COVID Diaries: Day 73

It’s the weekend!  Which often in the Pacific Northwest means rain, and today is no different.  We did have thunder and lightning to go with the downpour though, a rarity for us!

I can’t complain too much – we had sunny gorgeous weather for the last several days, and I did have a chance to sit on the deck with a book a couple of times, as well as to go on some long evening walks in the sun.  I guess that just means that I need to work on some indoor things today.

Our Governor finally loosened the restrictions on case count that will allow my county to move into Phase 2 of reopening.  County officials still have to submit the application and be approved by the state, but we now meet the criteria.  Some non-essential businesses will be allowed to re-open with strict protocols in place.  It is a start.  My own work is phasing back into having more people on site, but it will still be a while before I’m in the office with any regularity.  Cora appreciates that I will still be home most of the time!

And!  Some camping will be reopening!  There may be hope for some summer recreation and travel yet!  Being stuck at home for the last two and a half months is taking its toll, so I’m so happy that we will finally be able to get out more.

How is COVID in your area?

 

 

COVID Diaries: Day 68

The weather here is typical for Memorial Day, as in, it is raining.  It is a moderate yet persistent rainfall, with no breeze, so it is likely to stick around for awhile.  The forecast says it will start to dry up around 3 pm.

It’s been a mostly quiet weekend around here.  I watched a couple of movies: Dark Victory – a classic 1939 film with Bette Davis, which was excellent, but not at all what I was expecting from the title, and Cold Mountain, a Civil War love story that I have seen before, but it has been years.  I’m getting pretty close to finishing my latest puzzle.  I washed the windows on the first floor (at least the ones I can reach).

Saturday morning I went hiking; a new to me hike along the Mount Baker Highway called Horseshoe Bend.  It is a moderate hike for such beautiful rewards, snaking along the Nooksack River and offering stunning views of the river, and the raging rapids in several spots.  One day I want to visit the ‘real’ Horseshoe Bend in the Southwest, but for now, this works.

 

I also checked out out the mountain.  There’s still a lot of snow there, and a small slide was blocking the road, thus ending my exploration.

Mount Shuksan

Sunday I did a long walk at the lake and met some new friends.

Washington State is still mostly locked down, but it is apparent that people are growing restless with the government’s decisions, regardless of the politics that you associate with.  When the data being presented at the federal level does not match the data being presented at the state level, you start to wonder what the motivations are.  I could go down a long, winding rabbit hole, here, but I’ll refrain…  Government officials are on record here consistently saying that testing needs to increase in order to more fully open; however, testing has declined each week over the past several weeks in Washington, and our county health department is saying it isn’t worth the cost of doing more widespread testing on people who don’t have COVID symptoms.  It is no longer an issue of a lack of supplies.  So which is it?

I see more and more that people are just done with strict social distancing, and are starting to hang out with small groups or individuals, safely, by staying outside and not touching and hugging.  Regardless of your opinion, people are going to do what they want.

Happy Memorial Day!  My prayers and blessings to all those who served, and all those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

COVID Diaries: Day 65

It’s the weekend!  I have a four-day weekend this weekend, due to my work schedule, which is awesome, but the staying at home part is not as awesome.  Originally, in life-before-COVID days, I was supposed to be taking a long weekend trip, but I guess you folks will just have to put up with me instead.

Other than that, I’ll just be reading, writing, cleaning, organizing, doing yard work and hopefully doing a hike or two.  I have been watching the Channel Islands National Park, Georgia Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium live cams when I need a little relaxation.  I swear when this is all over, I’m going to travel every weekend for weeks and never get tired of it!

I put on jeans this week. The kind of denim that isn’t super-stretchy even, and I was so excited that they aren’t tight!  I have felt like I’ve been doing pretty well staying in shape, because I have been taking long walks most evenings and being really good about getting my steps in, but jeans were a test.  I passed!  It was literally the first time I have worn real pants since March 23.

Yesterday after work my friend Shelley and I went for a long walk on a different route than we normally take.  We checked out the old Georgia Pacific property in town; it is finally being redeveloped.  The Port purchased the property in January 2005, and some of GP’s operations there continued until 2007, when GP finally closed for good.  Political infighting left the redevelopment languishing for years after that.  In the last three years or so, it has finally gotten moving, with old buildings being demolished, and roads, a bike pump track and a park being built.  One old building has been redeveloped, but is currently closed due to COVID.  In the years to come, additional mixed use buildings will be built and old GP buildings converted, a combination of light industrial, retail and residential space.  I love that they have saved some of the old industrial features of the site, and they stand proudly as architectural salvage and a reminder of the history of our city.

Cornwall Beach and Bellingham Bay

Enjoying a moment at Cornwall Beach

Pump track in the foreground, digester tanks behind

Digester tanks

A close up of the bottom valve of the Acid Tank

Acid Tank (aka Acid Ball)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and remember those who fought and died for our freedoms.

 

COVID Diaries: Day 45

Yesterday I hit the Friday wall.  I was so exhausted that I went to bed about 6 pm, slept until 8:30 pm, and then slept from about 10:30 pm to 6:30 this morning.  I guess I really needed it!

Today we are supposed to have heavy rain and thunderstorms so I went for a decent walk first thing in the morning. The university campus was once again, sparsely populated…

 

When I got home the sun was peeking out, so I did some weeding and raking (with my new 8 inch wide shrub rake) in the garden beds until the rain got more serious.  I must say though that my yard and garden isn’t in as tip-top shape as so many others that I hear about, since I still work 40+ hours per week, but I feel like I’m making some progress!

I planted the yellow/green colored Golden Millet grass that I bought on my grocery run last weekend.  It will go nicely with the Emerald Gold Euonymus shrub that I planted years ago and is still struggling to get established…  Each year it is the little shrub that could – never gaining much of a foothold but refusing to die.  Maybe this is the year!

The rest of my day promises to be wildly exciting.  I finished a puzzle Thursday night so I might start a new one, read one or both of my current books, or do more writing here on the blog!

I hope you are all staying safe, and hopefully your weather is sunnier and warmer than mine!