February 4, 2021

  • the new year

    The year has begun with a combination of listlessness and sadness. With Rollo gone, my days have more loneliness and grief. My isolation is much more accented now without a companion and in some ways, my days feel more pointless.
    In mid-January, it was found that a leak from my unit was causing water to go into the apartment downstairs, so I had to have a plumber out to fix it, which was quite upsetting with the fear of his bringing Covid in with him. No one has been in my apartment since last March, not even my sister and that made it a safe space. All that was threatened by the plumber. After he left, I used a can and a half of Lysol spray and tons of disinfectant wipes to clean every area he was in. The 14 days from his visit is almost up and so far I’m alright, though I think the excessive Lysol irritated my asthma, but my inhaler is keeping it manageable.
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    I watched in horror as the mobs stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, looking like some Eastern European overthrow attempt. It’s frustrating that the memory of that incident is being swept under the rug by people trying to rewrite history. Though that’s what they were doing in the first place.
    But I did enjoy the Inauguration of a new President on Jan. 20th. The modified ceremony was still moving and full of pageantry and was more interesting than usual with the varied performances and personalities. I especially enjoyed the poem by Amanda Gorman and the Pledge of Allegiance done in ASL.
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    My art projects are progressing at varying speeds. But when I saw that Twitter was having an art challenge for drawtheoceans featuring rays, I worked all weekend to finish a postcard sized picture of a manta ray so I could be included. Health problems kept me awake Sat. night and I used my time to work on the drawing, figuring out a new technique for the skin tones of the ray. My larger drawing of Canada geese is about half done, but working pretty well.
    I’ve been trying to set short term goals, but even small ones are hard to meet sometimes, as I’m so tired and lack energy these days. I was dealing with isolation pretty well before, but it’s been more difficult since Rollo has been gone. I hope this feeling isn’t permanent.