The New Normal / Weeks 07, 08, 09, and 10

[magnetic_pole]

Folks, I owe comments on my last post and need to catch up with the flist, but I wanted to say hello and write something here before I fell too far behind.

Weeks 07, 08, 09, and 10 have been very quiet.


I might have had Covid. I started feeling sick during the week of May 4th, hit that flat-on-my-face-in-bed, oblivious-to-the-world state during the Week of May 11th, missed about ten days of life, and started feeling better this past Friday and Saturday. I'm not quite 100%, but I'm definitely on the mend. I talked to the doctor via Zoom once but never had any of the most serious symptoms, including problems breathing, thank goodness. In any case, I'm happy and grateful to be feeling better now, whatever the illness was. (My health insurance group has a testing site in DC, but it's only accessible by car in a distant part of the city, so, after a conversation with the doctor about the risks and effort involved in getting a test and how a result it was unlikely to change my behavior, I decided not to get tested. Perhaps it was something else entirely.) Unfortunately, now R seems to be coming down with something. Fingers crossed it's just a cold. She's a lot tougher than I am.

In part because of the above, there is not a single thing of interest to report from this end, unfortunately. The semester has wrapped up and the summer research and writing period has begun. I continue to be ridiculously, childishly disappointed about the lack of swimming opportunities, but that won't last forever. In the meantime, I'm going to get walking again as soon as I feel better. (I'm getting to know the three-mile radius around my apartment very well, including the paths and trails leading into the large public park nearby.)

Let me offer a few goodies before I sign off:

*** I'm almost embarrassed to make a baked goods recommendation here, because I didn't do the baking myself and I know so many of you are excellent bakers in your own right, so who am I to recommend anything to you? But this is a truly extraordinary simple chocolate cake I recommend wholeheartedly:

King Arthur's Original Cake Pan Cake (There's an icing recipe, but the cake was heavenly even without.)




Are these peonies? The color was so striking in person-- a bit darker than what you see here.





*** Thanks to therealsnape, we're having a final week of discussions over at covidcoffeecorner--please come join us!

Hope you are all well, folks!

Comments

[therealsnape]

So glad to see you around again! I hope R will be well soon - if whatever you had was contagious, there is a chance she'll have it too, of course. But perhaps it is just a cold.

Aren't the peonies fantastic? I love that colour in yours. I've been given a bunch by good friends, and they lasted a week and went from flaming pink to yellow. Blooms the size of a saucer.

Those other flowers are delightful, too. I love the red and white ones.

I'm walking a bit, too. We can go wherever we please, and there is always something interesting to see just walking around in town.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks for the well wishes, T! R's got all the symptoms I had in the first four or five days, but my fingers are crossed, because she's rarely sick enough to be bedridden. She may fight this off yet.

As I just said to ME below, I'm a newcomer to peony fandom. It was all roses when I was growing up--not sure if that's true of California, generally, or just the influence of my father, who managed to grow some beautiful roses in our tiny backyard. (All the while telling us horrific stories about the use of DDT and other chemicals during his postwar childhood).

Yours went from flaming pink to yellow?!? Wow. That must have been lovely. M.

[minervas_eule]

Oh, I am sorry to hear you have been sick, but once it is done with there is a reasonable hope one will never have to worry about it again..
How lucky we are to live in video-chats with our doctors-times!

My peonies are opening up as well: I have huge, white ones and smaller red ones. They smell so nice in a vase, in addition to looking georgious.

[minervas_eule]

Oh, and the blue flower is called "Jungfer im Grünen" in German, which translates to Virgin in the Green :-).

[smallhobbit]

We call them Love-in-a-mist. Technically I believe they are termed Nigella.

[magnetic_pole]

Aha! Thank you. I'd meant to ask if anyone recognized them--I knew so little I wasn't even sure how to go about searching for their name online. M.

[magnetic_pole]

Thank you! M.

[magnetic_pole]

I'm a newcomer to peony fandom....I'm not sure if they weren't common in California, where I grew up, or if I just never noticed them. They are truly spectacular.

Thanks for the well-wishes! I hate complaining around these parts because I'm basically doing fine, but I realized I hadn't even looked at DW or my fannish email for about three weeks, which might be the longest I've gone since I first found fandom. I've missed you all. M.

[smallhobbit]

Lovely flowers.

Wishing you well with a full recovery soon.

[magnetic_pole]

Thank you so much! (And lovely icon, yourself.) M.

[torino10154]

So sorry to hear you were ill!! Glad you're doing better though. <3 Lovely flower pics!

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks, T. What a month!

Glad you enjoyed the flowers! I don't know if it's actually been a spectacular spring around here or if I'm just enjoying the blooms more than usual because I'm not doing much...but either way, I'm enjoying it. M.

I'm glad you're feeling better

[jesse_the_k]

One thing I'm grateful for is this safer-at-home business has increased my ability to love on the many gifts nature provides. Just 7 days ago, our oak trees hosted tiny gray-green buds. Now they're sporting leaves bigger than my hand. Every time I glance out the window, I'm delighted all over again.

(Ants are the nasty trolls of peony fandom.)

Re: I'm glad you're feeling better

[magnetic_pole]

The re-leafing of the trees is the unsung miracle of spring. I'm just across the way from some oaks (oaks?) that are bigger and taller than the six-story apartment they're near, and watching them come back online in full force is awesome. M.

[musesfool]

I'm sorry you were sick but I'm glad you're doing better!

Lovely flowers.

[magnetic_pole]

Thank you! And I hope the flowers brightened the start of the work week for you. Only wish I could pass a slice of cake through this comment, as well. M.

[nachodiablo]

Glad you're feeling better! And hope it's just a cold <3

I love that cake! I've made similar versions and its super easy and always comes out moist and perfect, more reliable than fancier recipes imho.

Flowers look so pretty and bright, very much appreciated today, thanks for sharing :D

[magnetic_pole]

You know the cake recipe! I have the feeling it's going to become a staple for us. "Always moist and perfect" sounds hard to argue with.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the flowers! M.

[pauraque]

I'm glad you're feeling better! In retrospect, I've been wondering if the horrendous "flu" I had in February was actually Covid, now that the experts are thinking it was probably going around long before March.

Thanks for the pretty flower pics!

[magnetic_pole]

I've been wondering if the horrendous "flu" I had in February was actually Covid

I saw you had posted about that earlier this month or last! I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a complete rewriting of the time table on the pandemic.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the flowers! We all need a bit of joy these days. M.

[ancientreader]

Ah, the flowers are gorgeous!

The whole issue of testing is complicated -- it's valuable on a population basis, but the false-negative rate is so high that on an individual basis, if you have symptoms consistent with covid during a covid pandemic, you've got covid. And, as you say, it's not as though a test result would (or should) change your behavior. I'm just glad you've recovered, and I hope that R only has a cold.

I do have a hot tip should R (or anyone) turn out to have covid & have shortness of breath: proning, i.e. lying on the stomach. This is straight from the hospital covid wards, where it's done to help people fill their lungs better than they can do while sitting or while lying on their backs.

King Arthur flours are among the very few brand-name products I'm willing to shell out extra for, and their recipes are excellent! I'm not surprised the cake is rec-worthy. :^)

[magnetic_pole]

Proning! Thank you. I'd read about this just the other day and couldn't remember the scientific term for it. (I'd described it to R as "tummy time" for Covid patients.)

Are you feeling better, I hope? I'll be by soon to catch up and see if you've posted about your own experience.

King Arthur flours are among the very few brand-name products I'm willing to shell out extra for

Exactly! We discovered KAF while living in KAF's home state, where there were many fervent apostles, and it still took years to change our thinking on this one.

I hope you are doing better, A. M.

[ancientreader]

More on the subject of KAF, because I still boggle at this. I make a lot of vegan banana bread, because we have a dear vegan friend who can't do much with her hands and loves banana bread, and to my own amazement I found a good recipe for it. Anyway, I got some KAF super cheap because it had been mispriced and the store honored the label, and holy shit was that first batch of KAF bb excellent. A fluke, I thought. Then the second batch was just as good. And the third batch. And then I baked some nonvegan cookies with KAF. And that was me sold. I don't know what the fuck they're doing with the wheat over there, but they should keep it up.

[magnetic_pole]

holy shit was that first batch of KAF bb excellent

This is what we think every time we have a KAF baked good. It's a very strange phenomenon, but I've gone the route of "just enjoy it" and "pay the extra, goddamn it, life is short." :) M.

[semielliptical]

So glad you are mostly feeling better! That sounds like a pretty awful time. Best wishes that R has a relatively easy course of whatever illness it is.

Lovely flower photos! There is a large peony garden in a nearby town, and they've asked people not to come see the blooms this year to avoid the usual large crowds. But I can still enjoy all of the flowers around my neighborhood.

[magnetic_pole]

I can't get over how lovely the peonies are. I'm a late-comer to appreciating flowers (embarrassingly, I could only name a few up until my 40s) and I don't know how I made it to middle age without being aware of them!

Hope you're well, Semi. What a year. One disaster after another. M.

[semielliptical]

I am doing fine! Which means, angry and sad, but coping.

I just saw this, and thought it might be up your alley? Comparing Atget's photographs of Paris streets and buildings from the early 20th century with today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/world/europe/paris-atget-coronavirus.html

[magnetic_pole]

So much up my alley that I was reading this very article just before coming here to check DW! You know me so well. :) Thank you.

Coping is good. Hang in there, S. M.

[walgesang]

Glad to hear you're feeling better and hopes that R only has something mild, if anything! *hugs*

Beautiful flowers! It always amazes me how gigantic peonies are.

[magnetic_pole]

Poor R is in bed right now, which is a sign something's really wrong--she's a night owl. Well, hopefully it'll all be over quickly, since she's quite tough, too.

Peonies are *amazing.* I can never get enough!

Thanks, H. Hope you're doing okay, too. M.

[walgesang]

Keeping you both in my thoughts for a swift recovery! ♥

[magnetic_pole]

Thank you! <3 M.

[paulamcg]

So good to hear that you’re better – and to see your gorgeous flowers!

[magnetic_pole]

Thank you! And I'm glad you enjoyed the flowers. Their color brought me so much joy. M.

[liseuse]

I'm glad to hear you're feeling better! I hope R starts to feel better soon.

Those peonies are gorgeous.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks, L! I feel like I lost the entire month of May.

And aren't they? So lovely. Say hi to F for me! M.

[adafrog]

Glad you're getting better.
That cake looks delicious!
Gorgeous flowers.

[magnetic_pole]

I can't recommend the cake highly enough, if you like chocolate cakes! It was a where-has-this-been-all-my-life kind of moment.

And thank you. :) M.

[secretsolitaire]

Yikes, I'm glad you're starting to feel better. Thanks for sharing the pretty flowers!

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks, S! Hope you're well. M.

[kelly_chambliss]

The flowers are gorgeous, and I'm so sorry to hear that you were sick. It does sound Covid-like, but as you say, it doesn't sound as if you'd have changed your behavior if you'd known one way or the other.

My only advice would be not to push yourself too hard during the recovery period. Slow and easy is the way to take it.

Sending hopes that R will be better soon.

[magnetic_pole]

Thanks so much, K, both on my behalf and R's. As expected, R had a few early symptoms, a few days of being genuinely sick (in this case, can't-get-out-of-bed sick), and now is just a bit tired. She's got to be eleven notches tougher than I am.

As you well know, I'm lucky enough to be able to take it easy right now, post grading, pre writing, which is helping enormously.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the flowers! This year spring has been gorgeous, and the flowers especially healing. M.