That's Gneiss! #136 ~ Just because you can, doesn't mean you should...
Also: Grass clumps and birdsong
Some email platforms may cut off part of this newsletter. To ensure you see the entire thing, click the title above to read That’s Gneiss! in your browser.
Hello friends,
It’s been another wild, eventful week around the world. Black Lives Matter protests have continued, and expanded to even very small communities across the country. I’m not going to talk about that today, but have shared some pertinent links below.
In other news our state, like many others, is moving towards “reopening.” Each county has to reach certain conditions to get to the next phase, which allows a wider range of activities to occur. Our county was approved for Phase 2 a few days ago. Limited retail, dining, and other activities can commence.
Why Clowns are Safer Than Mimes - The American Bystander
As places reopen, many people are rushing out to eat, drink, and buy stuff. Like moths to a flame, they’re unable to stay away. The only trouble is, in many cases they seem to be forgetting the virus is still a major threat and social distancing still means avoiding people if you can help it.
We choose not to join in with the return to normalized activity for many reasons. First and foremost, we don’t want to get sick or spread it to others should we become infected. Perhaps unfortunately, the effects of this illness are mostly hidden unless you happen to know somebody who has had it, or if you read accounts of what people go through. The trouble with this horrible virus is you cannot predict what it will do to you if you get it. Many people have no symptoms (yet can unwittingly spread it to others), some people have light flu-like symptoms for a few days, and others are utterly devastated with life-altering conditions. Then of course, some die, and death comes in such horrible ways.
This morning I read “The Fires Were Everywhere” an account from a young man who took care of his mother during her last days. He is 28 (just a couple of years older than Nolan) and his mother, Darlene, was only 52 - a previously healthy woman who was ravaged by COVID-19 for weeks before she died.
It was mostly me and her during the last few weeks. Her fever had finally come down and she was breathing on her own again, but she had blood clots in her lungs and a mass on her liver. It was growing faster than anything the doctors had ever seen, and they wanted to get her ready for chemo. They said her whole body was breaking down from the nonstop stress of fighting the virus since March. They said, “It’s causing all these fires, and we have to put them out one by one,” but it seemed like the fires were everywhere.
…
The doctor told us it was a pulmonary embolism — a blood clot that got trapped in her lungs. He said it was something you see a lot of with covid. He called it a sudden death, but it didn’t feel that way. She’d been getting carved up a thousand different ways since March.
I recommend reading the above article, and this one - Darlene’s account of being ill a few weeks before she died. It is grim, and it is the reality of COVID-19. We don’t know everything about it, and this could happen to any of us. My biggest fear is that as people rush out to do things, they will forget to take precautions. Hell, they haven’t been doing a very good job of it anyhow (see: my neighbors). I cannot trust the hygiene habits of anyone I don’t know. The next month will be telling. It’s as if everyone has gotten tired of it, and just given up.
Americans have not fully grasped that we are not doing what countries that have returned to normal have done. Some countries have almost completely suppressed the virus. Others had large outbreaks, took intense measures, and have seen life return to normal. Americans, meanwhile, never stayed at home to the degree that most Europeans have, according to mobility data from Apple and Google.
Anyhow, yeah. We’re not going out yet. We’re grateful we have the choice, when so many people don’t.
Dispatches from Idaho
I know that everyone like to hear (and see) what Nolan and Mia are up to, so I will be reporting sporadically on their summer activities. While Idaho is not quite the same as their previous international travels, it’s still fun to live vicariously through them. The first two photos are from their drive to Idaho through southeast Oregon.
Look at that u-shaped valley!
They stopped off in the Steens Mountain area. Michael and I traveled through there on our way to Las Vegas for Matador 21 several years ago, and I can tell you it is one of the most unpopulated areas around. We drove for miles without seeing any other cars after leaving our campground in Frenchglen. We also did not stop and hike around anywhere, but it was a very beautiful part of the world.
They finally made it to their destination in Idaho Falls, and right away found themselves conducting very exciting field work.
Nolan assure me they did not have to count the grass clumps. They did however, have to measure the height of every plant at 1 meter intervals for 50 meters…
Yay science!
I look forward to sharing more exciting news from Idaho soon.
Tidbits
“Looting”: The Revolt of the Oppressed - the racist origins of the word '“loot”
Activists Create Public Online Spreadsheet of Police Violence Videos - currently just shy of 500 incidents
Yesterday University of Winds shared some great bird-related resources (thanks!)
Bird Song Hero - a game for learning to identify birdsong
Hear 13 Birds Flourishing in Newly Quiet New York - some of these can be heard here, too. Just today I heard one of the local Ospreys as it flew over.
Making: the ICAD (index card a day) challenge has be doing a bit of art every day, which has been helpful. I’ve been using pens, pencils, watercolors, and collage depending on my mood, and not following any particular prompts.
Recently eaten: Lamb shanks! Oh my goodness, they were good.
Reading: Just pages away from finishing Recursion, by Blake Crouch. Hard to put down! Continuing with all of the others mentioned last week.
Video of the Week
Prince was born on this day in 1958. Let us enjoy his mastery of the guitar…
Question of the Week
If you feel like answering the question, hit reply to this email. Answers will be shared in next week’s newsletter - anonymously. Don’t be shy! General public commenting is available too at the end of this post.
What is something that has made you smile this week?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week I asked about your first job.
My first official job was as a waitress at a small cafe in rural West Virginia. I was 16 and working toward expanding my LP collection (and acquiring a pair of pink Bobbie Brooks jeans). I received a $20 tip ($78.65 adjusted for inflation) for serving a single cup of coffee to a trucker called “Rattler.” He was either extremely generous or very creepy. Whichever, his contribution helped me achieve my short-term goals. Ka-ching!
my very first real job was picking strawberries at Bell's, like a lot of Whidbey Island kids. i remember hating every moment of it! then i moved on to loganberries in greenbank (i hated that job too, big surprise), and the first real job i had with customers and everything was at the deli out in front of the courthouse in coupeville. i was in high school, told the lady who owned it over and over and over again that I DID NOT HAVE A CAR and needed to get off in time to take the bus home. she never listened to me, and after i complained, she fired me.
Technically my first job was under-the-table, as an office cleaner for my dad's work. But my first legal after high school/weekend job was at a chain art store where I earned just a little over minimum wage. It was a pretty shit job, and the manager withheld my raise until one of the diligent accountants discovered the error. I didn't know enough to ask for back pay. But I did end up with a lot of "broken"/gently used merch, and learned to never work for a large chain ever again.
First job?
Busboy at Uncle Don’s Restaurant in Kenmore. I learned a lot there. I sure miss those simpler times.
And to answer this week's query my first job was working a paper route when I was 12 and I racked up enough “good carrier points” to get my brother a pillow with a silkscreened image of that famous photo of Farrah Fawcett for his birthday. But I guess that doesn't really count since I didn't have to fill out a W-2 form, so my very first official job was at Wendy's when I turned 16. It was a beast of a hot and sweaty job, but fun since we were all stoned and remained social with each other outside our shifts. Our young manager told us that if we dropped any burgers on the floor we were to mash up the meat and throw it in the chili pot! Ha! They wouldn't get away with that today...I think.
Current Temperature: 65.1 F (18.4 C)
Current Humidity: 59%
Wind (max gust): 8.1 mph
Precipitation: 0.04 in