Version 2.028

Another day of violence and yet, in my corner of the world, the sky is bright blue without any clouds. Sometimes, I hear a pop and I wonder if it's a gunshot. Today's pop, heard while walking in Nashoba Park, was too loud; probably some kids playing with fireworks, as that season is upon us.

At 10 AM, my Houston girlfriends and I had scheduled brunch via Zoom. Maybe I had given the impression of being anti-social -- it's odd to be perceived as anti-social during a pandemic --, but I was asked to organize the call, which was my first time being a host in Zoom. It was not very intuitive, but I got it done.

I got behind walking Julian this morning and, by the time I got home, I had barely 15 minutes to fix my brunch: poached egg with prosciutto, asparagus, and gluten-free bread. I even managed to make an Americano and be ready on time to begin hosting the call. Nobody else was having brunch, just me. I suppose I am too literal, but we had talked about brunch and I had made sure to include "brunch" in the title for the call.

After lunch, our neighborhood hosted the annual Homeowners' Association meeting outdoors, in the park with the gazebo. We were asked to wear masks and take a lawn chair. Since I gave away my lawn chair last year, I did a quick trip to Target to buy one and also get some fruit, which I was almost out. I would say one third of the people in the store were wearing masks.

Some of the aisles' floors were marked with arrows to indicate the flow of traffic, but I kept forgetting to follow the directions. However, I had tied my hair, was wearing a mask and hat, and I used three cart wipes to clean the cart again, after an attendant had already done it, and clean my hands. It is hard to shop without touching things, but at least, my hands were very clean.

In the HOA meeting, my neighbors did not recognize me. Besides the hat and mask, I also wore sunglasses for good measure. For most of the meeting, I sat in the sun and I just opened an umbrella for shade. Everytime I go out to a place where I need to be a considerable amount of time, I always wear so much gear that I feel like I could be part of the 1975 TV show "The Invisible Man". And the darndest thing is that nobody laughs at me, even though I look absolutely ridiculous.

My Memphis girlfriends had scheduled a dinner at Coastal Fish Company for today. I ended up not going, as I did not feel comfortable being in a restaurant for a couple of hours, even though it was in the patio. Over the last few weeks, I have begun to socialize more closely with one of my neighbors and I am even allowed in the house. Her mother is 85, so I would feel terrible if I were to get sick and make her sick. Plus, if I were to get sick, I don't even know if my immune system would be up to par, as I have an autoimmune disorder. When in doubt, be careful going out...