Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
This is like one of those interminable tennis matches where balls are hit from end line to end line, leads go back and forth and back and forth, each game and each set go to tie breakers, and both players' legs wobble. Our legs are wobbling and we are starting a new game and set. Match point is still months away.
I can think of nothing that might make this diary set better or even different from those of the last five months. We will just see what the rest of August brings.
Sunday, August 16, The 156th Day of Isolation
Another day, like most other days since mid March, except it is hot, very hot. Today, the official Fresno temperature reached 108F (42C) and so did our back yard. We could be thankful we were not in Death Valley, I suppose, where the Furnace Creek thermometer reached 130F (54C). According to the news, this is the hottest in the world and may even be the hottest reliably measured anytime, anywhere on earth. As the crow flies, Death Valley is not far from Fresno, and Furnace Creek is only about 475 feet lower in elevation (the driver for extreme temperatures). But no crows fly in this heat.
I went out early for a walk, while it was warm, not hot. Nice enough. Almost-neighbor Tom Key had a new drawing on his garage and a new car parked in front. He has too much time on his hands.
Farther on the walk, I snapped a few flower pictures. Not many flowers left as the air heats up, but a few make it though the morning anyway, and provide the bees with plenty of pollen.
Marianne hit the art hut early, while the little air conditioner could still keep up. After several hours working on her on-going painting project, she came in discouraged. There is nothing I can do to help, but at least we talked about putting it aside for awhile. I don't think I have ever seen her struggle quite so long on a work. At least she has plenty of time (or is THAT the problem?)
Otherwise, we just huddled inside. We did our Peloton exercise, so we were not complete slugs, but otherwise it was reading for me and Netflix for Marianne. One game done in one more set.
That was Day 156
(This day in our history: Italian mountain tunnels, 2003)
Monday, August 17, Isolation Day 157
Another hot one. The electric grid operator has now warned of blackouts between 3pm and 10pm through Thursday. PG&E has notified us that Monday and Tuesday are "SmartDays". I'm sure Wednesday and Thursday will be as well. And COVID keeps us home, not allowing escape to the Sierras or Pacific Coast. Grrr.
Our Monday excitement was a trip to COSTCO, our first one since before the stay-at-home order. It was OK, no trauma or drama. Masks everywhere, not crowded. Very short check-out lines. And, best of all, nice cool air conditioning.
Otherwise, we both worked in our Peloton rides. It feels like we are accomplishing something. The five hours without air conditioning did allow the house to rise into the 80s, so we were glad when 7pm rolled around and we were also thankful that we did not suffer any of the threatened blackouts. I can not imagine being without cool air.
That was Day 157
(This day in our history: Appenzell in 2003)
Tuesday, August 18, Isolation Day 158
Predictable: Weigh-in, walk, meals, diary, physical therapy, SmartDay, Tuesday zoom cocktails. Yep, that's what we did. Reading further is optional.
The weekly weigh-in was good for both Marianne and me. Giving up alcohol and cutting back snacks does have an effect, but keeping it up for more weeks or months is a real question, kind of like keeping up isolation for weeks and months more. We'll see.
My morning walk was short and uneventful. The air was already in the mid-80s and heavy with haze. Picture topics were ordinary as well, but at least I will record what I saw so I will appreciate when I see scenery and animals more interesting.
Chores were all pretty normal: exercise on the bike, read, work on Marianne's iPhone difficulties, meals. It has finally gotten so hot that Marianne had to stop painting and bring her paints into the air conditioning.
At 2pm, we shut down air conditioning and most other electricity use as part of the PG&E "SmartDay" arrangement. We trade lower rates most of the summer for extraordinarily high rates between 2 and 7pm on days identified as "Smart". In this week's heat, the house becomes uncomfortable in just a couple of hours, so we try to leave for part of the time.
The plan was for a stop at Peach on Earth and then just a hour or so of valley driving. Unfortunately, we got to the peach stand minutes after they closed and had to settle for a nearby fruit stand that had more variety, but poorer quality. Especially in the summer, we get very picky, since we are in the heart of some of the most productive farmland in America. This year, that productivity is coming at the cost of high COVID infection rates among farm workers. We all need to appreciate even less than perfect fruits and vegetables.
Back home it was time for our Tuesday Zoom cocktails, but it was a small turnout. Gabby was busy with kids and dental office errands and Rita was missing in action, probably tending to her mom who just had a hip replaced. Adrienne and Tony did join us and that's fun enough. I really am not sure what we covered, beyond the ongoing Democratic Convention and the normal complaints about the current federal administration.
We could power up the air conditioning at 7pm and were not scheduled for rolling blackouts, although other places around us were. Given this late start, it's not really cool by bedtime, but it's OK enough. I can not imagine trying to live in this weather without cooling.
That was Day 158
(This day in our history: German relocation in 2005)
Wednesday, August 19, Isolation Day 159
Wednesday promised to be another warm one, and another limited-power SmartDay, and it ended up colored by smoke and haze.
While Marianne hit the canvas right away, I headed down with the New York Times to chat with the Sellands. Normally, its just Vern and me, but Joan brought Vern coffee and joined us for a few minutes. I managed to get a picture, something she hates. Other than that, the porch scene was the same as always, a little squirrely, but we did see a fire service water plane, red-stained from an earlier bombing run.
While Marianne painted, I did my regular, mostly reading. I have gotten back into reading books, and it is much more satisfying than newspapers and internet. That's especially true if I remember to select something easy, such as my current short story collection. I have lined up a short book by a New York beekeeper next and how hard could THAT be?
Speaking of easy, my exercise for Thursday was limited to a few minutes walking around the back yard taking pictures of old-flowers-with-bugs. It's too hot and smokey for any significant excursion, and I skipped Peloton exercise just because I could. No one is keeping score. (Not true, since there is a complex, app-fed network of Pelotoners, but I'm not paying attention.)
I notice I no longer take pictures of all our dinners. They are still great and Marianne manages an amazing variety, but I don't think of them as COVID-isolation meals. Just regular, good, meals.
After dinner, Marianne invited me to sit with her in our front yard, sip wine, and look at the setting sun. In fact, the sun didn't set, exactly; it was just consumed by the forest-fire haze.
And that was Day 159
(This Day in our history: 2012, Really Retired)
Thursday, August 20, Mostly-Stay-at-Home Day 160
Thursday morning's Fresno Air Quality Index was 89, heading to 161, "unhealthy" and comparable to Beijing. First disease, then drought, heat, fire, and smoke. I expect an earthquake soon.
I started the day off with an hour-and-a-half of work, someone else's work. The Costco guys arrived with our new patio table and I was extremely glad I had added in the $145 for "white glove" delivery because that meant they had to move and assemble the 200 lb table and do the same for eight heavy chairs. They were careful and cheerful, maybe because it was still early in the hot and hazy day. Now we can easily seat two or three dozen barbecue and bocce ball guests. Some day, I'm sure.
The guys left and we returned to normal life: exercise, read, paint, and complain about the heat and smoke. Gabby sent us a picture of her view of the Mt. Hamilton fire in the east, which was matched to the west by smoky fires in the Santa Cruz mountains. So far, she's been lucky and the hills around her have not caught fire. They do that, from time to time.
We discussed having dinner out, either to-go or at a restaurant's socially-distanced patio, but reconsided as we looked at the haze. We did not even use our own new outside venue!
As the sun was disappearing, I decided to ignore health recommendations and try to get some interesting photographs. Not sure it was worth it, but there you go.
That was Day 160
(This day in our history: Family in 2016)
Friday, August 21, Stay-Mostly-at-Home Day 161
Morning air quality: 187. My morning walk was limited to a few steps out into the backyard. The Crepe Myrtle in the yard corner has finally blossomed, a month or more after others in the neighborhood. Maybe it just needed heat and smoke.
That heat and smoke would severely limit our activities until the air is breathable. Masks help, so now we may wear them whether or not anyone is near.
We did have one chore outside the house: grocery shopping. We have "elderly or compromised" friends who still contract out this chore, but for us, it's about the only excitement we get outside of our own walls. We have found that The Market is generally not very crowded and most morning customers are seniors, like ourselves, also probably enjoying a rare excursion out. It's not fair that this is what fun looks like.
Back home, we put away groceries and returned to our corners: the southeast yard corner for Marianne's Art Hut and a northeast house corner for my reading and puttering. Our 85-year-old house is proving a quite comfortable lock-down cell and we do appreciate our good fortune. We have space, cooling, filters, and a nice garden to enjoy once the smoke and heat go away. Soon.
After dinner, the Air Quality Index got even worse, peaking just over the 200 threshold for "Very Unhealthy". We checked with others in the California family and Los Gatos, Albany, and Monterey were not far behind, although their smoke comes from much nearer sources, such as the Big Sur fire in the picture Chris sent us. Gabby's mother- and father-in-law evacuated a San Jose fire Thursday night, but only over night. In the center of an urban area, we are lucky that all we get on Cambridge Avenue is smoke.
Friday evening was Game Night again with Brian and Jen in Longmont, CO, and Geoff in Frederick, MD. Colorado is getting fire smoke, but not as bad as California. Geoff said Maryland weather is almost perfect, with a break in the summer heat and not even much rain from passing hurricanes. We asked him to take some of our smoke. As usual, the Codenames games went on with laughs and more chit chat, the real goal of Game Night. We need to keep up this tradition.
And that was Day 161
(This day in our history: Solar eclipse in Oregon, 2017.)
Saturday, August 22, Stay Home Day 162.
The AQI started at 195. Sunrise looked apocalyptic. I limited my morning walk to dropping the NY Times at the Selland porch. Vern was trying on his new N95 mask, not COVID protection, but smoke protection. I recommended simply going inside, but he has just been getting committed to a small walk each morning to strengthen his 93-year-old legs. It's hard to argue against that.
In fact, air quality recommendations are more effective at enforcing stay-at-home than fear of the deadly Corona virus. Even masks are becoming common anywhere outside. For us, it means no gardening, no walking, no outside dining on our patio or anywhere else, and almost no driving. (The scene on the right was from an "emergency" trip to the art supply store. We do have priorities.)
Back home, Marianne went back to the art room and I settled down to read. I finished my easy book, Honey and Venom, and left much smarter on the lives of urban bees and beekeepers. ("beeks" in the jargon.) I then moved on to more serious matter in Stamped from the Beginning, a history of racism in America. The 500-page book should fill a good part of several smoky days. It feels good to be back into reading.
It also feels good to be back into going to the gym. Oh, not THAT gym, but the one upstairs. Marianne and I seem to be using the Peloton almost every day and my half-hour session session today was called "HIIT and Hills". (HIIT = high intensity interval training) A fit and well-meaning young trainer called for enough cadence and resistance to get my heart rate up to 150, a level I had not reached in the last five months. 
I was glad I worked up a good appetite for Marianne's pot roast dinner. As I have said many times before, our main meal has become a highlight, always for me and most of the time for Marianne. Of course there are times she would rather dine out, but we seem to be left with few options for that cooking relief. We are not fast food fans. Outside dining is now impossible for both the heat and the smoke. Available take-out is pretty limited for our tastes. And we are watching our weight. Like I said, I'm lucky to have found a great, usually enthusiastic, cook.
By the end of the day, it was time to cycle through our data: weather, air quality, fire zones, and new Fresno COVID cases. Temperatures look slightly more bearable, with highs below 100F, barely. Air quality is 207, Very Unhealthy, and forecast to go up Sunday. There is also a lightning storm forecast for Sunday evening throughout Northern California. Our county's new COVID case number is wavering, but still near the record and twice what it was six weeks ago.
Staying home, inside, reading, painting, exercising, and eating well, sounds like a good plan.
That was Day 162
(This day in our history: Around home in Pommersfelden, 2013)
Sunday, August 23, Day 163
Bad air and hot. I looked in the street and decided walking and breathing the smoky air was more trouble than it was worth. I read the Sunday papers instead. The California fires made the front page of the New York Times, providing everyone but Californians a bit of schadenfreude. Glad we can help the COVID gloom elsewhere.
Marianne started the day with a call to Dale in Germany. The modern practice of visual phone calls remains one of my favorite applications of technology. I don't know what we did without it. My photography stuck with the backyard. I like the yellow flavor provided by the smoky sun. The season's flowers are in their scraggly stage, pretty in their own way.
The rest of the day was spent inside, reading, exercising, and photography lessons for me; art and exercise for Marianne. These are our default activities and that's what most of the days are now, default activity.
After dinner, good leftovers for me and a salad for Marianne, we had to water the trees and bushes in our various gardens and planting areas. Three times a week, after 6pm, we are allowed to water and we had passed on the previous two chances. This is not our favorite task and I suppose I should re-engineer the irrigation systems to provide the right moisture to everything, but that always seems too challenging a task. Maybe next year. 
A red sunset appeared in the middle of watering and I took the the opportunity to shoot straight into the sun, not normally a good idea. This gives an idea of just how thick the fire smoke is.
Speaking of fire, Gabby called about this time and said the firemen had just visited and said to prepare for evacuation. Yikes. Their house is not one of the all-by-itself buildings that are at most danger, but even her suburban neighborhood could get overrun if the weather turns worse, with new lightning and winds. (It didn't.)
That was Day 163
(This day in our history: Ashland Oregon and Shakespeare, 2015)
Monday, August 24, Been-doing-this-forever Day 164
A very plain day. The air was still bad, but the temperature had gone done a bit. It was OK enough to visit neighbor Vern on the porch and solve the same problems we solve every day. Mostly it was commentary on weather and squirrels, both those in government and those in the nearby trees.
I worked in a short walk to see Tom's weekly garage drawing. The theme this week was education, cute, and a reminder of how grateful we are to not have to worry about teaching, in school or at home. Good luck to all those who do.
The rest of the day was even less exciting. Marianne spent hours painting or studying how to paint. I exercised and read. I am fascinated by my current book about the history of American racism, mostly because I have to admit I know so little about the subject. I have only made it up to the period around the American Revolution, so I have a lot to go. I look forward to the learning.
I planned to take a picture of dinner, but forgot until the dessert course. That's OK, because the main meal was a giant hot dog surrounded by cabbage and it didn't seem very photogenic. Tasty, but not photo-worthy. Dessert was "Bananas Oscar" or something with similar ingredients. More photogenic, but probably not a recipe the chef will repeat.
From out in the rest of California, I am including two interesting pictures, both kind of fuzzy. The first was a satellite picture of one of the fires. All that smoke passes over us and then heads out to the Midwest. They are not happy. The other fuzzy shot was from the security camera at Gabby's mountain house. I think the bear noticed the family was gone and wondered how good everyone had been at cleaning up the snacks. The builder swears all the doors and windows are bear-proof, so we'll see.
And that was Day 164
(This day in our history: St. Petersburg in 1999)
Tuesday, August 25, Stay-at-home Day 165
Fresno air was getting better, but COVID wasn't. I could shoot down Maroa Avenue and see to the end and a backyard shot of the bocce court and Clay's giant pine looked nice and clear. Coronavirus is harder to spot, and reports are that, despite a decrease in national and statewide cases, Fresno County is not getting better. We are used to being a "hot spot", but this kind doesn't go away with summer shifting to fall.
Oh well, the days remain predictable. After reading it myself, I deliver the New York Times to Vern. This day, the porch had a bit more traffic than I am comfortable with, but I'll admit it is nice actually talking to people. My pictures found the folks smiling and the pets just hanging out, listening.
The rest of the day was pretty unremarkable. I did more reading and exercising and eating, while Marianne worked on her painting and, eventually, cooking and eating. (I may make a copy of this paragraph for use in future diaries, time is blending from day to day.)
Our big event of the day was the Tuesday Zoom Cocktails with friends over in the Bay Area. Rita could not make it, but Adrienne and Tony did. Gabby checked in and then checked out, maybe because she was very busy - true - or because she tires quickly of the politically-flavored discussions - also true. Other than politics, the group compared fire and smoke news, all subjects that unite California this year, but fire and smoke are less threatening. It was interesting that those topics seemed to push COVID out of the hour-long chat.
That was Day 165
(This day in our history: Gold Mountain B & B in 2014)
Wednesday, August 26, Not-do-much Day 166
Nothing special appeared on the plan-of-the-day, but things happened. First, all the normal excitement: read NYT, eat breakfast, write diary, chat with Vern. Just before heading out for some shopping, I got a text from Gabby asking for help for one of Ava's math problems, so we Facetimed and found the solution. It was fun, so I guess I hope she has more problems that Opa can help with!
From there, it was shopping at Fresno Ag (hardware), Fresno State Market (fruit and sausage), COSTCO (diesel for the Jeep), plus a bonus stop at another hardware store. It's a sign of the times that a simple errand run becomes a highlight of the morning. (Second to helping Ava, of course.)
Meanwhile, Marianne was busy out in her Art Hut. She had another video art lesson (left), "remote learning", like Ava and most students in America now are working with. I wonder how the pandemic might have been handled a few years ago when online education was not so common.
She also had to work in a quick edit of my diary. (right) We have a process that is practiced as it should be after 20+years of this stuff. As all writers (should) say: good stuff is due to the team, but the mistakes are mine alone.
Mostly, Marianne Art Hut days are spent working on paintings and painting practice. The picture on the right was her last effort, and it now hangs in our living room.
Today she reached another milestone by finishing the large painting she has been working on since early June. Here are some "in-progress" shots, to illustrate that artwork is work, from practice on paper to version after version on canvas. (There were many more versions than I show here) It isn't done until the artist says it's done.
Done! For Sale!!!
And that was Day 166
(This day in our history: Florence Oregon in 2015.)
Thursday, August 27, Stay-at-home (almost) Day 167
We had a big excursion planned to Sequoia National Park, but first we had some home commitments. First, I had to finish re-gluing the heads on Dale's old brush. I had been careful to let each gluing dry for at least 24 hours before the next, so this is an almost two-week effort. But, I had time, lots of time.
Marianne also had a couple of hours set aside for art lessons (and gossip) with Claudia. I often sneak in to take a picture, so I can remember what to write in diaries and, no Claudia, your hair looks fine.
My last chore was part of packing the car - test drive the cameras. Our pet backyard squirrel was a stand-in for future wildlife up in the Sierras, you know, bears, deer, and other exotica. I had hoped the mountain guys would pose so conveniently.
The planned route took us into the north entrance of Sequoia National Park and out the South, for an estimated four-and-a-half hour drive. We normally eschew the long drive through the park, or we go up one day and come back another, but we had time, lots of time.
Leaving Fresno, the air was pretty gray and hazy, even though the Air Quality Index was much better than it had been for almost a week. On a clear day, this shot of the road would have one or two ridges of high mountains at the far horizon. 
The drive itself was uneventful. We generally avoid summer trips to Sequoia or Yosemite because the crowds make the drive tedious and the visits more like Disneyland than a wilderness. This time, the almost empty road promised a better experience.
Our first goal was the Grant Grove complex of shops, a relatively new restaurant, and the John Muir Lodge. We were scouting for a possible future overnight Fall stay. The restaurant is patio-dining only, and pretty limited menus for breakfast and for lunch-dinner. Credit cards only, to avoid much contact. Tables were well-spaced. Over at the lodge, the lobby was a bit more sparse than we'd seen in previous visits, and the clerk said room decor was also simplified in light of COVID concerns. However, overall, we felt "safe enough" that an overnight visit would be fine. Is "safe enough" good enough? Hard to say.
While sitting in front of the lodge, we paused long enough to look for wildlife. A beautiful hawk glided past us, low enough to impress, and, after I retrieved the camera and safari lens, we sat down to wait for his return. It didn't happen, but at least some smaller animals showed up; a pica and a cute little something-or-other. (I often get pictures of something-or-others.)
The drive south from Grant's Grove Village was quiet, and we had time to pull off the road and just look around. The Manzanita trees were filled with red berries and I could imagine local bears coming out from the rocky hillside for a parking-lot lunch.
Back on the Generals Highway, we quickly hit the construction zone that was part of the reason for the light traffic. At this stop and a couple others, we probably lost 30 to 45 minutes, but we had time.
Our next goal was Wuksachi Lodge, a place we have stayed at before and we wanted to see if it was able to maintain the warm atmosphere we remembered. They have tried, but the eating and drinking options were very different from the Before Times. The only dining was outside on the patio, with the same simple menu that Grant's Grove Village had, and the bar where we had killed time in the past, was not serving. The lodge still maintains a room for bears, so not everything has changed.
Because we were uncertain about what we would find for restaurants, and because the Wuksachi patio was between lunch and dinner hours, we reverted to a picnic lunch. We drove to a maintenance parking lot I had used in an earlier trip to photograph the moon and stars. We set up a tailgate lunch with nuts, sausage, cheese, and fruit and thoroughly enjoyed the fine dining. (For entertainment, we watched an ant and his buddy drag one of our crumbs back home. It's amazing what we do for entertainment nowadays.)
Leaving Wuksachi we headed through the Giant Tree Forest. Even from the road, it's an impressive collection of ancient trees.
Coming out of the forest there were views of the valley and, especially, the granite mountains. The first two pictures show the effect of the Lightroom "Dehaze" feature, on the left is what we actually were seeing and on the right the software removed the forest-fire haze. Wish there was a real life feature for that.
We were home about eight hours after we left,with a tired driver but generally a good feeling about the day.
Day 167
(This day in our history: Magdalena and a Greek Fest, 2016.)
Friday, August 28, Isolation Day 168
Another no-plan day, except for evening games, and that's what happened: mostly nothing plus game night.
Nothing included read the paper, go grocery shopping, exercise on Peloton (both of us), dinner, read book about slavery (me), art putter (Marianne), and water the garden.
The Game Evening was fun, as expected, and we worked in family news. Rich will take the SAT on Saturday in his process for starting college in another year. I'm not sure how he got so old! Sean and Ryan will start distance-learning school next Monday, but I'm not sure their screen time will be that much different than in recent pandemic life. Good luck to all kids (and parents) who need to make sense of all this.
PS: Again, I don't remember who won.
That was Day 168.
(This day in our history: Kyiv visitors and an exciting train ride, 2001)
Saturday, August 29, No-contact Day 169
My slow, standard, day started early with the New York Times, assorted internet offerings, and breakfast. I stepped outside and considered a walk, but enthusiasm waned before I could go beyond my test picture at the front porch garden: a last, scrawny, rose. I walked 300 feet down Cambridge Avenue to check on our street's other NYT reader. We discussed the news and decided we had no solution for the chaos and discomfort in Fresno, California, America, and the world. You'd think that with almost 170 years of life experience between us, we could think of SOMETHING, but we couldn't. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
My memory and my cameras yielded hardly any other recollection of Saturday. I'm sure we did the regular: exercise, reading, painting (M.), eating. Dinner was a nice lamb steak, veggies, and salad. Properly low calorie. This time I did get an iPhone picture, although Marianne noted that white plates would have displayed the food better. Maybe tomorrow.
After dinner was my Peloton time, since it blocks me from snacking at my most tempting time. Besides, a few hundred burned calories can't hurt. (Despite all this, my weight hangs up. Maybe tomorrow my new-found discipline will pay off.)
That was Day 169
(This day in our history: At home in Frankfurt in 2004.)
Sunday, August 30, Day 170
It was a quiet, quiet, Sunday, not unlike the last three days or weeks or months. The morning reading of news is better on Sunday, with a thick NYT and a Fresno Bee. The Times always has extra in-depth articles for its weekend paper. The Bee had little more than extra advertisements and an article and editorial over the end of the McClatchy newspaper ownership. I expect the business of putting the news on paper and throwing it up onto our porch will disappear sooner than I would like.
For a little family news, I called Geoff for a weekly Skype chat. The two boys are getting ready to start school on Monday, all online. Geoff's work remains 100% home-based and Suzanne's new accounting job is also online, but busy. A house that would have spent the workdays mostly empty and quiet, except for Jackson the fluffy white dog, will be host to four separate remote processes. A new world.
After the call, I tried a short neighborhood walk. It was already getting warm, especially in the sun, and air quality could have been better. The California fires are scores or hundreds of miles away, but the San Joachin Valley collects everyone's smoke and holds it until winds blow hard or it rains. Nearby, Tom had finished one more piece of temporary garage art.
On the neighborhood walk and in a short backyard stroll, I clicked more flower pictures. There's nothing special here, but I have the sense that ALL color will be gone shortly and I want to note when flower season ends. No one but Marianne and I will have seen our Spring and Summer garden. Kind of sad.
This reminded me that I need to branch out and find other photography subjects, but that may force me to consider drives to other parts of town or beyond. Maybe not a bad idea.
On my walk, I crossed with a few neighbors. Kathy, from a few blocks away, was walking her dog, as she almost always does, morning and evening. She's cheerful, but is being worn down by all the isolation. Back on Cambridge Avenue, neighbor Kent was getting ready to start a vacation hike up in the Sierras with some old-time friends. He says the week will combine guys who insist on masks and social distancing and one friend who denies it all. I can't wait for his return stories. Finally, I greeted Vern and Steve on their way to the Fresno State Farm Store, where they would buy famous FSU sweet corn for everyone's dinners, ours included.
Speaking of dinner, we splurged with steak, corn, and red wine. We have been avoiding alcohol, for both calorie and heart-health reasons, but it seemed like we were due for a treat and sipping a pre-dinner glass or two was exactly what we deserved. I think I miss the social part of meals and pre/post-meal sipping as much as any other part of this COVID isolation. Our meals are good, and sipping with two is OK, but it's just not the same. After dinner, I rode the exercise bike for a half-bottle's worth of calories and felt justified in our splurge.
Evening was screen time, for the most part. The best was a Facetime exchange with grandkids, Ava chatty as usual and Sam less so, again as usual. They seem to be getting the hang of distant classes, but I'm sure would flip over in a minute to the good-old-days' classrooms. For them, it seems that won't happen until 2021. Good luck.
That was Day 170
(This day in our history: Helsinki Markets in 2008)
Monday, August 31, Day 171
No excitement on the agenda and that's what happened. I spent the morning doing a pair of diaries, reading the NYT, and visiting my regular neighbor. Marianne did house chores and then went shopping for clothes.
Unfortunately, she discovered the new COVID complication that trying on clothes is no longer easy, since the "changing rooms" are closed. The process now is to buy the clothes, try them on at home, and return those that one does not like. It seems to me that this makes store shopping not much better than online shopping. I'm glad I am mostly past the life stage of buying new clothes. Really, I'm no fashionista and I don't wear anything out, so my 2015 wardrobe may be good enough for years to come.
Lunch-dinner came at our regular 2:30 or 3:00 and, even though it was part leftovers, part fresh (pretzel bagels), and simple pasta, it was good (better even than "good enough"). I wonder when we will opt for meals out. Currently, inside dining is COVID-impossible and outside is heat-and-smoke uncomfortable. If that wasn't enough, we are also becoming anti-social, a feature of the virus lock-down that the NY Times says is pretty common. We will all need to go back to charm school to learn social graces.
My Peloton training after our meal consisted of a half-hour session with a trainer, hard work, and a 15-minute ride through Golden Gate Park, not-so-hard. The stationary bike's "tours" are a nice feature. So far, I have toured Paris, Bavaria, the California coastline, Death Valley, and now, Golden Gate Park. I hate to think how long it will be before we do such things in person.
Meanwhile, Marianne was out in the Art Hut, her go-to place mornings, days, and evenings (temperature permitting.) I considered an evening walk, but the Air Quality Index was back above 100, so I only managed a stroll across the yard to the Art Hut and back. I took a picture to try to capture the dull light of the smoky evening. It wasn't dramatic red, as smoke sometimes provides, just dull.
That was Day 171 and the end of August, our sixth calendar month of this business. (Day 1 diary.) And there is no end in sight.
(This day in our history: Germany, 2012.)
I'll start a new webpage with the September 1 story and we will be thinking of ways to make these diaries more interesting, by making our lives more interesting. At the moment, my imagination can not solve the conundrum of "interesting" versus Cornavirus-plus-heat-plus-smoke-plus-American-elections-plus-the-elephant, but we will work on it.
Take care and stay safe and cool. At least our heat will end in a week or two, fires and bad air in a month or two, and that other problem in a season or two?
John and Marianne.