Day 65 of our captivity: Free doughnuts

The kid pointed out that today Krispy Kreme was giving out free doughnuts to graduating seniors who showed up to get them, so we drove over to Mountain Viee early and the kid got in line wearing “Class of 2020” regalia.  After a brief wait, the treats were procured.  I cracked up when we opened the box.

Class of 2200.  Hmmm.  That is going to be a long time...

We fixed it, and then promptly ate a couple.  These things are truly sugar bombs.

Day 64 of our captivity: Slight relaxation in sight

A few more businesses around here will be able to open for curbside pickup starting on Friday.  Not enough to feel normal, but probably enough to make the traffic increase.  I can already hear more cars on the nearby streets.  Alas, it will still be quite some time before schools are opened, much less fun activities like inviting friends over for dinner, using the climbing gym or singing with other people.

Day 63 of our captivity: leftover casserole

Tuna noodle casserole was on the menu tonight.  For any normal person, this is straightforward:  dump tuna, noodles, and cream of mushroom soup in a dish and bake.  However, as you well know, we are not normal.  The complicating factors this time (which are normal for us) were:

1) no canned soup in the house

2) leftovers I wanted to use up

You see where this is going...

I ended up making an enriched white sauce to use up the old separated container of cream that emerged from the back of the fridge, and then mixing in a glop of leftover pesto.  After that, I added two cans of tuna, leftover cabbage+spinach, and a jar of marinated artichoke hearts.  For the starch, rather than cooking pasta I threw in leftover millet that had been cooked in duck stock with onion/carrot/celery, and the topped the whole thing with breadcrumbs made out of a stale heel of sourdough.

Way better than “normal” casserole.  Even the teenager concurred :)

Day 62 of our captivity: Music musings

So those of us who sing choral music have been coming to grips that singing in groups looks to be an activity particularly suited to transmission of viruses, between the deep breathing in and droplets exhaled when enunciating consonants.  I don’t expect to get back to singing together in person until there is a vaccine, which could be some time.  In the meantime,, many people are trying to figure out how to sing together virtually.

At this point, the software tools to do this in real time don’t exist — there are some real technical challenges with latency — but there are many groups doing “virtual choir” projects whereby everyone submits an audio file of them singing one part and then some very patient person spends hours editing them all together.  The first one of these I did was with a loose group of singers who occasionally sing with the Albany Consort.  The music is a new piece composed by an acquaintance of the director; he had been meaning to get some people together to sight read it, and ended up doing it virtually.  Somehow, I was on his email list, so I sent him audio for both the alto and tenor parts.  The result, rough though it is, is found here.

The sharp-eyed among you may notice a picture of me with my hurdy-gurdy in the graphic.  The director pulled that from a screenshot of a video file I sent him for a different project.  Suffice it to say, I’ve also been quite enjoying improvising with my hurdy-gurdy along with some harpsichord backing tracks he has recorded, even though I am a rank beginner on that instrument. I’ll pass along any mixes that he publishes from that as they come, as well as projects from other choral groups that are fomenting.

Even though it is not normal, we can still make a joyful noise, even if it is perhaps more noise than one might otherwise strive for... That is also liberating, as one has plenty of good excuses for things to be a bit rough!

Day 61 of our captivity: Metal

Chad made a brief excursion today to pick up some metal for a welding project.  It came in 20-foot chunks...so he took a bright red Christmas bow to tie on the back!

It was also the first time we had to buy gasoline in two months, and the truck was less than half full back when things shut down.

Day 60 of our captivity: Temporary insanity?

Today, Chad ordered a bandsaw.  I’m trying not to think about where it will be put.  Temporary insanity due to pandemic may be setting in, after two months of being stuck at home...

Day 59 of our captivity: Imaginary Vacation

Chad and I got out for a mountain bike ride of substance this afternoon.  35 miles and a big hill of substance, to be precise.  Granted, some of those miles were on pavement to get to the trails, but it still felt like an adventure.

The weather helped.  We had the unusual-for-us conditions of 70-degree temperatures and off-and-on drizzle, leading to damp air that didn’t feel oppressively hot and humid.  Combined with the still-lush spring flush of vegetation, the damp forest smells, and the pervasive birdsong, the weird weather made us both feel like we might be somewhere more exotic than home as we slogged up the hill.  Maybe New Zealand.  Or, after a whiff of blackberry blossoms, surely the Pacific Northwest.  Definitely not home.

Or maybe we are just yearning for a time when a vacation might be possible...

Day 58 of our captivity: Colorful breakfast

Breakfast was exceptionally colorful this morning.

Day 57 of our captivity: Refi

Our refinance loan is finally done.  Yay!  We locked in a bizarrely low rate back in March, and it took until now to jump through all of the hoops and get the paperwork all signed and sealed. We were able to submit everything electronically, and a notary from the title company showed up last week for the final signing.  I set up the card table in the front courtyard so we could do it outside :)