Surreality

I realized yesterday while I was listening to my favorite news programs, that it felt a LOT like listening to coverage of pending hurricanes descending upon far-off coasts--interesting, riveting sometimes, but only brushing the periphery of my life, if at all.

Sewing the first borders onto the Wonky Star top is my immediate reality.

Part of that feeling was because I hadn't been out of the house since Tuesday. That's just my normal routine--if I don't have a package to mail (ebay sales), I generally stay home. Tuesday I did have a package to mail, things to get, people to meet, and so forth. I spent the whole day doing errands (including, quite by coincidence and extremely fortuitously, buying toilet paper) so was happy to park myself in the sewing chair for the rest of the week and let the news shows play in the background.

First border on--I love the way the star points get completed with this border treatment.

That's when things started to get interesting and surreal. Meetings and events were cancelled. Schools were closed (The Loud now has a 2-week Spring Break, then the specter of having to teach online.) Store hours curtailed and reports of panic buying.

A close look at the squares and rectangles used to make the border and complete the stars.

Today I made a point of going shopping. The appliance light over the stove has been out for a few months now--I'd go to Home Depot and get a replacement! It was interesting to see (and immediately adopt) the subtle behavioral differences going on all around. When passing a customer leaving the store as I entered, we each veered as far to our right as we could while still giving a smile of greeting and recognition of our actions. When maneuvering the lighting section, it was an obvious choice to go around a pallet of items parked in the aisle, rather than squeeze behind the other guy browsing for bulbs. When asked to show my military ID (for the 10% discount), it was a matter of course that I would hold it at arm's length and the cashier would peer at it from an additional 3 feet away.

Auditioning the next border. I thought the bottom fabric would be perfect, but the darker blue pops more.

Three more fabrics to think about.

I've not gone grocery shopping yet--that's The Loud's job because he does the cooking--so I have no idea how bare the shelves might be. I noticed in an NPR lede that meat was also a shortage item; since he's a vegan and I'm happy to let him feed me, that won't pose a problem. I suspect it'll be quite some time before fake meat, fake cheese, and tofu become endangered species when stalking the wilds of the grocery aisles.

Today I worked out the final size and placement of the Leader-Ender Shoo-Fly top--I'll need to make 15 more blocks. The perfectly-straight sashing and 4-patches give this a wavy, dancing movement illusion!

Using my mother's example, I have a plan to extend our toilet paper supply (it involves reusable/washable cloth rags for dabbing, saving the paper for more strenuous cleaning needs). Fabric/thread/batting supply is not in any immediate danger of running low, not by any stretch of the imagination!

The file cabinet in which yardage is stored--mentioned in the previous blog post.

I'm finding it difficult to ignore every single itch on my face (especially around my eyes), and how frequently they manifest. I wonder if any of us truly realize how often we touch our faces!

Blue drawer. The biggest hunk, in the middle section, is the bottom blue border being auditioned in one of the photos above.

None of this is meant to make light of or diminish in any way the importance of the effects, now and to come, of this National Emergency. It's simply pondering while keeping my political beliefs and reactions out of it. I can only do my best for myself and those around me, and hope the most financially vulnerable come out of this with family, body, and soul still intact.