UP-date on the lock-DOWN

Bonnie a few years ago in an art class at the Crown Center

How are you coping?

The Crown Center sent out an email last week asking, "How Are You Coping?"  It featured four residents, and I was one of them:

"Bonnie Jacobs uses her blog to reflect on what’s happening in the world at large, and in her world at Crown Center and beyond.  Her daily posts that often include the antics of her cat Clawdia, provide continuity of community between friends and neighbors during this crisis.  And if you’re looking for the name of a good book, Bonnie’s the one to ask.  Keep blogging, Bonnie."

Sharon

Sharon, my neighbor at the other end of the hall, who is also Clawdia's good friend, was another.  Sharon, being tech savvy, now uses Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, and GChat to study Torah, practice yoga, attend her cancer support group, and keep in touch with her family.  Miriam Roth was shown FaceTiming with one of her graddaughters, and I learned that Sandy Moreno got a list of people born in April so she could wish a Happy Birthday to those who would miss having a Birthday Bash.  Every month, we have a party with cupcakes and ice cream and a musical group brought in to play for us, so we can party with that month's birthday people.  This year, I got a call from Sandy (and others) instead of cake and ice cream and music.  Sandy is very thoughtful.  So is her daughter, Tricia Falmer, who provided face masks for every person at the Crown Center last week.  I have great friends and neighbors, don't I?

Clawdia is coping with the lockdown by finding unique places to sleep, like in the opening of her upside-down box.  New boxes are so much fun, if you are a cat.  She also likes sitting in an open window, looking down at the birds in the tree tops and watching people walking by on the sidewalks, sometimes social distancing themselves with one on the sidewalk and one out in the street.  I have had our windows open more this week, since the pollen count is not nearly as bad as it was when it was driving me crazy a week or so ago.

I got a call Friday morning from Pamela, and we chatted for about an hour and a half.  She's one of the Café volunteers, who has now become a Facebook friend.  Later, I got a call from Emily, one of two university students living in the Crown Center with us.  It's nice to have the young people residing here.  Emily, who is finishing up her Master's degree, exercised with a group of us on Friday afternoons before Crown's public places needed to be closed for our health.  I had called her yesterday to let her know there's a package for her on the delivery table downstairs.  I took Faye her prescription that had been dropped off at that table and called when I got back home to let her know I'd hung it on her door knob.

Linguine with chicken livers

Donna suggested we order dinner from Pasta House, a couple of blocks away.  Restaurants are closed here during the lockdown, but they still do pick-up orders.  So I placed an order online, donned a face mask and blue glove, and took my cart out for a walk.  People were waiting in several cars in the parking lot when I arrived and called the restaurant to bring my order out to me.  It's really a strange new world we're living in right now, isn't it?  I brought home eggplant parmigiano, a salad, and fresh broccoli for me; Donna got pasta linguine with chicken livers, a salad, and her favorite dessert — tiramisu.  Nothing like having dinner "together" in our own apartments in separate buildings.  But the food was good, and we'll probably do it again occasionally.

With all that time I spent talking on the phone, it started beeping at me that the battery was down to nothing, so I had to (once again) recharge my phone in the middle of the day.  Then I had to recharge ME — in other words, sleep — before I finally finished composing this post that I mostly wrote yesterday.

Recipe for Date Torte

While under lockdown at home, I've been cleaning out boxes of old papers and came across a 3x5 card with a recipe for Date Torte in my mother's handwriting.  The second line on the card says this recipe is "From the kitchen of" and Mom wrote "Ruby Thayer."  Ruby was mother's cousin, who lived with mother's family after her mother died.  So it's a family recipe, even though I don't remember Mother ever making it.  Here's the recipe, just as my mother wrote it.

1 cup dates — diced
1 cup English walnuts — chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
Bake 275° — 50 minutes

I chose the illustration above from an online search because it seems to have similar ingredients, but I have not yet made Ruby's date torte.  I'm putting the recipe here, so I can find it later and try making it.  It seems simple enough.  Want a taste of it?

Stay mentally active

A fun way to maintain strong mental health during this lockdown is to play mind-stimulating games and solve riddles.  How many of these can you solve?  (I'll give you the answers at the end of this post.)

1.  Where is the ocean the deepest?
2.  If you were running a race, and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place are you in now?
3.  If you have me, you might want to share me.  But if you share me, you will no longer have me.  What am I?
4.  What gets wetter as it dries?
5.  There are three apples on the table, and you take two away.  How many apples do you have now?

Take a virtual tour

If there is ever a time we need a dose of beauty and inspiration, it’s now.  You can tour the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park (the Kraus House) from home.  Just click on the blue link.

Answers to the riddles:

1.  On the bottom.
2.  Second place, since you didn’t pass the first place runner.
3.  It’s a secret.
4.  A towel.
5.  You have the two you took away.

Blogging, getting outside, and looking at swag

Today, Google posted this image.  When I scrolled over it, these words appeared:

Stay Home.  Save Lives : Help Stop Coronavirus

Look at the letters.  The first G is reading a book.  The two Os are making music, one singing and the other playing the guitar.  The second G is talking on a cellphone with the final E, and the L between them is exercising with two weights.  Thanks, Google.  What are YOU doing to keep busy and/or entertain yourself?

GETTING OUTSIDE

At 2:00, the temps here in St. Louis reached 73, so I opened the windows for Clawdia (and me).  She jumped up on the windowsill to look down at the budding trees below our windows, and I went to shower (finally, in mid-afternoon) so I could take her out for a breath of fresh air and a walk in the grass.

DR. FAUCI SWAG

No, really!  You can now buy Dr. Anthony Fauci swag, like mugs, socks, fan club buttons, lawn signs, candles, cushions, and tee-shirts.  Fauci is now saying he doesn't know why the United States hasn’t instituted a nation-wide stay-at-home order amid the spread of COVID-19.

VIRUS ECONOMICS

"Virus economics" is a term I heard today, uttered by Austan Goolsbee on CNN.  He's an economics professor, who says (I'm paraphrasing), "We have to fix the virus problem before we can fix the economics problem."  I don't have to tell you how many people have suddenly lost their jobs because we're staying home and not shopping and traveling and meeting in large groups.  We are all either feeling lost in the middle of so many changes or feeling that lots of folks around us THINK they are experts.  Let's listen to the experts.

CONNECTING

The lobby in my building is now COMPLETELY empty, unlike the day I discovered the "shocking" almost-empty lobby a couple of weeks ago and took a photo.  Instead of two chairs and a few table, there are no pieces of furniture at all except the little table with hand sanitizer and a lamp on it.

So now we call each other.  My neighbor Faye came home from the hospital Wednesday, so I called her yesterday and talked for almost half an hour.  Tiny, Susan, and Pamela called me, and I called to wish David and Sharon a happy anniversary yesterday.  I read what a neighbor has written on her Beverly's Notebook blog (she's not as wordy as I am), and showed Helen how to solve the visual puzzle I'd posted (click the link to do it yourself or read the comments for the long, convulated way to get the right answer).

I've been in touch with several people on Facebook and by texting, like Rosy and Lauree, who sent pictures of her cats.  While I was typing this, I got a text from Sharon down the hall:

"Fresh cornbread outside your door."

And it was still warm!  I ate it immediately, with a glass of good cold milk.  Clawdia thought I should share, until I put a crumb in front of her and she changed her mind.  She was trying to take a bite (or maybe just sniff) before she noticed the camera aimed at her.

April foolishness? Not much of that around here

Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)

ACTIVITIES

Google has assembled links to many, many museums all over the world in their Arts and Culture collection.  You could spend days exploring the world.  Even just looking through the list of places could take hours.  Pleasurable hours.  Take a look.  I noticed that the World Chess Hall of Fame here in St. Louis is on the list.  Clarence House in London may be of interest to my Brit-loving friend Joy.  One called Frogs and Friends in Germany may intrigue a child bored by having to stay home all day, every day — and it may be fun for the inner child in each of us.  You can choose to visit museums in the Netherlands, Croatia, Mongolia, Israel, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Italy (yes, it's safe to visit Italy online), Slovakia, Denmark, Brazil, Spain, Japan, Sweden, and (oh, yes) the United States.  And that's just a tiny sampling of what Google has put together.

View from one of my windows in 2014

CONNECTING

Once again, my neighbor Galina and I talked across our hallway when David delivered three meals to each of us.  The 2-page information sheet he also brought gives tips for getting through this time of isolation.  Here are a few, summarized:

• Washers and dryers are now free for us to use, but please take turns being in the laundry rooms in order to practice social distancing.
• Take turns using the elevators, too.  Not all jammed in together.
• Allow only one crucial caregiver to visit, not family or friends or other guests.
• If you have gloves and a mask available, use them when you must go out.
• Even if you're not already part of Crown's meal delivery program, this is a great time to participate.  It isn't exactly "room service," but you can sign up for it and start getting it from now on.
• The pages also had cheery notes from some of the staff working from home:  Theresa ~ "Isn't it weird that you can trust your dog to guard your home, but not your sandwich?"  Megan's 5-year-old ~ "Hi, everybody at mama's work!  I miss the cookies from your cafe.  I hope everyone is safe.  Miss you, love you, bye!"

Jenn and Bonnie

I love the shout-out from Megan's child.  I also chatted with Donna and Jenn on Facebook, two conversations going at the same time, with one person in the same complex with me and one who used to live in St. Louis years ago.  The only time Jenn and I ever met in person was at the end of 2010, when she and her family were returning to St. Louis from Florida and stopped to visit me while they were passing through my town.  It feels like yesterday.

Marie phoned and we chatted for over half an hour.  Susan called while I was on the phone, but didn't leave a message and didn't answer when I returned her call.  Faye Stickney "has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet," so I didn't get through to her.  Even while "sheltering in place," I'm in contact with a lot of people, including Laura, who called me earlier.

I've been chatting on Facebook today with Laurie, who was working on the puzzle I posted yesterday.  Then I got a friend request from Gina and chatted with HER for awhile.  She now has children about the age she was when I last saw her.  More people are home, and we have more time to reach out to folks we haven't seen in awhile.  And while talking to Gina on Facebook, I got an email from Joanne, which said:

"Trying to get in touch.  I hope this reaches you and that you are well!  It has been over 2 years since the last email I received from you, Christmas 2017.  Please forgive me for not keeping in contact.  I retired from the library in May 2018 and have been quite content in retirement.  If you receive this email, I would love to hear from you!"

I called and left voicemail for Joanne and also emailed her.  She called while I was still "talking" on Facebook with Gina.  And now it's almost an hour and a half later, and I'm finally going to post this on the blog.  I enjoyed talking to you, Joanne.  Catching up was fun to do.

Jane Eyre from the National Theatre in London

MORE ACTIVITIES

After Laura and I talked by phone, she sent me information to share with everyone about National Theatre at Home.  The website says, "Enjoy world-class theatre online while we're closed."  Click here for more about the shows being streamed.

• "One Man, Two Guvnors" ~ April 2-9
• "Jane Eyre" ~ April 9-16
• "Treasure Island" ~ April 16-23
• "Twelfth Night" ~ April 23-30

What have you been doing today?  Have you connected or re-connected?

Nonfiction November ~ a favorite book

This quote is from page 259.

This week, folks who are doing Nonfiction November are talking about what makes a book you've read (specifically, a nonfiction book) one of your favorites.  A book that immediately came to mind when I read what Helen posted on her blog was Atul Gawande's Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (2014).  I read this book in February and rated it 10 of 10 because I couldn't put it down.  I've recommended it to several people since then, both online and in person.  I notice  that I saved several quotes from it in my list of books read in 2019 (scroll down to #14), but I've never shared them in a post here on my blog.  Now's a good time to do it.

"Research has shown that loss of bone density may be a better predictor of death from atherosclerotic disease than cholesterol levels" (p. 30).

"The three primary risk factors for falling are poor balance, taking more than four prescription medications, and muscle weakness" (p. 40).

"Three Plagues of nursing home existence:  boredom, loneliness, and helplessness" (p. 116).

"Four crucial questions.  At this moment in your life ... :
1. Do you want to be resuscitated if your heart stops?
2. Do you want aggressive treatments such as intubation and mechanical ventilation?
3. Do you want antibiotics?
4. Do you want tube or intravenous feeding if you can't eat on your own?" (p. 179).

"What were her biggest fears and concerns?  What goals were most important to her?  What trade-offs was she willing to make, and what ones was she not?" (p. 234).

"For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story. ... And in stories, endings matter" (pp. 238, 239).

"People want to share memories, pass on wisdoms and keepsakes, settle relationships, establish their legacies, make peace with God, and ensure that those who are left behind will be okay.  They want to end their stories on their own terms" (p. 249).

The vital questions:  "What is your understanding of the situation and its potential outcomes?   What are your fears and what are your hopes?  What are the trade-offs you are willing to make and not willing to make?  And what is the course of action that best serves this understanding?" (p. 259).

Why is it a favorite?  I live in a retirement center, so I see lots of elderly people daily.  One of my friends died in July, while I was in Montana.  Another died in October.  A friend who eats at my table in the dining room is in another hospital getting chemo, and a neighbor on my floor is in another hospital.  I'll be 80 in April, so end of life is on my mind, too. 

Yesterday, some of us took a survey about senior housing administered by Washington University students inquiring about what's offered, what's needed, whether we have those things here, and to what extent.  The Crown Center is for independent living, but HOW independent are we?  Do we need help dressing? taking medicine? cooking? bathing? shopping? cleaning our own apartments?

Being Mortal is a book for people ready and willing to face their own mortality, but I think it's equally important that physicians and medical people read it.  As a doctor speaking to other doctors, Gawande says they've been focused on the wrong thing:  keeping people alive, even if they are miserable and maybe tied into a wheelchair in the hallway of a nursing home.  He advocates asking people what THEY want out of what's left of their lives.  I agree wholeheartedly.

This single book is enough about nonfiction favorites for me today, but maybe I'll write about another book or two later.

If you click this link, you can read what others have written about nonfiction this week.