The first time felt like when I walk on hot sand on a beach. Waves foam onto the sand, then recede, leaving tiny little holes in the wet sand. It looks inviting, so I tentatively dip my toes into the water, and a feeling akin to pain and shock moves up from the soles of my feet, and I quickly step back onto the hot sand. Again I put in my whole foot, then the other one, and then ... with a gasp I run in and dunk my whole body and stand up feeling refreshed and exhilarated.
Well, this is a bit of an exaggeration - I have not put in my whole body as yet, but yes, my toes are testing the water.
My cousin invited me to an outdoor dinner in her lovely garden in the Berkeley Hills.
It took a while for me to decide whether or not to go -
'Where has she been, who has she seen? Has she had any contacts with people outside of her family? - I began an intensive interrogation. After deciding I would go I drove up into the hills wearing a down jacket and socks because the evening was turning into a typical summer evening here in the Bay Area - cold and foggy.
Three of us sat at appropriate social distances around the table, shivering, drinking wine and eating her always delicious food. The evening was delightful. When I left the fog had socked in and I hadn't driven at night in such a long time. As I wound my way down the hills there seemed to be an uncommon amount of animal life, deer, raccoons, skunks.
I recently finished all my knitting projects and was eager to embark on a new project - a sweater. But of course, yarn shops are only open for curbside pickup. If there is one thing I HAVE to feel before I buy it, it is yarn, so I resigned to wait until shops would reopen.
Now there is a marked uptick in infections and quite obviously shops will not be open for a long time. A friend sent me a link to a service offered to knitters - I could arrange for a face time appointment to look at yarns. I decided I would try it, and it turned out to be a pleasant experience and I purchased yarn and went to pick it up curbside a few days later. I was really apprehensive - what if the texture and the colour both weren't OK. I parked outside the shop, donned my mask, knocked on the door and a hand appeared from behind the door and handed me a bag. Muffled exchanges of greetings and thanks, back into the car and I took out a skein - perfect! The colour is lovely and the yarn indeed felt soft and inviting, just as I had requested.
Maybe this new life will work!
