What's Up With Me?

I have some favorite blogs I read every day, or as often as I can.  These days I'm spending A LOT of time, I mean A LOT, on the internet, reading things I normally don't read. 

I have very little focus.  My mind is on something, then I get up to get a cup of tea or a glass of water and poof!  My mind wanders to something else and I am suddenly cleaning off the counter or picking up some knitting and an hour later I realize that I'm still thirsty and I forgot all about the tea or water.

My brother Ken used to be the sweetest child, he still is a very nice man, but as a child he would always, always, run around doing things the older boys or Mom or even I asked him to do without a second thought to why we didn't do them ourselves.  But invariably he would be off on the errand before you finished telling him what you wanted. 

For instance, Mom would say "Kenny, go downstairs to the cellar and bring me back a jar of peaches", but at "...cellar" he would already be at the bottom of the basement stairs!  Then he'd yell up the steps "What did you want again?"

He made us laugh, then he'd laugh too, and eventually Mom would have the peaches and he'd be off on whatever the next thing was that would catch his attention.

Kind of like that movie where the dog goes "squirrel!"

That's me these days.  No focus.  Scatterbrained.  Unable to concentrate on much of anything for a long period of time.  Except for the hypnotizing black box in the livingroom (TV) or the small white screen on the computer.  Rabbit holes of mesmerizing continuous streaming.  And its not as if there's anything that's so fascinating or enriching going on in front of me.

25 actors whose noses have been fixed.  40 ways to clean your toilet with things from your pantry.  100 best movies of 1938.

I'm making those things up, but they probably could be found with a simple google search!

One day I ran across an interview with some doctor somewhere who said that right now we're going through a grieving period for life as it used to be.  The new normal has no finite length and so we're mourning our previous normal.  This made perfect sense to me, because right now we're in the first stages... shock and denial.  No wonder we're all a little unfocused and crazy!  We're in shock!

The stages are shock, denial, anger, guilt, sorrow and depression, acceptance and finally engagement in life again.  According to experts everyone grieves in their own way, and the stages don't necessarily go in order.  Nor are there time limits on how long anyone stays in each stage.  It all depends on the person and the circumstances and what else is going on in the world.

So I'm accepting the fact that I'm not really myself at the moment.  I'm a slightly befuddled version of myself who's just trying to cope the best way I can.  My normally full social calendar is temporarily curtailed and I'm spending lots of time watching meaningless YouTube videos and reruns of TV shows.  I'm helping my granddaughter with math homework over the phone, and not hugging anyone other than the hubster, and him not that often because he needs his personal space.

<sigh>

So, Rita it's OK if you cry.  We're in mourning.  It WILL end, eventually.

To all my friends, I miss you tons!  You can hug me later...

Grieve on.

Sewing in The Time Of... Corona Virus

There's a book called Love in the Time of Cholera that I read a few years ago.  Good thing I purchased it at a used book store, that's all I can say.  It was set in the time when the cholera epidemic was happening in Europe.  It had to do with a man in love with a woman who marries someone else, I don't remember, but I do remember that I didn't enjoy the store much.

But that phrase "in the time of cholera" is kind of a mind worm... it occurs to me whenever anyone says "in the time of" anything, like corona virus or social distancing.

Sewists always want to help.  We make quilts and gifts for any and all occasions.  We can make scrubs for nurses and face masks and lap robes and wheelchair bags and on and on and on.  We can and we will help whenever someone asks, and sometimes when they don't ask.

But does it help?  The big thing these days is sewing masks for medical workers.  Everyone has a video or a pdf about how to make a mask.  There's been a run on elastic almost as drastic as the one on toilet paper!

I'm skeptical about the masks.  Several respected authorities have said that home made masks offer little or no protection against this virus.  Most fabrics, even quilt shop fabrics, are not finely woven enough to stop tiny particles from going through. 

Fabric manufacturers have said that their fabric is less than 200 threads per inch which is the minimum that is recommended.  Some authorities have said that natural fibers such as 100% cotton can actually encourage the growth of bacterial after being breathed on for a while.  Things grow in cellulose that won't grow in polyester or nylon or other man-made materials.

I am not jumping on the 'let's all sew medical masks' bandwagon.  Now, before you judge, check out what the CDC is saying about home made masks.  Better than nothing is the phrase I've seen.  Not medically useful.  The larger hospitals in my area are not allowing their use for their medical staff.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/UnderstandDifferenceInfographic-508.pdf

You can use one to keep yourself from touching your face, or from sneezing or coughing on those around you.  But you can use a tissue too.  As for protection, not so much.  Pat Sloan talked about making masks in her Monday night Fireside Chat.  She had good advice for any home sewn projects, masks or otherwise.  She said do the research first.  Find out what places want, get the specs, quantities and deadlines.  If you don't your items will be tossed and all your materials and efforts will be for nothing.

I'll keep sewing quilts for donation and leave the mask stitching to other people unless I hear otherwise.  Or maybe for Halloween??

Sew on...