I won't lie - it felt weird walking through the doors of the Getty Museum today in Los Angeles. Perhaps what made it so strange was that it felt in some ways like I had just been there. The last time I had ridden the tram or admired the artwork was February 15, 2020. Just mere weeks before the end of the normal world as we knew it. Yet here I was today with my family. It was interesting to hear their perspectives on the California lifestyle. Most of them live in Texas where they can roam free while the other half live in Seattle. I loved how they talked about how intolerable the mask rules were here - as if I hadn't mentioned it countless times on the phone with them or if I saw them in person. I guess it's one thing to tell someone and another to experience it firsthand. I am curious to see what California looks like in three days when the mask mandate supposedly ends. For some reason I remain doubtful that things will change - i.e. that I'll see more maskless people. I keep waiting for the governor to step in and go "um, nevermind, I'm not lifting the mandate even if I'm being recalled." In many ways, the Getty was exactly the way I remembered it - the vastness of it, the gardens, the artwork. Today, I loved the Vincent Van Gogh "Irises" painting - full of life - vibrant. Something I hope to experience in the future - full of life. In some ways, I have lived like dormant flowers - waiting for the spring to arrive so I can burst into color.
June 15, 2021
Again the main thing on my mind is my beloved aunt, who now has an inpatient hospice bed in her country and is expected to die within a month. I'm just devastated. Meanwhile our local area is on a scary trend of covid cases just like the whole US. B and her family had to put their baby in day care because she can't care for him alone, and he got exposed to covid. Now he has covid symptoms so B has to isolate from him because of her risk level and they have no idea what they'll do if her husband has to be hospitalized. It's just so hard for people who already have disabling health conditions.
December 2, 2020