Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO320 “Deck Class” Cedar Park, 2020
Today we had a little bit of a scheduling challenge at home. Bay had to give a presentation at the same time that Koa had a band meeting/class. Of course, band instruments can be very loud, but luckily, Koa was able to attend the session from the backyard. 😀 Bay’s presentation went well, with no Internet connection issues while he was presenting, and Koa was able to join in with his band. With the current situation of “sheltering at home” during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ll just have to take these situations one at a time. It’s honestly not too much of a problem, all things considered.
Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/30 sec, ISO124 “Neighborhood Dinos” Cedar Park, 2020
This morning I went out for a jog around the neighborhood, and there were a few things different about today’s run. First, there was a light rain. I almost turned back and went home because the skies were threatening to unleash a downpour, but the temperature was warm so I decided to carry on thinking it would be a good experience, at least, to see what the challenges of running in the rain would be. Who knows, it could be rainy on marathon day, right?
Another thing that made this morning’s run different was that there were no cars on the street. I ran for 51 minutes, and only saw one gardener’s truck parking at the front of a house to do some work. The lack of cars was both refreshing and eerie. I could run down the middle of the street (and did so a few times) without worry.
Lastly, as I was lamenting the fact that the rain washed away all of the sidewalk and driveway chalk art, I came across the dinosaurs in the photo above, wearing their masks and practicing proper social distancing. That put a big smile on my face!
After powering up the small hill near the house, I finished the run and felt really good. I was wet from the rain, and my feet were soaked through, but I felt totally energized. 😀
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/4, 1/40 sec, ISO800 “Making Pasta” Cedar Park, 2020
During the “Shelter In Place” life we are living because of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost everyone is cooking at home more. Today, Koa helped Mariko make pasta using the KitchenAid mixer pasta attachment. The noodles came out great, and were a nice change from dry pasta. I guess because we have gained back all the hours we normally spend on out-of-house activities that there is more focus and intentional effort given to the everyday tasks. Maybe it’s just because there are less tasks that we are available to us… I’m not sure, but I’ve seen it in other things too, like planting our seedlings, veggies, and herbs, house-cleaning, and getting outside for walking, running, or bicycling.
This may seem like a positive, and I think there are good habits being formed or reinforced, but also it’s been pretty hard on a lot of people whose livelihoods depend on people going out of the house. For instance, the restaurant businesses have been suffering and I feel so sorry for them. I guess we all just want life to return to normal so we can do things like socialize, go to movies, resume school classes, concerts, dine out, and go hiking/camping.
In the meantime, we’ll just cope at home – and homemade pasta can help with that. 😀
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO500 “Pasta” Cedar Park, 2020
By the way, Lani also like when we make pasta because she’ll occasionally get lucky with a stray noodle.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/4, 1/35 sec, ISO800 “Hoping” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec, ISO200 “Bike and Bluebonnets” Cedar Park, 2020
Our local guidelines for living under the COVID-19 lockdown state that we are permitted to go outside for exercise, such as jogging or bicycling, and I’ve actually been doing both. Since we are supposed to stay at least 6 feet away from others, I only run on the neighborhood streets where I can easily avoid the sidewalk or go to the other side of the street. And when I go bicycling, I stick to the roads so there’s plenty of distance from pedestrians out for their walks. (I pulled my bike off the street so I could take the photo of the bluebonnets!)
For the most part, everyone has been very friendly – plenty of waves and “hello”s. Which is nice, because the reports of increased incidents of racism towards Asian-Americans have kind of kept me on-edge when I see others out in the neighborhood. Our city is pretty diverse and tolerant, but it only takes one person, right? Anyways, let’s keep it nice and cool, shall we?
Today I drove down to Houston to pick up my son from college. As with most schools, Rice is closing the dormitories and is moving all of its classes to an online format. We are fortunate that Bay’s school is close enough to reach by car (3 hours) so we could move all his things back home. For the students who need to fly home, it’s very complicated. Many had already flown home for Spring Break, and will now have to fly back to move out. In order to make it easier, the university has PODS set up by the dorms for the students to store the thing they will not take back home.
Bay’s stuff fit into the back of my car (with no room to spare!) and the trip was uneventful. But being on-campus was an eerie experience. There were only a couple of other people moving out at the same time, and they were somber and quiet. Of course we have to practice social distancing as well, so it’s a forced, awkward situation all around. Still, a college campus should be full of life and excitement, but instead was kind of a ghost town.😞
Here are a couple of more photos from the drive. Today was kind of like entering into a new kind of reality, which I suppose is the way it truly is. Take care, everyone!
