The Northwest Files

Pajamalama

Locked down. We’re now in the 14^th week of self-isolation, venturing out only occasionally to shop for essentials. Otherwise, we have nowhere to go and nothing to do when we get there.

This, stretched out now over more than three months, has completely changed the shape of our days.

No laughing, now!

We’re out of bed at about 7 am. That hasn’t changed, that’s been our usual time since we retired.

I wander into the kitchen, turn on the coffee maker. I unplug my iPad and start reading the news while Laura heads outside to get our daily paper.

So far, so good, right? But at this point, we’re still in our pajamas and that’s what’s been different about our routine since the coronavirus started scaring the shit out of us.

As I said above, we have nowhere to go, nothing to do when we get there. No Central Oregon Center for the Arts meetings, no choir rehearsal, very little shopping, no going out to lunch.

The one bright spot is that on Wednesdays, when the housekeeper comes, we head out to see if we can find a minor adventure, one that does not involve being around other people.

Otherwise, we pretty much live in our pajamas, at least for most of the morning, while we consume the news. We sometimes stretch this until 10 a.m. or so, long after we’ve run out of coffee. Being in one’s sleepwear past that point just somehow is unseemly, suggestive of decadence, don’t you think?

That’s OK, we can do decadence, as long as it extends no further than staying in our PJs until 10 and eating an occasional piece of chocolate cake.

That’s another thing. Laura, never one to be still for long, has been baking chocolate-chip cookies. This is good. She does about a batch a week. These batches never, ever, overlap. Why is that I wonder? The thing is, she’d never done this prior to the lockdown.

Like the rest of you, we have no idea how long all this will last. Longer than we’d like, certainly. The news today is that Oregon, our state, has 278 new cases and at least 100 new cases eight of the last 10 days.

Here in Deschutes County, we’ve had 137 cases, total, but no deaths. Bend, population about 100,000 and 15 miles south, is by far the largest city in Central Oregon. It is a blue city. That’s important because blue folks seem more likely to wear masks than folks from red areas.

I think that’s probably one of the reasons our case count has remained relatively low. But Redmond, the closest town to us, about 6 miles to the west, is red. People we see out and about in Redmond tend to not wear masks.

We wear masks. We will continue to do so. We also probably will remain in our self-imposed isolation. That’s because we don’t see this ending anytime soon.

Second wave? Hell, I don’t think we’re done with the first wave.

I just hope we can all stay safe. That means us, and it means you, too. And please, wear a mask! It’s not that I’m sick of wearing pajamas. But I would like to get out and around without the risk of this awful illness. I’m sure you’d like the same.

Enough with pajamalama, as nice as it’s been!

-JFT

A Hard Rain

Dylan told us this was going to happen with his song, “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall.” Now that hard rain is falling, both metaphorically and in reality.

The first part of the storm came in the form of the coronavirus. We were monumentally unprepared for that, thanks to government ineptitude and stupidity.

The second part of the storm came in the form of resounding and righteous protests in the wake of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Another Dylan song seems to reference these troubles. It’s called “Blowin’ in the Wind” (“How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?”).

While all this is happening, here in Central Oregon, we’ve been on the receiving end of our own hard rain, the third part of the storm. It’s come with high winds, lots of rain, thunder and lightning, and hail. Did I say lightning? Lots of it. The cats have been hiding under the bed. I’ve been tempted to get under there with them. It’s the middle of June but the weather is that of our rowdy fall season.

To say that I have been distracted by all this would be an understatement. Never mind that at the best of times, I have a short attention span.

So, when my pals Mike Kicenski and Larry Roberts reminded me that I’ve not posted in The Northwest Files since May 11, well, I was shocked. I had no idea I’d been that lazy.

Except it’s not exactly laziness. It’s more like I’ve been caught up in the dramas that surround us.

First, the coronavirus and Covid-19. As seniors, Laura and I both are at risk to this awful disease. We have been almost completely preoccupied with the task of self-isolation. As I write this, our 13^th week of hiding out is ending. New cases continue to appear in our county and throughout Oregon. So, we don’t go out much. Laura plays a bit of careful golf and we both sneak out once in a while to buy groceries. But with this week’s uptick in cases here, I think we’re going to revert to Instacart for food. We will continue buying wine through the mail. Thanks for that tip, Larry.

So far, we’ve been well. Can we stay well? We plan on doing just that. But you never know.

If all this wasn’t sufficiently disruptive and frightening, along comes the murder of Mr. Floyd and with it, the righteous anger of what seems like most of the American community. At least those with an ounce of compassion.

I watch very little television, but I read newspapers and magazines. It’s tough to not be touched in all this, tough to not be angry, impossible for me to not support the Black Lives Matter movement.

The result of all this is that I have been frozen by concern and outrage. Sit at my computer to try to write something? I completely forgot about doing that. I didn’t mean to, not least because writing is, for me, a way to scrub off a bit of anger and concern, a way to feel better.

As I’ve mentioned to my pals Mike and Larry, I get very little response to these posts. That’s OK, I write them mostly for myself. But apparently Larry and Mike, and perhaps a few others, do read them. Mike tells me that the posts he likes best are the ones written when I’m pissed off.

I’m a pretty mild person so rarely am I truly pissed off. Nevertheless, I promise to write more frequently, pissed off or not. Right now, I’m very angry indeed about police brutality and about the way we treat black people and other people of color.

If I can figure out a way to write about that isn’t condescending and stupid, I will. In the meantime, I think I’ll listen to some Bob Dylan.

-JFT