Four weeks of self limited life due to Covid, Dec. 13, 2021 to Jan. 7, 2022

After returning from Spain on the 12th, I observed that everywhere I looked, Covid numbers were increasing. So we started to narrow the scope of our activities.

When I was out walking the dog, I saw that there were problems on 7th Street - I never did find out what was wrong, just that there was a lot of work and water on the west side of 7th Street.

On Tuesday the 14th, I did my regular day at the DBG, and even though outside, I wore my mask all of the time there except for lunch.  I took some daylight photos of the Chihuly exhibits that were outside.

While out walking with Megan and Piper, I took photos of the downed line and notified APS of the issue - the line had been down for several weeks, but it was good to have them come and check it out (APS did move it back from the street, but left it there).

We installed a new cellular shade in the second bedroom - this one is an up/down shade that combines both light filtering and room darkening.

 

 

My sister Helen sent us a nice floral centerpiece for Christmas.

I met Denise in Europe, at English immersion programs in Poland and Spain, but had never met her in the USA.  She had lived and worked in Massachusetts for many years, but then during Covid moved to Vermont to be near her daughter and grandkids.  She got a job with the Burlington School Department.  After a year, she left that job and started to travel again - between visits to family and friends around the USA, she stopped in Phoenix and we had lunch at the DBG.  She had this nice towel with a map of Vermont as a gift for me, so Patty and I hung it in our laundry room.  This photo also shows the new mixer that Patty got.

 

 

On the 16th, I attended the memorial service for my friend Ken - he died on his 86th birthday, the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving.  I was honored to be asked to speak as the representative of the Tuesday DBG Docents, so I went in my Docent uniform.  Ken's middle initial was F, so I focused on the F words - Farmer,  Father, Federal bureaucrat, member of our armed Forces who like me served in Germany where we chased the Frauleins, etc.  It was truly a nice celebration of his Ken's life.

 

On Monday the 20th, I was at the DBG to help light the 8,000 candles for Luminaria - there was no wind or rain, so we finished in less than an hour.

 

The next day, Tuesday the 21st, after my day at the DBG and the monthly Carlyle HOA board meeting, I found out that one of the docents that was at the memorial Thursday had tested positive for Covid and I had been at the same table with her. So I did three antigen tests over the next five days and all were negative.

Piper continues to delight and amuse us - she really is a very loving and fun dog.

Via Whatsapp, I continue to maintain contact with the groups from my November and December times with Vaughan Town.  Here is one of the funny comments.

Patty, Megan and I had a quiet Christmas. Day together, including a video call with Ben and Martha.  One of the gifts Patty got me was a selection of cheeses from Utah - all very good and all quickly eaten.

I saw this bumper sticker while out walking the dog, looked it up on line and found the weird story behind it.

Our Ikea kitchen has lights that come on when the drawers open.  One of them died and we found they no longer make that item.  So I went to the Ikea store in Tempe (the only one in the Phoenix metro area) and verified which one was the replacement and that they.did not have any in stock.  I was told that some would be coming in January and that I could look up the number and put an alert in the system so that when they arrived, I could get the alert and could then go to the store to get one.

We had a unknown, lazy neighbor who did not put their boxes in the recycling dumpster, so when the dumpster was emptied, the boxes slid just enough to be trapped by the dumpster, leaving a mess.  I had to cut them away from where they were jammed and then put this notice up on the community bulletin board.

 

 

McFarland's Rug Cleaners were closed from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3 for the holidays, so on my first visit they were closed.  When I returned on the 3rd, they were understaffed as the owners had come down with Covid (apparently from a family gathering) and only some of the employees were there.  So our three rugs from Nepal and a fourth from the master bedroom will be there for 4 - 5 weeks instead of the usual 2 - 3 weeks for cleaning.

Patty and I returned to Flagstaff on Wednesday the 5th.  We knew it had snowed a couple of times, so I had about 5 - 6 inches of crusty packed snow to shovel from our driveway.  Here is the sidewalk around the corner from our home.

Winter has caused us to gather the appropriate items to have in the car in case of an emergency.

Because of the increased numbers of Covid cases, I have decided not to restart going to my Silver Fit classes - even with my wearing a mask, being inside around others who are exercising without masks does not seem safe.  Traveling has been canceled.  Fuller Center for Housing canceled the build in Puerto Rico so my Jan. 22 - 30 trip is gone.  Since the CDC has Spain and Czech Republic on level 4 to avoid travel there, I canceled out of English Immersion programs there in February.

That leaves us at home with limiting our outings to quick shopping trips, medical appointments and picking up meals to go, all while wearing masks.  We are trying to get out and walk each day as we need to continue to exercise.   Happy 2022!!