Navigating Decisions: Moving to Yellow

I offered a community workshop for families considering how to change their quarantine behavior as our area moves towards Yellow in the next week.

Here's the link to the recording:  https://youtu.be/CmOSKxFbpDs

I am suggesting these articles as follow-up reading because they've been helpful to me.  In this very unusual time, we are all trying to find our ways and figure out what the next best thing we can do is.  

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/28/upshot/coronavirus-herd-immunity.html?fbclid=IwAR20wgjYRHrd-XRhfRsbLcOutlxJrj8nj83JAW0RnFGT9qxEkUMb_kgnmRQ

https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/05/why-i-decided-to-join-a-quarantine-bubble-and-you-should-too.html

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-to-social-distance-as-america-opens-back-up?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=the-new-yorker&utm_social-type=earned&fbclid=IwAR3gIzIrZAXEQxQCrj-NKfh5ii7wEzV55tDqhb8wSDnQiAK0NtJJXwj0r0M

https://emilyoster.substack.com/p/grandparents-and-day-care?fbclid=IwAR3yJ6sHZO-hm7lZOFeND0NbbXP3epTKp1fnsvesod3lJh9eeRrHX7reI3A

https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200511&instance_id=18384&nl=the-morning&regi_id=96247195&segment_id=27239&te=1&user_id=adef1a5bd20ef8ff621a468f98981615&fbclid=IwAR3715ScWr91FoXAnga0j2x4x4WkfJeIdwdc5gst250azbJOn1RSLNSK-RQ

And here's the link for the article we discussed in the workshop: 

https://medium.com/@evelindacker/covid-care-e2ede67428d4

Leg Warmers (instructions)

My 7 year old wanted leg warmers.  She had some pretty specific requirements, some of which, I decided after some experimentation, were not attainable.  I also chose the yarn myself because part of the point of this project was leg warmers and part of the point was 'something to occupy my hands during meetings'.  Which became EVEN MORE IMPORTANT when suddenly all meetings were happening via Zoom.

Although in the end a lot of these were knitted during births, too.

This is the yarn I chose, from Wild Hand in Mt. Airy.  They were very helpful in figuring out what I wanted and then they wound it into a nifty ball for me.

This was a very improvisational 'pattern' with a lot of false starts before I hit on what I really wanted to do.  I used No 6 4.0mm bamboo double pointed needles.  I divided the yarn into two balls before I started so I wouldn't make one fabulous leg warmer and then run out before I made another one complete.

• Cast on 30 st and k2p2 in the round 20 rows.
• Switch to k only and knit in the round another 20 rows.
• Start adding 1st by knitting into the front of the stitch, and then into the back of the stitch before slipping the stitch, every other row. I just sort of varied where in the round I was doing this, so it's a bit random.  Add a total of 10 stitches, ending up with 40 st on the needles.  
• Keep knitting in the round until you feel like you are almost out of yarn or it's long enough for your child's leg.
• Switch to k2p2 in the round 20 rows.
• Cast off!

The results:

I made them extra long in the hopes that she'll be able to wear them for a few years.  She is thrilled!

Keep Going

There is a moment

when the path you are on 

ends;

all the ideas

and plans

and expectations you had

don’t make any sense,

not anymore.

You were a dot

moving in a line

on a plane.

Suddenly,

there are three dimensions

and the way you must go 

is up

out

away 

from the plane 

you used to know

was everything.

A Jacob’s ladder

leading up into the blue,

often through a storm

into heights 

with no air to breathe.

You may struggle 

for a time.

Want to go back,

need to mourn,

be angry,

shout at the sky.

And then you keep going.

It’s the only thing

you can do.

Keep going.

Become the person

you have to be

to do that.

Keep going. 

We are with you.

image Balu Ertl / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Copyright Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt 2020; may be used freely for any non-profit use including streaming with credit.

Songs

Two songs have come to me in my life.

This one came when I was 15 and feeling very afraid a lot of the time.  (I had been robbed at knife-point at my local regional rail station down the block from my house.)  This song helped me be less afraid.

Do you know how strong you are?
Do you know how beautiful you are?
That you shine like a star in the night?
That you blaze with your own light?

You can see me sing it here: https://youtu.be/K22StyCGHbI

The other came the fall both of my maternal grandparents died.  We sang it at their memorial services.

Bury my heart but not my love;
carry that with you wherever you go.
We bury your heart but not your love;
we carry that with us wherever we go.

You can hear me sing it here: https://youtu.be/yMB4Zg7FOks