The COVID Chronicle, June 1-15, 2021

 

June 1 [Tuesday]

[My sister, her son] and Ellie the dog are visiting the Safehouse from Orinda, so we dropped by this evening. Fun times. No masks because we’re all vaccinated. Talks of reestablishing Sunday night Safehouse dinners were broached. As a bonus [my brother and his wife] dropped by unexpectedly while on their evening walk.

 

June 2 [Wednesday]

My quotidian Covid email to Mom ended today. This started during early Shelter In Place last year intending to issue Covid-related encouraging words and to keep her updated on the grandpiglets. I wanted her to be aware of my Covid precautions of mask wearing and the decreasing frequency of my going out for mercantile forays. She was resisting precautions and I thought the likelihood of her abiding would increase with messages of examples rather than lectures. But the Covid-restricted family visits are nearly spent and normalcy is on the horizon. So I purposely ended it and will institute a bi-daily email replacement.

[Note: I reverted back to the daily emails within a few days because she enjoys the daily updates. Turns out I’m the one doing the abiding. Look, she’s my mom so I comply.]

 

June 3 [Thursday]

We’ve taken on an overnight visitor for the first time since 2019. [Wife Klem’s] Cousin Roger is visiting from Grand Junction, Colorado. Good guy. He’s a pleasant break from the everyday routine of our four-person pod. He’s in the spare bedroom, which had been employed as my work room for Skype-related meetings and phone calls. In the interim I take those tasks to the master bedroom.

 

June 4 [Friday]

I went for a walk this morning without a mask or bandana. Another winding back of Covid precautions. I’m done with bandanas on my walks unless I have a mercantile stop like Vons or the pharmacy / post office to mail my Ebay sales.

 

June 8 [Tuesday]

I got fuel for the company car today. First time in more than a year! I’ve been strictly virtual since late March last year and the car sits in the driveway except for it’s weekly spin. I only bought four gallons so the fuel doesn’t just sit in there aging. That should hold for many months at the current rate of consumption.

 

June 9 [Wednesday]

“This is the first time I’ve shaken someone’s hand in a year!” said a bookstore owner to Roger in Torrance. Another Covid wind-down

 

June 10 [Thursday]

Interesting news brewing at work. Office employees are slated to commence with incremental returning to the office in the coming weeks. My colleagues and I are field employees and await the go-ahead to return to our field duties. That ‘return to field’ date has not yet been proposed, so strictly virtual work continues. My pre-Covid work clothes, pullover polo shirts and trousers, are still hibernating in plastic hanging in the closet.

 

June 11 [Friday]

A Getty Center Museum visit today for the four of us and Roger. Security busted me when I demasked to selfie with Van Gough’s Irises. Was told in no uncertain terms that ‘We stay masked at all times.’ 

Really super visit, the Getty, with its beautiful premises and views. [Wife Klem] made reservations online, so when we showed up it was really only sparsely occupied with patrons of the art. A vey good experience with low density. Interior pedestrian foot traffic flow was directed to be only one way, and a few areas were staved off but not really inconvenienced. After all, how much art can you really ingest in one day anyway? 

 

June 12 [Saturday]

Lunch with Andy, my friend from high school. We got reacquainted two months ago when GW passed away, a classmate of ours. We ate inside! Felt unusual dining inside across the table from someone outside my pod. A good afternoon.

 

June 13 [Sunday]

The four of us visit the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum today. This was [the boy’s] choice to close out his birthday week. Fond memories of his years as a youngster and his obsession with dinosaurs.

Another good sparsely populated public outing. [Wife Klem] made online reservations, then we arrived for our morning appointment. The place was not crowded. It was thick on our departure in the parking area with a line of vehicles waiting to get in to the parking area, but not noticeable from the inside as we’d wound through the whole place. This making of reservations for public venues is a positive Covid development guaranteeing the place won’t by overloaded with patrons.

 

[afternoon]

Five Guys for dinner this evening. [Wife Klem] ordered online and I retrieved the tasty burgers. All through the Covid months this restaurant’s tables and chairs have been vacated or pushed to the perimeter making it clear there is no inside dining. The place is gearing up for California’s June 15 re-opening. Tables and chairs have been returned to pre-Covid positioning with ‘no dining’ signs on them, but they’re getting ready. The excitement mounts.

 

June 15 [Tuesday]

California has attained our arbitrary date of Covid obsolescence as announced by Governor Newsom. Masks are now optional for fully vaccinated people with exceptions [i.e., public transportation, health care facilities, schools]. Businesses reopen with optional masking policies chosen by the business owner. I’m anxious to see what kind of experience my next Vons outing yields.