Pedestrian Adventures

Fourth weekend of shelter-in-place in the Bay Area.   In global news, Wuhan is starting to loosen restrictions, and Boris Johnson is out of intensive care.  No big changes locally, things are setting into a pattern. Monday to Wednesday last week were a psychological challenge.  Apathy kicked in, and the only stimulation was the dopamine hit from boredom eating.  Running is on pause to protect precipitous achilles tendons.  YouTube home workouts, while much better than nothing, do not provide the same kick.  Work stress on Thursday and Friday contributed to a feeling close to normalcy, then Saturday morning felt agonisingly empty - the lowest point yet.  An hour spent picking Japanese beetle grubs out the planter box one by one, ahead of the summer tomatoes.  The disgusting beasts keep coming back, unsubdued by vigorous application of milky spore and nematodes. Saturday afternoon was radiantly sunny, and partner agreed to go on a b...

Another week of shelter-in-place has gone by.  The Bay Area counties issued a new notice extending the previous shelter-in-place order through April, to the surprise of no-one, and added some new stipulations.  Mercifully, outdoor exercise is still permitted. For the current global outlook, some locations are indeed starting to flatten the curve.  California has so far avoided inundated hospitals; the next couple of weeks are expected to be make-or-break here.  The UK is not looking so great and is adding increasing restrictions.  The Prime Minister just got admitted to hospital after failing to recover from coronavirus. A bit of local good news, some friends successfully produced the first pandemic baby of our social circle.  A healthy baby boy, born into the strangest of times and blissfully unaware.  Another friend, currently living in Ireland, had a baby in January and her mother had arrived a few weeks ahead of the due date to help out, befor...