Also here in the land of the walking, we too are trying to find ways to stay in, get out and generally be a good citizen in the face of the pandemic.

We are three people in 1600 square feet, one bedroom each,  a large communal living dining area and a kitchen.

Two students keep up their respective academic endeavors whilst I am trying to get back to some projects that have been quiet of late (this web site…)

Meanwhile, we maintain our collective and individual sanity by collective and individual activities, none of which will go viral…but they kept us happy nonetheless. Here are some of my highlights, lowlights and things in between.  Keep checking back as I’ll be updating the page until I am back working.

 

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The walking group I belong to (virtually) has a weekly photo challenge these strange days to make their local walks more colourful (they are usually found in the Scottish countryside) and keep down the panicky comments. This week it is churches, and this beauty jumped out at me on my way back this morning – this is in a city, where Mark Twain said …you couldn’t throw a brick without breaking a church window.

 

Actually loving the walking in the rain – WAY fewer people even in the most popular spots. Also makes me pine for my walking heartland, Scotland.  I do come home drenched when the rain keeps up. Perhaps I should communicate with the fancy gear company I got this baby from.

 

So a big deal for me, as you might imagine, is getting out walking as often as possible. My biggest fear is that the voluntary nature of the quarantine will become obligatory, and that walking for its own sake will be illegal. OK, its a long shot, but with the higher number of people staying home from work, the parks and sidewalks are FULL. I started this pandemic with early morning walks on the mountain, where I was least likely to have to battle for my 4 sq meters of space.  This is still somewhat true, but I have now taken to deaking out onto the smaller pathways to keep out of the way. Later in the day options include smaller residential streets, old industrial areas, or one of three daily dog walks with my Mum (2 meters apart at all times!!). she is getting her 10 000 steps in most days

 

For many, there were holidays to wrangle, in our case Passover or the ‘Time of Matzoh’. Not the most delightful food, but it has some wonderful derivatives, like the following recipe that I sent to a friend.

 

 

We are trying to maintain and sometimes up our grooming game (add nail polish remover to shopping list). One of us is dressing everyday, but really, there are a lot of sweat pants around.

 

Special projects are now all the rage; the craftier the

better.  Mask making for the entire family, clothing reinvention are just a few. But there also more mundane

 

 

 

 

 

 

We cook(ed)

 

 

 

And cook, and cook and bake, but that requires shopping – lotta shopping. First, the shopping was part of my routine, keeping me calm and happy. But as time went on, we decided to rationalise and reduce our trips and consequently our contact with outsiders. A creepy new concept; them.