Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Sunday, March 14th, 2021

Fish Market

Woke up to yet another sunny albeit windy day.

I went downstairs to make my usual latte with a triple shot of espresso and with a glance at the clock noticed it was just 07:00; meaning I had an early start to the day.

Coffee in hand I returned to bed to read a while. After scanning Facebook and Twitter the iPad showed 09:00 and I was shocked. Had I really just spent two hours going down the rabbit hole of social media? Of course not. It seems the clocks changed overnight and someone has stollen an hour of my life!

As I had not managed to get a lane for today, I proposed an outing to EM; not only to get out of the house, but also enjoy the sunshine. The plan was to scout out the reflection pool near the Lincoln Memorial and then head to the Wharf and the fish market.

Our first attempt to approach the Lincoln Memorial failed miserably and we ended up crossing Memorial Bridge to Arlington. Coming back, we again found nowhere to access the Lincoln Memorial or park the car, so headed to the fish market instead, thinking we can stop at the Memorial on the way back.

While there were people neither The Wharf nor the fish market were overly busy. We walked once up and down The Wharf noting that one of my favorite restaurants appears to have disappeared amidst the pandemic; Kith & Kin was not to be found. Where it used to be housed is now a place called Moon Rabbit. What that might be we could not establish.

At the end of our walk we pick up some pancetta at an Italian deli and EM ordered a slice of pizza, just because it smelled so good. I had a Pellegrino in the sun while she devoured her pizza. Then on to the fish market, always a beautiful sight. I am never sure about the fish, fearing it may have arrived frozen, but the Maryland crabs were very much alive, and the jumbo shrimps had just arrived from South Carolina that morning. Of course, we could not resist and bought a pound, before heading to the Mall for our second attempt to access the Lincoln Memorial.

Again, we ended up in Arlington. We found the Memorial is basically not to be accessed with a vehicle. The parking spots in West Potomac Park were all taken, and we circled back to Constitution Avenue, just to miss the one spot available. A little frustrated EM decided to give up and head home, getting back for the best of sunshine in my garden.

This spurred me to play lizard on the loveseat, soaking up the sun, to get rid of the incredible winter whiteness, until it disappeared behind the house. I fear I may have gotten a sunburn!

I had plans to meet a Turkish friend, who has brought some meds and Lokum from Alanya for me, alas it did not happen as he went out shopping with a friend. EM, presumably thinking I was busy for the rest of the afternoon went for a walk around the neighborhood. Turns out the BF picked her up and she is now – again – hanging at his house and has announced she just had food, so I am on my own. I guess those super fresh jumbo shrimps will just have to wait until lunch tomorrow, which is a bit of a shame.

Instead of cooking, I did a load of laundry, pulled some weeds, brought in new fire wood and pottered around the house and entertained myself with ordering new bath rugs as well as scanning flights to Europe for the summer and from Hamburg to Dalaman in preparation for our Blue Cruise; just to find that for making any reservations I need to speak to EM.

The same applies to Memorial Day weekend plans. I would like to book sooner rather than later as places fill up quickly. However, the Friday before Memorial Day weekend is the girls last day in high school ever and they have plans for a couple of days on the beach as is the tradition for graduated seniors. So again, I cannot make any bookings until I have consulted with EM, and she of course, is not here for me to do so.

The virus spread in the USA is decreasing with 49k new infections reported of the past twenty-four hours. This may be due to a combination of herd immunity, vaccines and general caution among the population. The latter took a full year to achieve in most parts of the country.

A recent study finds people recovered from COVID will only need one dose of the two doses mRNA vaccines. Also, there are new findings related to possible cures.

It appears that some antidepressants can cure COVID, including infections caused by new variants numerous studies find. Doctors found people in medical care for depression did not get severe illness when testing positive for COVID. This is attributed to the drugs inhibting inflamations as well as the influence they have on the cells reducing the ability of th evirus to connect to them. 

More good news in the world's fight against COVID.