Today was day 2 of living with the COVID-19 virus in the house. Today was a full day of 8 hours of teaching virtual art classes. One adult student is learning Urban Sketching from me and I decided to teach him how to draw a room using 2 point perspective. I sat in a rocking chair in the living room and sketched down the hallway. At the end of the hallway COVID-19 lurks. These past few days have been the first days of the pandemic where I had to be masked at home.
Lunchtime was a major reprieve since I got to eat outside on the back patio. It was such a relief to be outside and breath the fresh air. That had been an ongoing policy of mine to never eat indoors for the five days of quarantine.
Students seemed to adjust easily to my being masked. Since much of my time with students is spent sketching, little has changed. Classes are sometimes interrupted when the dogs see the mailman outside the front window and then all hell breaks loose with the barking and snarling.
Right now the person who is infected is sitting outside. We had some discussion about weather that would be safe for our elderly neighbor. We had to weight weather the virus would dissipate enough over the distance to the neighbors fence and backyard. Most people are rather binary in their decision making during the pandemic. If mask mandates are lifted then no one wears masks. When pe0ple heard that it was safer to be unmasked outside, they decided to never mask outside even when in large crowds. I just watched a video from a doctor who decided to go to a crowed Eagles concert and he was infected outdoors.
Now that I have worn a mask for several days straight, it is becoming second nature. I can flick the mask on and off with ease when I eat outside. It has become a permanent accessory. Anti bacterial wipes that we used constantly at the beginning of the pandemic are now a critical tool as we wipe down anything we touch. So far I have tested negative. I plan to dodge this bullet, but it is clear that someday this virus will be impossible to avoid.