Walking out in the calm before the storm, still quite dark out. Since the time change, I've been trying to see how far I can walk in an hour before I start work. My routines are limited to the distance I can walk. I've probably only taken a bus a handful of times since March. They seem safe enough, but I always wash everything I was wearing and shower after. Mostly I walk to bakeries to get coffee, or a sandwich. Places I'd forgotten about. Wandering through neighborhoods, in general, limits my impact with people not wearing masks. The Lake is about half and half, wearing/not wearing, so I avoid it most of the time.
This morning I walked out to the dock to look at the ducks. Lots of mergansers this year, both Common and Hooded. Also the big flocks of American Wigeons have returned for the winter. The water and sky were calm, but after running a brief errand to pick up coffee and milk, the rain had begun to fall and the wind had kicked up.
We're on lockdown again, like everyone else. It was early, but the store was well-stocked, and not-at-all busy.
I did move in late summer. There was damage to the apartment after I signed the lease, and I am still in limbo regarding the repairs being done (over 2 1/2 months now.) Someone on the top floor set off the sprinkler system on the Sunday night after I signed the lease. My apartment had minimal damage, but still had heaters blasting for almost two weeks, and then they tore out part of my ceiling. The ceiling is now repaired and repainted, but I'm still waiting for the overhead light to be put back up. And a massive plume of dust (paint? plaster?) blew into the apartment a couple of weeks ago that I'm still cleaning up. (It had set off the smoke detectors in the hall, and I had to bust through plastic sealing to get out, and that sucked all the dust in. It was like walking out into a dust storm. Anyway, it settled everywhere.)
Still, with the increasing COVID19 cases, I am glad to be living alone. And I have my own bathroom and kitchen, and don't have to clean up after other people, or worry so much about strangers (minus the workers.) So, I am eating better, and cooking more. Where I work is about three feet from my stove. I've been adjusting on this banana-chocolate-chip-cookie recipe and I made membrillo on Sunday. Four quinces turns into a lot of quince paste! Wish we could still have potlucks, maybe I'll freeze it. Next up, I'm going to tackle bread. I've been trying to get some sourdough starter, but in the meantime, I think I'll try a no-knead bread, I have a tiny counter, so will have to figure something out for kneading space.
The day isn't getting any brighter, I should probably turn on a light.
