Not a great photo but there I am in a hand-embroidered mask from the Mexican store on 3rd Street, La Sirena. Can you see that it's two colorful donkeys? My friend Paula has "donks," as she calls them, & I am dying to visit & meet them in person. I liked her before I knew about the donks but that certainly is a delightful point in her favor. Oh right, masks. Yeah, still wearing them, still rolling my eyes at those who don't, still tired of the situation but determined to see it through. I want to be able to look back (when! if) & feel like I behaved honorably throughout. And honestly, how little is really being asked of us! My magnificent, beloved 96-year-old cousin Hazel (me mum's first cousin, they grew up together in Liverpool) wrote me this the other day:
Hi Elinor, our turn now to sizzle in the sun, roasting hot so in the sitting room with the fan going full blast. I have tried puting on a mask, my hearing aid fell out, my glasses went skewed and I was all hot and bothered. I just try not to go anywhere that a mask is required.
During the war to confuse the German bombers we maintained a strict blackout, this meant no lights were to be seen so thick curtains or painted black windows. No street lights and car headlights had a ,cover to direct the light on to the ground, that's if you had any petrol as this was rationed. All road signs were taken down I really can't think how we managed to get anywhere! A new type of incendiary bomb was found unexploded, it was placed in a wooden crate packed with straw! I was sent with an armed guard to bomb disposal down South with instructions that if it started to fizz bail out! He never did stand guard when we made an overnight stop. When I reached a certain destination I had to ring a number for directions all very James Bond.