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Year Four, Day 309, Pandemic Times Day 58: "Stay Home - Stay Safe" Day 45: Tomorrow I Make Baba Ganoush!

Today was a lovely, warm day with a healthy, gusty wind!  Friday. Day 45 of Stay Home - Stay Safe.

Everyday is pretty similar here, the only difference is the faces I see on Skype or Zoom for piano lessons.

Except for Friday. Friday I have video visitations with my son from jail.

He is holding up very well, considering all Oregon prisons have been locked down for almost 2 months. No visitors. No classes. No church. No support groups.

He works. He plays basketball and lifts weights. He reads. He watches the news. He calls his family. And two days a week he has video visits.

I am eager for Oregon to lift the lockdown on the prisons.  Not only for my son, and our family, but for the mental and emotional health of all the inmates.  They are paying their debts to society. But being denied visitation, classes, church, AA and NA groups, is cruel punishment.

In my humble opinion, anyway. I am going to write a letter to the Department of Corrections. And Kate Brown.

I'm sure they have a plethora of calls, emails and letters. But it couldn't hurt.

As for me, I am still laying low. Even when Washington starts phasing into re-opening, I am going to be cautious.  Even in isolation, I am once again struggling with my asthma. And my allergies. I am working on my health. But since this virus attacks the lungs. I am vulnerable.

I also have decided not to visit my parents on Mother's Day. Just to be cautious. My mother is healthy, but she is my father's caregiver. He is fragile. He has Parkinson's disease and cancer. I don't want to take any chances.

I mailed her a beautiful card.

Warmer weather is coming.  And hopefully as we continue to open up our states, we will develop herd immunity, a vaccine, and the sun will kill off the remnants of this evil virus.

But then there are those murder hornets!  Heck, those don't even scare me. Nothing scares me much anymore, except seeing my loved ones suffer.

Since I have at least a few more months of social isolation ahead of me, I am working on expanding my musical skills. I am taking an online worship piano class and having a blast!

I have decided not to apply for any new church jobs until we are totally clear of the virus.  If I can teach classes again in the fall, I will most likely do that with caution. But for now, it's online piano lessons and babysitting my granddaughter.

And walking the dog in the park every morning.

And cooking. Lately, I've been focusing on Middle Eastern food: Homemade hummus, zhug, tabbouli and mujadara.  I'm working on perfecting a gluten free flax seed cracker for dipping. Tomorrow I am going to whip up some baba ganoush!

I am so hungry right now. I am attempting to have a smaller eating window for my intermittent fasting.  I was eating 10:30 to 5:30. Today I ate my last meal at 4:30.  I'd better stop talking about Middle Eastern food (my favorite cuisine!)

On that note, I'm going to try to appease my hunger pangs with a glass of water.

Talk to you tomorrow.  Hopefully we will be seeing some good news!

Love,

Zita




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