5 Months in COVID-19 Pandemic

August 12th will be the 5th month since the WHO declared the COVID-19 pandemic. I started a monthly post taking stock of the impact on day to day life last month (see July post here). In this month we had 2 household maintenance appointments which we handled by requiring masks and then wiping down surfaces after the maintenance person left. The first one was seasonal check of the air conditioning/heating that we had delayed from late May. The equipment was inspected, and we got a new filter installed.  The second one was the repair of the clothes dryer…which will be next Saturday. If it is the heater element is should be a quick repair.

Maryland has a relatively low rate of infections…but not enough to open schools (they are virtual…hopefully the prep that has happened this summer pays off)…there is still a mask mandate too. I am glad that when I go to the grocery store and the Community Supported Agriculture pick up – everyone is wearing a mask. It is concerning that the state has had a slight uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations recently.

Every time there is an opportunity in the community or for volunteering (and there have not been very many of them) – my husband and I talk about it and have – so far – decided against. Our social interactions on limited to each other and virtual.

During this 5th month, I enjoyed quite a few webinars on a variety of topics (regenerative landscaping, moths, bats, pandemic and climate change, NOAA sanctuaries, microplastics, the power of individual choice) and watching the recently released 2nd season of The Umbrella Academy.

I’ve recently increased my outdoor time from 1 hour per day to 2 hours….generally from 6:30 – 8:30 AM. We’ll see how long that continues. There is a lot to do around the yard; maybe I’ll finally get it in shape during the 6th month of the pandemic!

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Escher prints on Internet Archive. There is a collection of 279 images by Maurits Cornelis Escher on Internet Archive. I’ve been intrigued by his work for a long time; this is the largest number of prints I’ve seen in one place! It includes one that I bought as a poster and framed: a fish in a flooded forest. The butterflies/moths were new to me….a clever geometric shape with natural forms.

Office bouquet. The flowers I cut at the CSA this week are holding up well. I am noticing that they are using a lot of water. I’ve already put more water in the vase twice.