Ice Cold

As late fall shifts down to winter the pond freezes lightly many nights and thaws most days by midday. But for the last couple of days the temperature hasn’t made it above freezing, and instead of thawing the ice has covered the whole pond and looks somehow more solid. When we left the hill this morning there was a flock of birds, almost certainly geese, spread out in a line across the ice, hunkered down into their feathers. I said to Jay, they’re too far away for me to see for sure what they are. And in typical Jay fashion he didn’t miss a beat, replying, I know what they are, they’re cold. And so they were. The Prius registered the outside temperature at 21 degrees. Nearly everything is beautifully coated with rime, white under a grey sky. It is less than two weeks to the start of winter.

We went to the gym today for the first time since it closed in March. It’s changed, of course. You have to sign up for a timed visit, limiting the number of people in each area. Most of the coziness and friendliness of it is gone. They’ve taken the couches out of the lobby – no place to sit over a cup of coffee and schmooze, because, of course, schmoozing isn’t safe. But in the ghostly empty fitness room, we ran into our pal, Nancy, who I have missed so much from our aqua aerobics class, and Jim Jordan, one of our favorite trainers. Nice to see them both, nice to exchange a few socially distanced, masked words. The Covid cases have risen as the Thanksgiving travel and unwise gatherings claim their victims. Our rate is still modest, but not negligible. Twelve cases are traced to the Cooperstown Veterans Club where a patron wasn’t masked. We currently have 14 people hospitalized, including one in the ICU. The numbers are small, but not for a town of 2000. Our infection rate is currently slightly higher than the city’s.

People rant in the comments on the AllOtsego news website that masks don’t stop the virus, and that “the income and hope of the common man” is being ravaged by shutting down small businesses (which has not been done since spring). Yet at the Farmers Market, at Stagecoach Coffee, on the street and in the Price Chopper market it’s quite rare to see anyone unmasked. With more travel in and out of the area virtually guaranteed over the rest of the holiday season infections will surely continue to rise. I’m hoping we can keep the gym open. Having just gotten back there I realize how much I’ve missed it. My own exercise bike in the bedroom is fine, but I miss the variety of equipment at the gym, and even with so few people there and no one lingering, there is still a little sense of community.

My bursitis was diagnosed and treated just over a week ago, and for the last few days I’ve been pain free. What a joy. I can walk without registering pain at every step. Everything takes less concentration and less energy. Happily, using the exercise bike had not been painful so I had been able to get some exercise all along. But now I can walk up and down the aisles in Price Chopper without feeling drained, and I can climb the few stairs up from our garage without planning ahead. I had thought I would be looking at another hip replacement to get relief, but this prognosis is much better.

Hanukkah is nearly here. I’ve set up a Zoom for Sunday, the fourth night, with my sisters, my daughter, and my nieces and nephews, nine households in all, a three by three matrix on the screen. We’ll light our candles together and get a glimpse of one another in California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York. Before Covid we would never have thought of getting everyone together just to light candles, so there’s that. Maybe we’ll make it an annual tradition, each in our own cozy homes, no one having to brave airports or roads. Unlike the birds on the frozen pond we will not have to get cold to be together.