Paper and Threads

This is another drawing I did when taking a quick daily walk around my neighborhood for fresh air.  Unfortunately, many people in Manhattan were not practicing social distancing, and were walking in groups making it difficult to keep 6ft between people. Last Sunday night at 8PM Gov Cuomo imposed a "stay at home restriction" for NY State except for walks to get groceries or meds. 

A grocery store 2 blocks from our apartment designated 7-8AM as Senior Citizen shopping time - and it took us only 10 minutes to get a few things this morning.  This week we even had our monthly book group meeting on ZOOM which was wonderful.  We can do this!!

Posted by Shirley at 6:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday was a pivotal point in NYC.  Schools were shut for one week already, workers were working from home if possible, city residents were decreasing their activities, limiting groups to 10 or less, and slowly the test kits became available.  My husband and I had enough food in the apartment and were comfortably staying at home with one walk per day (with social distancing) for fresh air - and not even together.  Then Cuomo "shut the valve," a move also favored by our Mayor.  Our lives won't change substantially unless we are exposed.  But case numbers are increasing dramatically every day.  Seeing those ignorant kids in FL filling the beaches for Spring Break makes me so angry. 

The surge in cases arrived, and hospitals are having trouble keeping up with patient influx for testing and hospitalization.  Their supplies are very limited and soon all protective gear will be gone and ventilators are already down to just a few in most NYC hospitals.   

Our children are adults and parents, and they are now worried about us because of our age.  Last evening they asked us to stop our walks until we see what is happening.  I can do it, my husband less so.  I will miss drawing on my walks! 

This drawing was done at Canine Styles -part of my window shopping series -  the dogs are standing in artificial snow.

Posted by Shirley at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

On Thursday March 12th New York City began a shut down due to the community spread of Coronavirus.  The period of containment was over and as early as March 2nd we knew that a 50 year old patient in Westchester, with no history of travel or exposure to known COVID 19 patients, was evidence that we now had community spread of the virus and were in the beginning of an epidemic here in the US.  Our governments inability to prepare for this and very limited test availability has substantially increased the infection rate.

My husband and I are both retired physicians and spent our lives dealing with isolation, both to protect us and reverse isolation to protect our sickest patients.  We made a decision right then that we would begin "social distancing," at first by clearing our calendar for March and avoiding public transportation.  The deaths in China were very high for those over 65 and we are both in an even more vulnerable age group.  As these two weeks passed, we limited our time outside our apartment even more and now take short solitary daily walks for fresh air and spend the rest of the time in our apartment.  My husband walks in Central Park and I walk in our neighborhood along uncrowded streets.   

The drawings posted today were from before March 1st: from USK at the Met in the SAHEL exhibit and with a friend at the Whitney at the Vida Americana exhibit.   

Sahel at the Met:  A wonderful large sculpture

Vida Americana at the Whitney - A large wooden sculpture

Stay safe and stay healthy!  Read lots.  I do one quick drawing on each walk and don't finish it until I come home.   

Posted by Shirley at 5:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am enjoying my daily walks and for the first time in months, I am drawing daily.  As I tour the neighborhood I pause for a few minutes if something appeals to me and do a quick sketch, finishing it later at home.  Last week I walked 1 mile in my neighborhood each day and this week I increased each to 1.5 miles - mainly as exercise for my back.  I used a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for the ink.

This is a stone lion sculpture in the window of a nearby bookstore.  

This was one of several simple drawings on the windows of a Vetinary Clinic.

Posted by Shirley at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

During my years in Medicine I was exposed to many contagious diseases, and was a young faculty member when we started to recognize HIV infections and develop appropriate methods for safely drawing blood and doing bone marrow aspirates and biopsies.  But epidemics of newly emerging respiratory viruses and ebola were limited mostly to other continents.  That will not be the case now, and living in densely populated NYC means increased exposure, and morbidity, with the coronavirus once you are in the vulnerable age range.  The first case in NYC (traveler from Iran) was announced on Sunday, and the second patient (with no obvious source and exposure to many people) was announced yesterday.  My husband and I have the luxury of staying home now, with daily walks in the neighborhood, and I take my sketchbook with me for a really quick sketch each day.  I also have a big pile of used books to read to keep me happy!

I was walking along a quiet side street on Monday when I suddenly saw a townhouse already decorated for St. Patrick's Day.  The leprechaun wasn't the only decoration, but it was the largest.  I used to wear green every St Patrick's Day to honor my Irish Grandfather.  Then I did extensive family research 2 decades ago only to discover that his entire family came from County Armagh in Northern Ireland in the 1880s.  Orange should be my color.

I'll try to continue my walks and sketching, weather permitting, with an added benefit of exercising my back.

Posted by Shirley at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)