I see you beneath the archway of aerodynamics

[sovay]

Well, so far isolating at home seems to involve a shocking amount of home improvement. The day before yesterday, we cleaned our bathroom, a project which required industrial-grade chemicals and revealed that we will need to re-caulk our tub, and tonight we finally weatherstripped the doors that were never formally sealed off to carve this apartment out of the rest of its pseudo-triple-decker building so much as they were just nailed shut. spatch has reoriented his desk to work more comfortably from home and we have a room-by-room plan for dealing with other locales of chaos, such as the very small, very crowded, very inconveniently placed pantry which needs to hold all our newly purchased dry goods in such a fashion that we can find them again. Also we gravlaxed a pound of salmon in accordance with this recipe which we had been eyeing since last month. I suppose it is possible that we are channeling our stress into physical productivity, but at least it makes for a cleaner house. What's the alternative, anyway? I went for a walk this afternoon; I found it striking that with the exception of a couple of teenagers on bikes and one middle-aged man shouting at everything in the fashion of the chemically impaired, all of my fellow pedestrians—some dog-walkers, some couples, some singletons, none wearing masks but many with scarves over their faces—automatically negotiated one of us steering clear of the other. One of the neighbors with whom we share an entrance, a stairwell, and a landing has begun to cough so audibly that we can hear it in our apartment and I am hoping they just have one of the unpleasant colds that traditionally attended this season before the gate-crashing of COVID-19. I have experienced my first Zoom call. I may find it even more enervating than conversation by phone, but I cannot deny that it will be useful in the weirdness to come, which is already here, which is sufficient, really.

I love this article on the evolutionary value of nonconformist cellular slime molds: "And a fascinating conclusion that follows from our findings is that, at least for slime molds, the decision not to become part of the collective is, in fact, taken collectively."

It's spring and all the earth coming back to life had better mean something.

Comments

[thawrecka]

I've been pleased to notice most walkers making it easy to keep the 1.5 meter distance while I've been out walking, also.

[sovay]

I've been pleased to notice most walkers making it easy to keep the 1.5 meter distance while I've been out walking, also.

Nice! I am glad people are being reasonable where you are.

[asakiyume]

That sounds like a very productive and long-term beneficial way to expel some stress and deal with social distancing.

I loved the slime mold article. It makes great intuitive sense, and I loved the video.

[sovay]

That sounds like a very productive and long-term beneficial way to expel some stress and deal with social distancing.

Thank you. I am looking forward to the point where we have cleaned the house, past tense, and will not need to put so much daily effort into it beyond upkeep. At some point I am going to need just to collapse. (It has not escaped me that I have done almost no writing since this crisis really ramped up and I object to it.)

I loved the slime mold article. It makes great intuitive sense, and I loved the video.

And it's Dictyostelium discoideum, the slime mold of my heart. I know it's not a zero-sum game, but Physarum polycephalum has been receiving so much attention lately, it's nice to see some other eukaryotes receiving the love they deserve.

[asakiyume]

And it's Dictyostelium discoideum, the slime mold of my heart. I know it's not a zero-sum game, but Physarum polycephalum has been receiving so much attention lately, it's nice to see some other eukaryotes receiving the love they deserve. --And this is why I love you Sovay (well, it's one reason)--you say things like this ^_^

[redbird]

Over here in Belmont, two teenage(?) cyclists also made it easy for me to avoid them, walking in the same direction they were riding. The only problem I've had so far was at the corner with the traffic light, where a woman-with-stroller was standing next to the push-button for a walk signal but had neglected to push it. Eventually a man, and I following him, stepped around her to cross Beech Street against a "don't walk" signal.

[sovay]

The only problem I've had so far was at the corner with the traffic light, where a woman-with-stroller was standing next to the push-button for a walk signal but had neglected to push it.

I wonder if she was trying to avoid touching the common surface, hoping the light would change on its own. I'm glad you got across the street safely.

[redbird]

That makes sense; those don't work well when pushed with an elbow.

[sovay]

...I lived in one of those broken-up-house apartments for a decade or so and it never occurred to me to weatherstrip the doors. You are brilliant. (I mean, you are anyway but that is particularly so.)

Thank you! It feels slightly stupid that it took a global emergency for us to get around to it, but at least we finally did. (And it has cut down on the drafts.)

mmmm gravlax mmmmm

However it works out, we will report back!

I hope your neighbor does not have the plague and that your home remains free of it.

Thank you. I hope the same for you.

[nodrog]

> What's the alternative?

Calm.

https://nodrog.dreamwidth.org/2657798.html


(“Keep Calm and Carry On” has been so clipped and counterfeited and debased by so many people that the coin in circulation is worthless - just when it should have value.)

[sovay]

Calm.

My phrasing was intended to indicate, what should we be doing instead, going to pieces? Which we are working on not.

[nodrog]

In any crisis - or even daily life - information is always useful.

https://infection2020.com/
- is the United States by county, and


https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

is wider in compass - indeed, you'll find many things metered there!

[nodrog]

Plus, looking at it now, I sound rather snippy, which is major fail.  Not at all what I was intending!  I do apologize.

[sovay]

I do apologize.

Thank you.

I am an information-oriented person from a scientific family, with a lot of familiarity in medical situations; please rest assured that I am not enduring this pandemic in ignorance just because I am not linking material about it.