-curve on an otherwise featureless plain. The Porsche became very happy, as close to carefree as a Porsche can get. Go ahead, it was saying, go as fast as you want, I’ve got this. And even if we die, so what? That’s part of what the both of us were born for. Fortunately M knows a siren song when he hears it and sailed through just fine. Anyway, soon after the big curves the road turns north and runs through a different kind of farm country with curves, straights and rolling hills to keep things interesting. We arrived in Brownsville all too soon.

In the late afternoon E hosted a backyard gathering of the Lemon Meringue Pie Society. The pandemic has been a challenge for LMPS. They’ve tried various ideas, including meeting via Zoom, but these have not been completely satisfactory. Also, some of the members have health issues. But the LMPS spirit is strong and E’s solution–masked, distanced and at individual tables outdoors–seemed to work well. Masks came off for pie eating and for a passing photographer, but otherwise stayed mostly on.

The pie, by the way, was not lemon meringue. Instead, E got a ladder and picked some apples off the better of our two trees. She peeled, cored and dewormed them, then followed the JOC recipe exactly. The results were spectacular.

M had a bit of pie, but also made himself a haloumi pita with tomato, cucumber and cilantro. That was pretty good too.

Online shopping update: One article of clothing arrived.

Friday, October 2      Deaths   563  (+3)   Cases  34,163   (+301)

Found out early this morning that Donald and Melania have tested positive for COVID. A later update put DT in the hospital. No one knows quite how to respond, at least for the record. Heather Havrilesky posted “I want to scream and drink boxed wine and eat bags of salty shit and dance.” Her accompanying graphic was The Triumph of Surrealism by Max Ernst:

E went to the eye doctor after breakfast and reports that the old air puff into the eye has been suspended for the duration. When she got home, her eyes were still dilated, but she wanted a walk in the forest anyway. M made a lunch and off we went, just for a little stroll up to the lake. Nice morning, sixty-something degrees when we left home but in the lovely low seventies when it was time for lunch. On the way up we ran across a pileated woodpecker just ten feet away, perched on the side of a tree at eye level in full sun. Yo! How often do we see that? After a few seconds it flew to a higher and more distant tree where it perched on the shady side. Here’s a not very good photograph of that view, just to lend a hint of credibility.

E noticed this pattern on the pond as we were leaving. Said it reminded her of snowshoes.

After dinner, watched the final episode of Ted Lasso. Quite satisfactory. Will there be another season?

Online shopping update: One large pantry cupboard arrived. Two boxes, 43 kilos each. Yikes! Have E and M gone mad?

Saturday, October 3      Deaths   571 (+8)   Cases  34,163  (+348)

Yesterday was the 190th day of the Pandemic Diary. In the last ten days, average daily COVID fatalities in Oregon were 3.1, up from 2.8 in the previous ten-day period. Here’s a long term chart.

Despite this grim picture, E and M had chocolate croissants for breakfast again! While E went off to get them, M made coffee using beans from Cauca, Colombia. Cauca is the area around Popayán, the mountain town where we lived for three months once upon a time. We remember seeing coffee being grown there, mostly on small holdings and always growing in the shade, often under banana trees. But we had never seen any specifically Caucan beans until just a couple of weeks ago. Is it good? You bet. We could describe it as tasting like coffee with hints of more coffee. Not much banana.

In the late morning Eve did her Saturday dog walk out in the country while M started assembly of the pantry cupboard and making preparations to install it where it goes. After lunch E joined in and much progress was made. Not quite done yet, though. The cupboard is starting to take shape; it just needs its doors, shelves and anti-tipover strap. 

The rest of the garage is a mess.

Online shopping update: An empty box from Tennessee. (E has to fill it and send it back.)

Sunday, October 4     Deaths   572  (+1)   Cases  34,770  (+259)

E has a Zoom meeting with long-time friends S and Mrs. H from back east. We did of bit of outdoor work and M finished assembling the pantry cupboard. It’s still empty though; everything that’s supposed to fill it is sitting in various boxes in the garage. We haven’t stocked it yet because we have to prepare for two momentous events tomorrow. In the morning we have our first day of Turkish class and in the afternoon we head off to stay at the coast for a couple of days. Much to do.

Monday, September 21      Deaths   529  (+3)   Cases  30,995   (+194)

The little car is got cleaned and waxed today, looking good. We watched a couple of episodes of Derry Girls on Netflix. Hm.

Tuesday, September 22      Deaths   532  (+3)   Cases  31,313   (+318)

We got a take-out sandwiches from Ba’s in Albany. We finally discovered their online ordering system, which takes Apple Pay. Nice. In the early afternoon E went to a meeting of her HEPAJ group. They all took lawn chairs and treats and met outside at a park. This was a first for the group and E says it was fun. M was also outside for a while, mowing lawn and washing the remaining ash from the patio. M is on Ibuprofen today. Apparently he strained his shoulder working at the carwash.

It’s the 180th day of the Pandemic Diary database. Average daily deaths fell from 3.7 to 2.8. Here’s the chart. 

Wednesday, September 23      Deaths   538  (+6)   Cases  31,503   (+190)

After tertulia this morning we went back to the forest near where we used to live. What a difference two weeks makes! It was summer the last time we were there and now it’s fall, with maple leaves falling everywhere. The native maples don’t do much in the way of color; they’re mostly just brown. But we found a bit of red on this big fir, courtesy of a thriving poison oak vine.

We also passed an old maple that the forest managers decided to cut down about five years ago. It seems to be rebounding nicely from the experience.

And of course we stopped to see one of E’s favorite trees. She didn’t try to climb up onto that big limb today, but she’s been known to.

And e is not the only one…

Thursday, September 24      Deaths   539  (+1)   Cases  31,865   (+362)

The Chambers siblings did a Zoom meeting today, James from Clifton Park, John from his mostly finished house at Lake George, and Eve from our new Zoom studio in Corvallis. The meeting began on time with no technical difficulties. It seems that we are all getting better at Zooming. Jim and John are both well. We got to see a bit of the interior of John’s new place, including a very old wooden icebox that John and his father rescued from a yard sale many years ago when John was just a child. He remembers the two of them working to remove many layers of white paint to reveal the wood underneath. The top was rotting, so Hoy replaced it using pine boards that he had in his shop. They then sought out and applied the period correct type of varnish. John didn’t say if it had been refinished since then, but it certainly looks lovely now. Besides talking with Jim we got to interact a little with Joanne, who is as kind and lovely as always. We debuted our new green screen, which allows any photo to be used as a background, even on devices that do not have super processors. Also a couple of umbrella lights to smooth away some of the shadows. Our background, chosen in haste but still nice, was from Cyprus, a hillside village in the spring.  

After a supper of reasonably high-quality leftovers, we settled in front of the TV to check out Ted Lasso, an Apple-produced series about an American football coach who is hired to manage an British professional soccer team. We thought we’d watch just a little to see if it was any good, but we found it quite wonderful and ended up watching four half hour episodes. Just about everything about this show is excellent: complex characters, good acting, substantive situations,  meaningful dialogue, and a tone that is at once naïve and highly sophisticated. The level of maturity and insight in Ted Lasso is so far above that of Cable Girls that it made us laugh for joy. (We did miss the subtitles, though, some of those Brit accents…)

Friday, September 25      Deaths   542  (+3)   Cases  32,314   (+449)

We’ve been doing a crazy amount of online shopping lately. The purchases seem okay in each individual instance, but taken in total, it doesn’t look completely rational.  M has ordered an electric Turkish coffee maker, which we clearly don’t need. E is buying a new fall fleece jacket and some winter socks, which are a bit more practical. M has ordered a bunch of new ice cube trays–hey, the old ones were terrible, the summer was hard on them–and together we’re getting a new pantry cupboard for the garage.

And then there is the nice new mask with lanyard that E got for $16 from Tom Bihn, a Seattle company that has donated 115,000 masks to underserved communities. 

Saturday, September 26      Deaths   546  (+4)   Cases  32,581   (+267)

We watched more episodes of Ted Lasso last night. Liked them a lot. This morning E fetched us croissants from Le Patissier. After that, she went out to the country again to walk her friend’s dog. M watched a movie called Soledad, which is pretty good, and worked in the garden trimming away some things whose times have passed. 

Dinner was a real treat. We went to a place in Vancouver, WA called Andrea and Andy’s. Andy make an extraordinary thing out of spaghetti squash plus a wonderful fall soup made out of sweet potatoes and more other things than we can remember. E contributed a tomato and cilantro salad, an elaboration of an old recipe we got from Flo. We ate in the back yard, warmed by the late afternoon sun. 

For dessert we had a brief ride in the Cadillac CTS-V, sampling the lovely seats and the “Comfort” ride setting. Also the “Sport” ride setting and the 6.2 liter supercharged V-8 with 556 hp and 551 lb-ft of torque connected to some sticky Michelins with hefty Brembos nearby in case you ever wanted to slow down. Nice car. Back at the house we had more dessert–a flan that Andy was not too proud of but which was quite delicious for the rest of us.

The statewide media today are making a big to-do about the 449 new COVID cases reported on Friday. They note, correctly, that this is the highest single day total of the pandemic. The suggestion is that things are worse than ever and we’d all better do something now, even if all we really can do is stay home and moan quietly in our living rooms. But as so often happens in this crisis, this contextless number serves more to mislead than to illuminate. Of course the discovery of 449 new cases is bad news, but how bad is it? Let’s add some context. 

First, these 449 new cases were from a total of 12,385 tests, far more tests than are usually reported. That right there should make you stop and think a little. And of course you could compare this new record number with the old record number. The old record was 405 new cases, and it was set on August 15th, a day when there were a total 12,994 tests, which was also many more tests than usual. In fact, those two numbers, 12,385 and 12,994, are the two highest days of COVID testing ever done in Oregon. For comparison, on the third highest day of testing the number was just 7,337. So the two days with the highest ever number of new cases also happened to be the two days of the most extensive testing ever done. This is not news; this is just math, working as it always has. The large number of tests may deserve a headline; the number of new cases does not.

We can get somewhat more useful information by looking at the test positive rates on those two days. On August 15th the test positive rate was 3.13%. On September 25, the rate was 3.63%. Compared to other days, those two numbers are actually pretty low. People say that if we can maintain a rate under 5.00%, we’ll have chance of getting the pandemic under control. So maybe these two days did deserve headlines, not for being bad news, but for bringing such good news.

And, just for fun, let’s look at the data for two other days: September 20th and 21st. On the 20th, the new case number was 202, which sounds a lot better than 449. On September 21st the number of new cases was 194, even better. Should those two days have made us feel hopeful? As it happens, there were very few tests reported on either of those days, just 2,159 on the 20th and 1,215 on the 21st. The test positive rate for the 20th was 9.36%. For the 21st it was 15.97%. If you wanted to make a headline for these two days, would you really want to celebrate the relatively low numbers of new cases confirmed? Not if you had a clue.

The truth, of course, is that it’s impossible to know much of anything just by focusing on any one number on any one day. There is too much natural variation in the system. But possibly the worst possible number to fixate on is the number of new cases confirmed. As we all should realize by now, if you want that number to be low, all you have to do is stop testing and just let everybody die.  

Sunday, September 27      Deaths   547  (+1)   Cases  32,820   (+239)

Lovely weather for a quiet Sunday. Croissants again for breakfast. They were a day old, but when E rewarmed them, very briefly, in a real oven, they were delicious. Later in the morning we went for a walk on campus. We parked at the old Poultry Science building and walked east past the tennis courts and the giant artificial turf intramural sports field. We climbed up to the top of the parking structure to have a look around, then went back over toward the vet school to see some animals. We returned through the unfamiliar back lots of the College of Forestry compound. We passed by an odd new building, quite a large one. It was industrial looking, a windowless unmarked black rectangle. We paused for a bit to take a closer look. There was a huge garage type door at one end and on the other a loading bay with a glossy black hopper feeding into a heavy cart-like container, also black. The whole place was deserted and felt mildly strange. From there it was just six minutes or so back to our car. As we were about to leave, a campus security truck cruised by. We saw it turn and go down to that same black building and stop there. Had security cameras alerted headquarters to a possible threat? Unlikely. Funny coincidence though. We departed forthwith.