monday news

my friend sent me this beautiful photo from her place in vermont. i've visited in summertime, when everything was green, so it looks very different to me here.

unfortunately, i spent the morning running out to our superintendent because our upstairs neighbors began a major sanding and drilling project above chanda's bedroom. they began at 8:30 am, and it was so loud and raucous that it rattled the building. when the super appeared outside her door, she denied it and harangued me that i should always come to her first before calling our coop office. ha! she doesn't want them to know that she's doing renovation work. i don't know why, as you are allowed to fix up your apartment, you just need to let the office know so the office can inform all the neighbors, because who wants to be rattled at 8:30 in the morning? the stupidity and thoughtlessness and discourteous behavior of people really astound me.

i checked in with chanda's modern dance teacher, and she sounded good. she didn't have a lot of dry goods on hand, as she's used to eating out most of the time, but she said she was going to pick up some fresh vegetables today, along with quinoa and rice and millet. 

greg had a new monitor delivered today, and then went out at 3 pm to buy a particular cable to set it up. the small screen of his laptop caused too much eyestrain (his office had large monitors for him).

this is his screen photo, of korrina (on the left) and her friend allegra in times square when they were young teens and would perform with the new york jedi group.

korrina's restaurant has closed and she's out of work for right now. she's hoping that it will reopen sometime, but it's not certain. she posted a video on her instagram account last night, of the kitchen clean as a whistle with nothing set up for the next day. she's quite devastated, along with all her friends and acquaintances who are all out of work. some restaurants are staying open for take out and delivery, but her place was not set up for that. they depended on events from the offices around them, and an upper income clientele, many of whom have left the city for their country homes. she has some savings and will be filing for unemployment, but her health insurance runs out march 31st. rent and food take up most working people's paychecks, and health insurance is sidelined. it's a sad fact for too many people in this country.

chanda's cafe, on the other hand, has been cleared for take out and delivery, so she'll continue working, which i know she's happy about. her girlfriend, emily, will have her new york university classes online after her spring break ends on friday. morgan is getting ready to go to jenny's family home, and is letting school know of the decision (it hadn't cancelled classes yet). an email is being drafted tonight, and i know it's been a difficult decision. several other students have made the same choice and i'm hoping that the school will come to its senses, and move to online classes.

greg is back at work right now . . we had an early dinner with chanda and emily at 5:30 for that reason. it was nice to sit down together for lentil soup, tostadas and leftover chicken. for the past four days i've been saying that i'm going to watch the second episode of the bbc's little women, but necessary chores kept interrupting. i think it's actually going to happen tonight.

good night!

sunday service, afternoon errands and conversations

our unitarian universalist church had their service online this morning. i texted korrina to remind her and she was able to tap in at work . . or she was on her way to work.

it was a good way to begin the day, after having breakfast with greg and chanda. 

we began with morning has broken, which i just learned from this youtube posting, was written by author eleanor farjeon. 

sometimes the sermon is posted on the church's website, but i don't see it this evening. however, you can see the full video on the facebook page, under "videos," which you can see here if you would like.

the service ended with the hymn spirit of life.

afterwards, greg and i walked to the bed, bath and beyond store to see if they had the pur water filters we use, along with a few other things, including almonds from a health food store on 7th avenue on the return walk. then i met my friend janet in the park while greg moved the car (and picked up walnuts and granola bars from another local health food store-i think we're all stocked up now on necessities).

at home i finally got in touch with my sister. my nephew's surgery sounded rather serious. in addition to having surgery on his intestine due to the diverticulitis, he had his appendix out and a hernia removed. they were finishing moving dishes and pots and pans and other small items from the old apartment to the new apartment, and he went along promising not to lift anything and to sit and rest. they moved big furniture items yesterday with several of his friends. he's settled now in his new place of residence, which is much closer to his job. my sister isn't sure when they will start for home. she'd like to wait until the check up with his doctor later in the week.

i also spoke with my cousin via facetime, which was fun. she's working from home now also. it felt reassuring to catch up with the family news.

this evening i listened to the virtual town hall my state senator (brad hoylman) had set up with three professors: two being virologists, and one being a professor of microbiology and immunology. they reiterated what i've been reading: that covid19 is very serious and we need to take strict precautions to slow its spread, which means limiting contact with everyone outside one's immediate family.

(sigh) . . i think it's time for sleep. i'm feeling very tired tonight. right now it's very peaceful, as my neighbor upstairs is finally quiet. i think it's the son, home from college . . it just might be a long few months!

a spring poem for sunday

a little bit of blowing

a little bit of snow

a little bit of growing

and crocuses will show.

on every twig that's lonely

a new green leaf will spring

on every patient tree-top

a thrush will stop and sing.

(anonymous)

happy sunday. stay well and enjoy the sunshine if you have it.

more cleaning, news from paris, and daffodils

 some people hoard toilet tissue, i hoard pepperoncini, and parmesano and romano cheeses.

----

today i cleared out the cupboard and took stock of what dry goods i had and discarded jars of rice and cornmeal and flour that were too old. then i went shopping again with a meal plan in mind. i haven't done this in awhile. i've been shopping each day for dinner and not stocking the freezer and cupboard as in the past. i used to have a two week meal plan taped to the fridge that i followed regularly; so now i once again have items in the freezer and cupboard that i can throw together for meals without running out each day. i was talking this afternoon with my friend victoria in paris. she's in her 80's and has been taking precautions for this virus for several weeks already. she has also stocked up in case she can't go out (though, right now grocery stores in paris are still open) and today she asked me twice on the phone, "but when do i start using the provisions!?"

 i think she's nixed reading the jack london and daniel defoe books . . i think it got to be too much.

she sent a note that this was today's haul.

working out by the seine . . breathing in fresh air (rather than being in a gym).

----

here are the daffodils in our courtyard that popped open on friday.

what a day

 

 the day went by quickly. chanda had friends stay over and i gave them coffee and chocolate croissants before they left (chanda went to work). i then cleaned out the refrigerator and the freezer, cleaned the bathroom, remade the bed in the back bedroom, vacuumed and did laundry. it was then time to figure out what to have for dinner. i decided on bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, but worried that my local health food store would be out of produce and dry goods as i had seen several pictures on instagram of stores (whole foods and trader joe's) with empty shelves. thankfully, they had everything in stock, except for garlic and onions. i'll go to the green market tomorrow and hopefully find these items there. i hope the farmers come into town in the morning. greg and i decided not to go up to connecticut tomorrow as we were worried (well, i was worried), that it would be difficult returning sunday evening. the mayor has declared a state of emergency and all museums have closed, all events have been cancelled, and most everyone is working from home. even broadway is dark. people were still out at the restaurants and bars this evening, but i wonder how long that will last.

my brother-in-law texted at 6 pm that my nephew's surgery was done and that he was going into recovery. i didn't even know he was having surgery!!! my sister had texted me yesterday afternoon at 3 pm that they had taken him to the hospital and he was getting fluids and antibiotics for diverticulitis, and that was the last news i had. (this is my nephew in florida, whom greg and i had visited over the summer.)

everything is crazy.i can't handle this president anymore, and all the idiot people who voted for him (and i know this includes greg's and my extended family members). he's insane and he terrifies too many of us, including the entire world!

pluto is a sweetheart and watched me clean all day, and then gave me the old stink eye when i wouldn't give him anymore treats because he had vomited on the rug. 

greg and i had to go upstairs at 5:30 pm and ask our new neighbors to please stop doing whatever it was they were doing. it sounded like they were dribbling cannonballs in their living room. when we knocked on the door, a young man answered and in response to our request to be quiet, he said he had been doing "abs." greg had to have him repeat it four times before he understood. i was just so amused that i couldn't say anything (though i had surmised that he had been "working out"). fortunately, the mom came home just as we were leaving, so she was made aware of the noise problem. he also had a tv or music playing quite loud at the same time, and i asked him to turn the volume down. an hour ago he had the tv on again and was watching a movie. i find tv noise very distressing . . especially movies. there's always creepy music and bombs going off and people yelling and sirens wailing. fortunately, he turned it off and stomped off to bed. i'm actually not sure if it's the son, or a young boyfriend of the woman who lives there. 

it's crazy!

thursday

 greg finally visited chanda at her work today. we both went over at lunchtime and greg had a ham and cheese sandwich.

and i had two date rolls: cacao and tumeric lemon (which was my favorite). i was still full from breakfast. greg likes to eat an early lunch as he eats a very early breakfast. 

i sat in the cafe and read little dorrit after greg went back home to work. as i was leaving to stop at the library and drop off an overdue video, chanda offered me an extra avocado breakfast sandwich that the cooks at the cafe had made. i brought it home and had it for my lunch. it was incredibly good. i first thought it was topped with goat cheese or mozzarella, but realized when i got it on a plate that it was an egg; a perfectly poached, yummy egg.

korrina sent me two flower photos that she took on her way to work this morning. i haven't seen forsythia yet in my neighborhood, so this one was nice to get.

i think these are callery pear tree buds.

morgana and jenny went shopping for toilet tissue in london today . . and found empty shelves. it's the same here. greg went out before dinner to pick up chips and almond milk and toilet tissue. the first store he tried had a line out the door. he then went to our health food store which was busy, but didn't have a line. he found everything he wanted, except for toilet tissue.

 dinner tonight was leftover chicken with basmati rice, and spaghetti squash with marinara sauce.

a different routine for wednesday

greg is working at home today, and will be for the next week or so. we just have to see how it goes. morgan was supposed to fly to austria for a visit, but decided not to as it's uncertain if there might be a fourteen day quarantine wait when returning.

pluto found a new place to nap in morgan's room. i had a down blanket just thrown in the corner which he found to his liking. i made the bed today and refolded everything so he could still nestle in.

 i took a walk to the library to pick up several old movies i had put on hold . . as you can see it's been an incredibly beautiful day.

it was up to 55 today and i did  a lot of laundry . . the birds have been singing nonstop. spring is here.

it's difficult for me to resist a stop at mah ze dahr bakery when returning from the library. i picked up a carrot cake for me and a brownie for greg, and we had a delicious tea together. i'm making a whole chicken tonight with spaghetti squash and marinara sauce. pluto is acting like the entire bird is for him.

pluto and tea with korrina

pluto rarely climbs up into the little house on his cat stand, but something motivated him to today when chanda was cleaning her room.

korrina came over for tea after her japanese class . .

and she's been making progress on the scarf she's been knitting since winding several balls of yarn here on the monday before last. work at her restaurant has been slow and many events have been cancelled due to the coronavirus.