life in the old lane

Christie is a friend here at the Asylum. For the first month of Lockdown, she knitted. And then she knitted some more. Today she was taking the 14 sweaters that she knitted off to the Asylum  Knit for Kids group. The sweaters will all go to kids who need warm sweaters. Especially new, never been worn by anyone else sweaters.

I almost expired from boredom today. But I rallied and took a nap. Also cataloged photos. Did some yoga. And made my laps around the outside of the building early this morning.

Finished reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Like slipping into a time machine and being transported back to the late 1930s. Great read. I just happened to find it in my vast Kindle library. From my equally vast audio library, I am listening to Watership Down – that classic kid’s book from the 1970s.  Guess this is just a sign of old age. Going back to old literary friends.

Gratitude

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Grateful for my nice cozy Old Bat Cave. The wind is howling around something fierce. Nevermind that it is 64°. It is still nasty outside.

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Mālama pono

Carded at 76 going on dead!

This is Daniel. And he made my day. Maybe my entire year. He carded me!  He delivered my order from Whole Foods. (Thankyou Whole Foods for saving me from Roasted Eggplant Soup which is on tomorrow’s menu.)

Now I know that my order is coming because you can watch it – like your Uber ride. I have my little cart out and am ready to go get it when I get an email from the front desk that says the order is here. But, I get a phone call from the front desk. “Ms. Peg, you need to come down with your ID right now to pick up your order”

I gotta find my ID. Fortunately, I found my expired driver’s license. I head downstairs. Yes, Daniel inspects my driver’s license. Takes a picture of its barcode and hands over my food. And my Guinness.

The food and drink made it safely upstairs to the Old Bat Cave.

Gratitude

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Grateful that 2 of my friends got back negative Covid test results this afternoon.

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Mālama pono

600mm equivalent handheld through two panes of glass before coffee this morning.

The sun tried to make an appearance today. But it failed.

You have to be pretty bored to do this! And, for the first time since January 1, all of my photos for this year are cataloged.  Next week’s project is to catalog 2019. That will be hard – it will remind me of all the things I will never be able to do again.

Speaking of things that I will never be able to do again. This crowd seems rather unimaginable now. Thinking that I might reprise some of my favorite photos as header shots.

The Asylum is on edge. All of us with two or more functioning brain cells are waiting on the results of the community-wide Covid19  testing that took place last week.

And the food continues to get bleaker.  I will be eating more and more of my own cooking next week. Grocery delivery is pretty settled down in our area. When this mess started it would take two weeks to get a delivery slot. Now, you can usually get your order same day.

Gratitude

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Grateful for grocery delivery services.

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Mālama pono

The light is hard to find this evening because this afternoon we learned that one of our residents died of Covid19. This was a perky woman who lived in independent living. After she was taken to hospital she was worried about her car battery.  The only good news is that all of her KNOWN contacts tested negative for Covid19. But, known contacts are tricky in an old folks asylum.

I watched this video and spent a little time reflecting on Haruko. I met her before I moved in. I had seen her apartment on one of the “open apartment” tours that we had BC (Before Covid). I remember talking to her about origami and her husband who was a retired Chief Warrant Officer. Mostly we had origami in common. I put a crane on her door.

And this video reminds me of how very much is missing from our lives right now.

Gratitude

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Grateful to have known Haruko. Life could not have been easy for her. But she was a gracious lady.

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Yesterday evening, I got an email that said I had a package at the desk. Package, what package? I don’t remember ordering anything that was supposed to arrive any time soon. But, I am not curious enough to want to trek up 11 floors.

So, this morning after my laps around the building, I collect the package. It is heavy. And gets heavier coming upstairs. Not a clue as to what it is or where it is from. Have I gotten this senile after 45 days?

No not a care package – but a very caring package.

It is toasty warm here today.

So after getting tested for Covid19, I went looking for a nice private place to hang.

Comfy chairs here. But, a still like “my” bench in the dog run best for general getting away.

And somedays, you just need to getaway. Especially from yourself.

Gratitude

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Grateful for ohana. That would be all of you!

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Mālama pono

Grand glorious wonderful sunrise this morning. And, it was especially wonderful from the bed where all I could see was the canopy of fluffy pink clouds. Enough of the cheery shit. Back to reality.

I stayed in my room almost all day except for my early morning exercise program.  I hated it. By 10AM all of my chores including laundry, which involved a trek down the hall are completed. Now what?

One can only mess with photographs so much.

And, my kitchen, now that it is being used as a real kitchen, no longer looks like a kitchen staged for an open house.

But, pretty damn good meals are coming out of that kitchen. With a little help from Dining Services (the chicken, orange, and sparking water) and Whole Foods Delivery (broccoli and avocado).

Gratitude

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Today a pair of Canada geese and a great blue heron flew past my window. Grateful that I just happened to be looking out the window.

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Mālama pono

In lockdown it is OK to eat dessert. even two desserts. even at lunch. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

Not a good way to start off any day. But especially now. This was at 7:15 or so this morning. It was a fine morning and I was out for 4 laps around the compound. That is my minimum daily exercise routine.

Went back indoors and planned on staying close to the Old Bat Cave for the rest of the day. But, out my window, it was lovely sun and no wind.

What to do but grab the camera and take pictures of spiderworts.

Walk back up 11 floors for the second time today. And try once again to get my meds moved to our in-house pharmacy.  Altogether I made 3 trips up from the first floor to the eleventh today.  No wonder I am feeling tired.

My plan is to stay in the Old Bat Cave after I do my morning exercise. Didn’t work out today.

Gratitude

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Grateful to still be able to make up 11 flights of stairs.

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Mālama pono

We have some really scuzzy old rose bushes here at The Asylum. They should be removed. But The Asylum is a final stop for old things. So, the rose bushes remain. A particularly frail bush produced this fine rose. Most likely it’s one and only rose of the season.

I can only imagine that someone wasn’t happy about signing in this morning.

And my neighbors are still getting through these trying times with a little help from Uncle Jimmy.  I am glad that Carlton didn’t live to see vanilla bourbon.

I just want this over. I want it to go back to the way it was. But, it isn’t going to go back to the way it was. Ever. There is a new reality outside now. The young people will adapt to the new realities. And if I try really hard, so will I. But, young people are more flexible. They have more time. It is hard to reshape your entire world when you are somewhere between 75 and death.

Planes used to land every 30 seconds at National Airport. Anytime I slept with my windows opened  I always knew when it was 6AM . That was when the first plane was allowed to take off. Traffic was down 50% in March and it must be down 75% now. As a result, the sky is crystal clear.  But, I love going to the airport, getting on a plane and going somewhere.

Gratitude

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Grateful to have all this time. Now, if only I can learn how to use it. Wisely.

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Mālama pono

Ok. Nice morning sky.

Good breakfast. We celebrated our friends who got negative Covid19 test results.

Then this.

Kind of sucked all the joy out of the day. Not a happy camper this evening.

Gratitude

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Friends who leave cake outside my door!

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Mālama pono

This is no place for an old woman.  Behind bars.

About noon today two ambulances arrived. EMT in full protective gear. Took two residents away. Not a good sign. Not sure this is going to end well.

The health department is supposed to test everyone in skilled nursing and assisted living starting tomorrow. But these two people left from independent living.

Visiting Gandmother. 2020 style.

Gratitude

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Grateful to have been out in the exercise yard. Little things like that have become very precious.

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Mālama pono

And this is a pretty damn good way to start day 40. I see this going on at least 40 more days for “the elderly”. And, as much as I hate to admit it. I am “the elderly”. Nevermind that I had a reservation to snorkel from North America to Europe tomorrow. I emailed them to try to get my money back. They said NOPE. But we will give you a voucher. I emailed back that I was 76 years old and I wasn’t sure about any voucher. Got the money back. AND, a voucher.  Love those Icelanders.

Don’t strain your eyes. These are little packages of French Dressing. They come with our meals. And, they sent me running to Whole Foods Delivery this morning.

And real food arrived a couple of hours later. Real bread. Sugar snap peas. A mountain of broccoli.  And everything I need to make marinara sauce.  I do not come from a family where folks live to great old age. And from what I have seen, I will be OK with missing great old age. But, I damn well want to get as much goodness out of what is left as possible – and that does not include little packages of Heinz French Dressing.

Marinara sauce mellowing in the fridge.

Gratitude

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Grateful for delivery people. Each and every one of them. From the guy who drives the big Sysco truck in with our cafeteria meals, to the Whole Foods delivery guy who brings real food, to the young kids that deliver those cafeteria meals to my room. Mahalo.

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This was the temperature this morning. Note to Mother Nature: Completely unacceptable. You can do better.

Mālama pono

Big old yellow peony just ready to pop into bloom.

Today I had fun in a strange old geeky way. I put a well-used iPad back into service for one of my friends. It will be just about perfect for her as a test to see if she really wants an iPad. The Apple store is closed now.  She couldn’t go take one for a test drive anyhow. Wonder if the Apple Store will reopen?

My neighbor is in punitive quarantine because she dared go to her own physician. Seems a little harsh. You can always go to our in-house clinic. Problem is one of the staff in the clinic apparently has Covid19. So you have a choice Go see your own doctor and get stuck in quarantine for 5 days. Or go to the clinic and get stuck in quarantine until you get a negative Covid19 test, which could be longer than 5 days.  Or you could get Covid19 and die.

This has been going on for a long time. Rumors are rampant among the residents. Tempers are frayed. Management is looking a little less competent than usual. And, the meals are getting bleaker by the day.

75 residents were tested for Covid19 today. The county is going to come and start testing everyone in the skilled nursing and assisted living units next week.

I just took another look at next week’s food offerings. Cooking is going to happen.

Gratitude

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Garbage collectors. Damn, I am grateful to those guys. Think about what would happen if they stopped showing up?

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Carlton hasn’t been driving much lately. So they want to give him a discount on car insurance. That is pretty nice of them don’t you think? Maybe they could give him a break on health insurance too.

Mālama pono