Sunday, January 17, 2021

 Sunday, January 17, 2021

            I went to bed late last night because I watched the end of Blackbird. The alarm went off at 5:30, but I stayed in bed till 7. I went for my walk. While the horizon over the ocean was blurred, the top of the mountain was clear. I could see individual treetops. This means that the vog wasn't too bad. However, my eyes are suffering. They itch, and I had some crusting. A cold water dunk helps. I see my eyes getting weaker as I get older. Not good.  

            I called Dorothy when I started on my walk. I had forgotten that Sunday is her yoga morning. She participates in an online yoga class, Essentrics, which she raves about. Her class should have been over 7. The call went right to voicemail. I assumed she was on the phone with someone else. After fifteen minutes, I tried again when she didn't call me back. It went to voicemail.

            While there were many possible explanations: she had turned off her phone, was charging her phone, or was still on the other call, I was starting to get concerned. I called two more times before I finally got hold of her. By that time, I had plans in mind to call someone to go over to her house and find out if she was all right.

            Dorothy lives alone. She has no one who regularly checks in on her. We talk most mornings. That's about as close as it comes. Rather than appreciate that I was concerned, she was somewhat annoyed. She said I should give at least twelve hours before I have someone check in on her. I told her I was only prepared to lie helplessly for two hours. She should start calling to have people check on me after that.

            To that end, I put together a list of people to call in case of an emergency, people who could come and check on me. Yvette lives underneath me and listens for my presence. If something happened, it couldn't go on for too long before she'd notice a problem. I'm still not interested in lying there helplessly for more than two hours. 

            As well as providing Dorothy with a list of names of people who live in my immediate vicinity, I sent all those folks an email asking them to put Dorothy's name and number in their address book, so they didn't dismiss it as a scam call. Dorothy sent me three names, two of whom live in her immediate neighborhood. She also asked those folks to put my name and number in their address book.

            I spent the day washing the tile floors in a large section of the house and working on the updates. I also looked for some more books from St. Patrick's request list. I found four more. Better than nothing. 

            I called Judy to see how she was doing. We're both complaining about brain fog. I can't seem to keep track of what I was planning to do or did. Isolation is part of the problem. I don't have a regular schedule taking me out of the house. However, I do have daily markers. I have scheduled appointments with students I tutor and healing clients. I also note the day and date when I write my daily updates. Nonetheless, my mind feels thin, or is it weak. 

            I had taken a hunk of meat out of the freezer yesterday, intending to cook it today. I thought it might be chicken, but I wasn't sure. By 3:30, I remembered my plan, buttered and seasoned the hunk and put it in the toaster oven to broil. After fifteen minutes, it looked done. Hmm! That didn't sound like a chicken. It also flaked. I suspect it's tuna. I am having trouble preparing food in tasty ways.

            Last night I prepared some frozen General Tao's Chicken. I followed the directions. However, the mix wound up overcooked. I suspect my stovetop runs too hot for their directions. I'm going to make modifications next time. Tonight will be the second night I have poorly prepared food. While I eat to live rather than live to eat, this is a little beyond my level of comfort.   I still ate this tonight. Food is food is food. Its purpose is fueling my body. This poorly cooked food will still do that.