The View from the Hermitage, Day 18

Word on the streets and in the paper suggests that the CDC and other authorities will soon add wearing a mask to the list of mitigation measures. The menfolk tasked me with sewing some. Let me start out by noting that I am not a good sewist (you wouldn't expect me to call myself a sewer, would you?). Even in my quilting, my sewing lacks the finesse I see in others' work. Seams that should match sometimes don't. Seams that should be ironed in one direction get flipped to the other as I sew.

What I lack in talent, I make up for with questionable taste in fabric. Here, I am wearing the second mask I made. The first went to older son and looked very much like this one. I love the fabric (thanks, Carla). Getting the elastic sewn in was nothing short of a royal pain, and the pleats about killed me on the first mask. I had to call in an outside consultant with more engineering experience, the husband. He helped me get them folded systematically, and the result was not-so-bad pleats. The only problem, for me anyway, was that the elastic was painful around my ears. It also made my ears stick out.

 

It actually looked much better on the husband, so it became his mask to wear as needed.

If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking ... I went back to the sewing room today, to try to make a mask that I would find comfortable. Older son has modified the mask I made him, connecting velcro to the elastic straps. The velcro pulled the elastic away from the back of the ear and hooked together on the back of his head. It kept the fit loose enough that he could wear it over one of the filter type masks he had been wearing. He brought various velcro and connectors he thought might inspire me.

I attached velcro the same way older son had. Given that I have more hair on the back of my head than older son has, the velcro was almost as painful as the elastic. I tried pinning fabric strips to the sides of the mask, to be tied at the back of my neck/head. This did not feel painful or awkward, so I decided to make a new mask with side strips as a prototype. I also wanted to try a nifty pleat-making diagram I had found online. Inserting the fabric strips was much easier than inserting the elastic had been. The pleat diagram actually did make making the pleats go more smoothly. With some help from the husband, I found out how long the straps should be to tie comfortably and not hang too far down my back. I tried the mask on--there are no photos of this because of how awesomely bad it looked. Comparing it to the earlier mask, I realized that the pleat diagram did not take up enough of the fabric length, which was why the mask was falling loosely over my chin. I managed to fit in one more pleat, giving this as the result.

The pleats are still a problem, but at least wearing this one doesn't hurt. There's room to put a filtered mask underneath. I noted that I made this as a prototype, but I don't expect I'll make another unless I have to.

And so passed a good bit of the 18th day of hermitting. A pandemic model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predicts Virginia will reach its viral peak on May 20. Interestingly, the predicted peaks for Maryland and the District of Columbia are in April. One factor in the model concerns businesses open or closed. So far, nonessential businesses in Virginia can be open as long as social distancing and the number of people in the establishment meet guidelines. I think our projected peak would be sooner if only essential businesses were allowed to stay open. But what do I know. Data science today goes far beyond the data science I did 40 years ago.

Bucket Lists

My mother asked in a recent email if the husband and/or I had made a bucket list. She said that it was too late for her to make one, but she thought we should. While I do have a mental list of places I would like to visit, I would not call it a "bucket list." That term has actually always bothered me. Preparing a list of things to do or see before one kicks the bucket stresses how finite one's existence really is. Crossing items off the list (and there is now even a website where one can post their list, cross items off, and post video of oneself doing things) seems as if you're counting down to the day and time that the last item is crossed off the list and then you answer the door to see a figure in a cloak carrying a scythe. I am compulsive enough that I write out a list of things to do each day the night before. The next morning, I fold the list and put it in my right pants or skirt (on those rare occasions when I wear one) or jacket pocket, not to look at it again except in its folded state as I chuck it into the garbage can at day's end. If I did prepare a bucket list, I would likely obsess about items I had yet to complete. I would not treat it as I do my daily list, the one never consulted and easily discarded. I have enough things to worry about; I don't need one more.

As for the list of places I would like to visit, the top two are Machu Picchu, an Incan ruin in Peru, and anywhere in Antarctica.