I'm a Pioneer Woman Now

Another day at a social distance. I’m kind of getting used to it actually. I woke more tired than usual (but hey, I woke up and that’s what matters, right?). Coughed a bit and wondered for a while if it was a “dry cough” then decided it’s the same allergies cough I always have.

I did some yoga. I had a meeting with my colleagues. They met Harlow.

Part way through the meeting, Devin, who is in the white shirt and tie in the photo above, put his phone up to take a picture of all of us on the screen. I just nearly smiled big and threw him a peace sign, almost as a reflex. I texted Devin to tell him what I had just stopped myself from doing, and I watched him while he read the text subtly, and smiled. We then smiled at each other on the screen, no one else knowing the joke or noticing our interaction.

Secret jokes in from of everyone are fun.

Speaking of Devin. Devin is one of our exceptional video producers at Boston University. He made the video of a professor remote teaching. Sara did the writing and I took the still photos throughout the text.

You can see it by clicking here.

It’s easy to see why this professor is a favorite among students!

I’m not a huge bread eater but last night I decided that since I didn’t have any I really needed some. So, I looked up a recipe for No Knead Bread. I whipped up the dough, left it overnight and managed to actually have a loaf of bread by earl afternoon! I am a pioneer woman now!

One of these days I’ll be brave enough to try Swiss Stopf which is a lovely braided bread that Reeli, my aunt/godmother is a pro at.

I sewed some more masks today too. It’s funny how when things are normal I can come home from work and sit around for hours and watch TV, but now I cannot seem to sit still through one short episode of anything. So, it’s good to have a project. Here are a few masks I made today, and Jen came and picked up about fourteen that I’ve made since I started on (maybe Saturday?).

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She told me that after she left the masks for her friend who is an ICU nurse at Beth Israel Deaconess, the friend later texted “Perfect timing! I am feeling so down today and looking at those just made me cry. That was so incredibly sweet! Thank you so much!”

It’s been a really interesting experience. I went to visit Mom and Dad yesterday, from a distance, and I picked up a bunch of ribbon and cord from Mom because I’d run out. Once I went through the cord that would work, I went online to a website where you can communicate with your neighbors.

People post for all kinds of reasons; recommendations for a good plumber, reporting of a missing cat, alerts to watch our for a coyote that had been spotted. Most recently it’s been a lot of “I saw some people playing pick up basketball. Everybody, please don’t hang out with other! We need to stay away from each other!

I went on there, explained that I was making masks and was looking for grosgrain ribbon and shoelaces, and the responses were so nice! Within three hours I had a bunch of shoelaces dropped on my doorstep and countless offers for more.

It made me realize that right now, people really want to help. Everybody feels so impotent. We are hearing stories about the healthcare system being overwhelmed, and we know someone who knows someone who works at a hospital and is frightened for what’s coming, and we want to help.

When Elizabeth came by and dropped off some things, I came to the porch once she was at her car. We chatted for a bit. I thanked her, she thanked me. Everybody wants to feel connected despite being told to not be, physically.

Anyway, my parents are healthy, my friends are doing well, I’m feeling pretty content/braggy right now.

Here are a few shots from our rather vacant campus

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And then here’s a video of Pluto. Pluto is taking over the internet, as he should because he is adorable and hilarious. He has some words about the “crisis with the two-leggeds”