Year: 2022
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Day Ten, Month Three
We are still confined to quarters, except for a few hours each day, the same hours each day. [敲打] Put the kettle to heat the water; Toby 头哔, is so happy to be outside, he doesn’t understand the edicts of the committee… come to think of it, I’m not sure I do either; An ex-hairdresser…
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Day Seventy of Lockdown
SEVENTY! … … … (or Day Eight of the Third Month) The wind has a fresh breath, it speaks of a new arrangement that we will be let out from lock down, all of Shanghai, will be let out from lock down very soon. Yet we are on the curfew we who have been under…
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1392 Fèng Huáng Dān Cóng Chá (Yā Shǐ Xiāng), 1392 凤凰单丛茶 (鸭屎香), Phoenix Mountain Dancong Tea (Duck Excrement Scent)
C. sinensis “yashi xiang”. Fenhuang Dancong; Phoenix Mountain; Wudongding, Fenghuang Town, Chao’an District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong, above 1000 m; Autumn 2021, whole leaf, single cluster, oolong process. #TodaysTea, #今天的茶, #JīnTiāndeChá, #Tea, #茶, #Chá. The dry leaf is almost black in color with red tinged edges with some occasional, lighter, greenish brown leaves interspersed. The leaves…
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Day Eight, Month Three
Lockdown’s Day 69… “69” tee-hee-hee… It’s a Piscean moment, a two fishes event, a Yin-Yang juxtaposition… Who will be the yin to my yang today? A resident walks their dog… it’s a daily, “s.e.p;” Time to boil the kettle; Duck Shit Oolong Tea is the choice for today; Yesterday I swapped a yellow croaker for…
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Day Seven, Month Three
Just another blur of a day: Volunteers patrol the compound; Someone walks a dog; Another volunteer attends their shift; And one volunteer leaves for home… mask down?!? Home Rapid Antigen Testing… twice a day; Hubbub! A government delivery arrives; The delivery cart goes by in a blur; Boxes of fresh supplies arrive; Fruit, veg, and…
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Day Six, Month Three
I have always said, “Boredom is the sign of an infertile mind.” Mine feels as though it has not only been barren for a season, but it’s desertified as well. The bars on the windows are to stop people getting in; Express volunteers call out to the top floor; The delivery made, a volunteer stays…
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Day Five, Month Three
The Silence Period is completed. We should be allowed out, right? Wrong! We do PCR Tests again and another notification came, tomorrow we begin the Sprint Period, another three days in home detention, before the next notification. The day after tomorrow, and the day after that, new food parcels from the government will be delivered.…
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Day 65 of Lockdown, or Day Four, Month Three
I heard a noise in the, “Silence.” It was only two volunteers, walking and talking; this image speaks to my sense of humor… I added the last line; Rapid tests, twice a day every day.
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Day Three… Month Three
Am… early start to the morning, we must self-test before 7 am (I thought 6:00) and communicate the result to the building volunteers; Those with negative tests line up for PCR batch testing; PCR batch tests, one by one, social distancing for the residents, and atomize the air person by person; There are many more…
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Day Two… Month Three
I was told we are not allowed to go out the building, and yet people still are; Breakfast is Sauerkrautbrot toast, with a fried egg; A cup of Jīn Jun Mei tea; Volunteers at the South Gate; A delivery came for me, the volunteers brought it, but I was asleep and did not hear them…