Thursday, April 2, 2020

Three Beautiful Things 04/01/20: Making Masks, Confronting Numbness, Contact with Friends BONUS: Stu's Limerick

1. Debbie has begun a mask sewing project. She's been consulting many online resources and talked with a fellow Kellogg mask maker to compare notes. I'm involved. Each mask has four straps and the strips of fabric that Debbie transforms into straps need to be folded from the top, ironed, folded up from the bottom, ironed, and then the bottom needs to be folded up one more time and ironed.

I am ironing. It's tedious. My small motor skills are not exactly Olympian. But, once I decided to iron with my glasses on and as I got more practice, I improved. It also helps having bottles of sparkling mineral water nearby to refresh myself while ironing.

2. Aside from ironing, today was the first day of lying low that I really didn't do much. I wasn't feeling bored or discontented. I wasn't even feeling particularly lazy.

I've got to resist what I think I was feeling -- numb. When I feel numb, it's easy for me not to do much at all and I think the pandemic had this effect on me today.

I'm thinking it's time to read another book.

3. Another way for me to resist numbness is to yak with Debbie - I enjoyed that today - and to keep in contact with friends out in the world. Stu and I message in the morning. I had a fun exchange with Kathy. I get good stuff from Byrdman. I received some emails from friends who receive this blog by email and I've enjoyed passing on to Stu their enjoyment of his limericks. Their delight makes him happy.  His limerick dedicated to April 1st generated some fun sourdough with friends. (Wait! I'm writing myself out of my numbness right now. Thinking about how much I enjoy hearing from friends and reaching out to them is a great way to feel alive, to resist the numbness.)

Here's another of Stu's limericks:

Now age affects everyone.
Like slowing the pace of your run.
But it's not always bad,
Recounting good times you've had.
But forgetting your friend's name ain't fun.

No comments: