notes & scribbles
a digital stream of consciousness
When I wear a protective mask, I do not feel that I am protected against others with coronavirus. Instead, I feel like I am protecting others from me. When others are wearing the mask, they are protecting me against them. Like most Americans, I have not been tested for coronavirus. If someone that does not have any symptoms, they are not tested because testing for all is not available yet. If I could wave a magic wand, all Americans will be tested once a week. The results will be immediately known. If someone is free from the virus, they do not have to wear a mask. If they are positive, even if they are asymptomatic, they will have to wear the mask until they are clear. If they are sick enough, they will be in the hospital.
That type of pragmatism does not have a seat at the table of reality. The entire country seems to be playing it by ear. Initially, I looked in my own garage for a mask. For some reason that I cannot recall, I had a bunch of protective masks that I have never used. This was years ago, but I packed them away, thinking I may never need them. I ran into the masks a couple of times throughout the years. But now that I really needed them, I could not find them. So, in early February, I ordered some from Amazon, and it took almost a month for them to arrive.
A t-shirt company started making them recently. The company apparently took the lowest quality t-shirt material they could find and started making a mask from this material. They are very light and flimsy, and I have the feeling that when I wash them by hand, they will not last too long. I will have to order more.
At Fort Carson, a tailor shop turned their sewing talents to the efforts of making protective masks. Each mask was $5. But if you brought the tailor your own t-shirt, they would make a mask out of that material and only charge $3. The tailors are making a financial killing on this, but I am not mad at them. The line for those masks was long and it curled inside the small mall like a snake in a shoebox. People had to remain 6 feet apart, and when the line moved, there was an X on the floor that we had to stand on to be the proper distance from the people in front and in the back of us. When I finally reached the front of the line an hour later, I purchased 5 masks for my family and me. I must have a bigger head than the average person. My mask was tight and made my ears stand out jug handles. At least this was better than no mask out all.
Soldiers were assigned outside, and inside the mall. Their job was to screen people by asking a bunch of questions about where we have been recently and who we have been with. I did notice something a little disquieting, most of the soldiers, all of them in their uniforms, had a wide diversity of masks. Some were apparently homemade, others obviously purchased the masks from the same tailor I was buying mine from, and some apparently got their mask from another source altogether. There was a variety of colors and styles. This told me that the military, with their strict rules about uniformity in dress, did not have a supplier to provide the soldiers with enough masks. I am sure this will change, maybe by the time you read this. However, I think this little detail speaks much about the preparedness of our country.
I have always visited the state and national parks. So, during this pandemic, I continue to hike the trails and take photographs. I have noticed an up-tic in the number of visitors. As a matter of fact, this is the most visitors I have ever seen in the state parks. Some people ask me is it safe to go to the state parks, especially when many national parks have closed. It is very safe at the state parks. Even though the number of people has increased exponentially, the trails stay relatively clear of traffic. When you do encounter other people, it is easy to maintain a reasonable distance from them.
It is excellent being outdoors. As an amateur photographer and bird watcher, I always have a challenge waiting for me at the state parks as I try to photograph 150 species of birds in Colorado. I am up to 81 different species of birds that I captured with my camera. Nature is the normal that I seek. The birds are oblivious to the pandemic and are going about their business despite our problems. Watching the birds let me know that every event, no matter what type, has a shelf life to it. Every (single) event from the movement of molecules to a volcano eruption, has a beginning, middle, and an end. The pandemic will end, and we will adjust ourselves according to what we learn.
For the most part, I am coping well with the pandemic situation we are all dealing with. However, my positive overall outlook is punctuated with a tinge of fear sometimes, and other times with a hint of sadness.
On the day that 800 New Yorkers died of coronavirus, most of the media and experts lamented about how things were looking up. Just a few months ago, I would have never imagined that America would be hit by an event so big that 800 virus deaths in one city could be simply dismissed as just a superficial wound. The sadness I feel is for the grief that this is bringing to so many people who have lost loved ones. Just as everyone at this point, I am on the peripherals of families that have lost someone or have someone that has at least contracted the virus. The more time that passes, the more likely that the virus will close the diameter of the outer circle.
My time is spent working from home and getting everything done that I can in this unusual situation. I limit my news watching; only once a day. I did get in an entire series, The Godfather of Harlem. It was not a bad series. I will start Tales From the Loop, next. When I am not watching Netflix or some other video service, I’m reading Socrates Café, by Christopher Phillips, the poems of Bob Kaufman and Arthur Rimbaud, and most of all, The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, which reminds me that life is fragile, brief and full of illusions.
