A status report from Marin:
- Shelter in place orders are still in effect, and it's not until Stage 3 of the California Reopening Plan that smaller gatherings will be allowed. In the meanwhile, I play badminton with my bestie and mostly just miss everyone else. Mostly. It's hard to keep in mind something so unwelcome as not seeing your friends.
- Social distancing is a drag. Masks are a drag. Things that drag fall off eventually. And summer's coming, which is not going to help compliance. I don't see people making this habitual without a concerted effort to communicate, corral, and possibly even coerce these new behaviors.
- We don't know anyone in our immediate circle who has had the disease, though we have one high-risk friend who had something that seemed an awful lot like it, but tested negative. What to make of that? If nothing else, that quarantining a single family member is a challenge of another order.
- The psychological impact is not to be underestimated. Even without personal trauma, the situation is and remains disturbing in a general and most literal sense. The new practice of forced domesticity, school-from-home, and the day-by-day sameness of it all have yet to translate into a comfortable routine. Worry creeps into our dreams and days, exacting a varying and unpredictable price in happiness and concentration.
- Though we have not yet been seriously impacted by this financially, we know many who have been. That is both a practical and a serious psychological concern, especially in the US with its famously cavalier approach to social safety nets.
- I'm tired of not being not at home and I'm tired of not being home alone.
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| As people have retreated nature has returned...which means more coyote dinners |
That's how it feels, here's what we're doing:
- There is lots of good to be done, and doing good feels good. We are giving in Marin, Talia is volunteering in Fairfax, we made a bunch of PPE, and together with a local urban designer and close friend I'm working with the Town Council on a plan for reshaping our downtown.
- Now
that restrictions on non-essential construction have been lifted, our
barn reconstruction is again proceeding. This will allow us to
reconfigure our always-at-home lives and, just in time, provides a cool
space on hot days (it's the only insulated structure we have). A
wonderful prospect and welcome distraction.
- Our exterior spaces
are receiving some attention as well. We've made chicken coops, new
garden plots, and additional fencing of various sorts (and yet still the
deer get in!). We're hanging things from trees, burying posts in the
ground, and otherwise trying to make our outdoor spaces more attractive
and enjoyably inhabitable.
- We are using the superpower that is
an electric bike to explore the magnificent hinterlands between us and
the ocean. Lots of thoughts (and many, many miles) on this. My current
model and recommendation here.
- We are doing our best to train and to socialize our puppy, Qubit. Also, our children. For the latter, with the school year nearly over, we're asking them to make a list of skills or achievements to be attained this summer. The goal being to continue our at-home learning, school or not.
- In the hopes that SiP orders will lift, we are making vacation plans. A few thoughts on that:
- In many places, short-term rentals are currently prohibited to discourage visits of exactly the sort we would like to make. Despite this, hosts on Airbnb and such sites are accepting reservations (and don't expect a refund outside of the stated policies: we all know COVID is a factor now). The fact that you can book a place doesn't mean you will be able to use it.
- Campgrounds and other facilities that rely on shared bathrooms are likely to remain closed for the summer, at least here in Northern California. Back country camping, on the other hand, is currently permitted.
- Remember global warming? Well it's still happening. Expect a hot summer and you won't be disappointed. Maybe now is the time to order that misting system, lawn sprinkler, or mini-pool?
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