Halfway Through - Depth Year in the Time of COVID-19

So far I've made it 6 months doing my Depth Year.  4 of those months were under lockdown due to COVID here in NYC.  The city is slowly starting to open up, but thankfully my job is in no rush to risk its employees.  (It is a factor that we share a floor with a vaccine research NGO that has shifted their focus to working on a vaccine for COVID, and our leaders are basically agreeing to follow and go along with whatever their experts say.  Their experts are saying not before September, at best.)  So, folks in the City may be rushing to their favorite bars and restaurants on the first day of Phase 2 like it's all better now, but I will be continuing to sit my happy little butt at home and watch and wait.  I will listen to the medical research community over politicians, thanks.  I know it's a great privilege to be in such a situation, but I don't feel like throwing it away by being reckless.  

That said, I do think after 6 months, and summer now being in full-force here in New York, that staying at home generally makes a Depth Year easier.  Last month, proving to be an exception, found me pondering over my disintegrating yoga pants, of which I never had many pairs to begin with.  Well, that's been resolved as it's now too hot to wear yoga pants indoors.  This issue has been replaced with the question of yoga shorts, of which I own none.  I haven't bought any yet, I'm still debating if this is my brain trying to find a loop hole so I can go shopping online.  I have shorts, of course, but not for working out.  I have found two pair that are loose enough that I can get by with them.  As far as using sleep shorts, I apparently only have a single pair, and they're not exactly "shorts" as they come just below the knee, and tend to bind up on me during a flow, so they don't work.  So this has replaced the conundrum of hole-y yoga pants, at least for the rest of the summer.

Another new one that I have to consider is summer shoes. I had not thought that I would even have to question the idea of shoes for the whole year, I have way too many shoes in general.  However, I just came back from a Glamping trip upstate with the S/O, and during that my everyday sneakers fell apart.  He is trying to see if he can glue the sole back on, but that might only be a short fix, if it works.  My hiking sandals, likewise, have large holes that go all the way through both soles and are slowing eating through the internal padding; these should clearly be thrown away very soon.  So now I'm wondering can I justify summer active footware, as my sneakers are probably dead, and the hiking sandals are having their last gasps.  I have three other active wear shoes, though.  I have my serious, heavy duty hiking shoes from my hiking trip in Peru - which would not be comfortable for casual, running around the city, wear.  I have a pair of Vibram five-finger barefoot shoes, which are great when I get to go trail running, but are not comfortable for walking and standing on concrete.  And lastly, I have some Vibram Furoshiki barefoot shoes; which are very comfortable for just about everything, and are currently my every-day shoes. I guess as long as I can make due with the furoshiki shoes, I should; though I hate to think of wearing them out, because they weren't easy to find, nor cheap.  They worked fine for hiking in the Galapagos, as well as for the last hike after my sneakers blew out, and they are find getting wet, so I guess they could replace the sandals in case we get to go Glamping later this summer and I get a chance to play in a stream/lake situation. And I think I just talked my way through that question.  I don't know if this blog would ever be helpful to anyone else, but it's certainly helping me.

And I think that's it.  Non-food/untilities/rent spending continues to basically be food and drink, with the occasional purchase of a necessary item for personal hygiene or garden care.  I did just cave and put in an order for Sevin dust for my garden, as daily bathing with soapy water is not protecting my eggplants nearly enough.  And that will be my first garden purchase since I bought the extra pots and potting soil for this years tomato plants.  

So I've made it half-way! Yay! Doing pretty good so far, I think.  We'll see how the rest of the summer plays out.  I'm still undecided about exercise/sleep shorts.


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