We're living with a lot of restrictions here. I guess you'd call it lockdown light. No more than 10 people together anywhere, most notably in the coffee shops. Most restaurants and schools are closed. Masks are mandatory -- for real, this time. Coronavirus was detected in a factory that's in our province and suspected in a big hotel/apartment building nearby. Ambulances and police went to the hotel/apartment building, creating worrisome excitement for the locals. There are about 300 new cases of Covid in Vietnam each day. Other than my concern that I can catch the virus and die, I find that the lifestyle retrictions create a calmer and more peaceful attitude here. Dare I say pleasant? Almost everyone wears a mask, and there's a bit more respect for personal space and social distancing, although people still put their groceries on top of your stuff in the checkout line in a cheesy bid to get ahead or "hurry up." The motorbike traffic is lighter, even on the sidewalks. You're not really supposed to go out unless it's necessary. I consider pounding with mallets and jackhammering on our walls (for 37 days now) a "necessary" reason to go out in the heat and Covid. My daughter Joanna and I walk daily in the grim conditions for quite a while because of the situation next to our house. We've gotten to know some wonderful shop keepers and their kids, and we've met friendly street folk on our walks and "creature" searches and adventures. Joanna insists on a trek to Z88, a milk tea stand, and I oblige. We've moved her lessons to the third floor in an effort to get away from the noise, but jackhammering and mallet work on the walls next to us are, well, noisy regardless of where we are in our house.
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Our creature adventures have become highly successful thanks to my daughter's eyesight. I'm just happy I can see my daughter. She spots birds, toads, geckos, grasshoppers and lizards like there's no tomorrow, and the way things have been going in the world, who knows if there will be a tomorrow. A small crowd of moms and dads and kids come to the park around 4:30 p.m. each day, and I can tell Joanna looks forward to being around new folk even if she doesn't speak the language.
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I'm reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder to my daughter each night. This book contains extensive detail on things like smoking meat, making maple syrup, churning butter, and calico dresses. It's a bit much for a 4-year-old so I tell her to do whatever she wants when I read ... but try to keep the noise down. It's interesting and satisfying watching her slowly getting into the book, and she clearly enjoys Pa's stories about the black panther, the bears, and the cows.
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I'm in the middle of Frank Herbert's fifth Dune book, Heretics of Dune, and it's OK but a bit of a slog for a dullard like me. My Kindle streak continues thanks mainly to reading before sleep and the length of the Dune books. Actually, I read one night last week when our internet was down and it looked like the streak incorrectly ended. My reading "insights" said my streak was 0 the next day. I really didn't care and figured I'd read a hardback Jack Vance book I've been saving, but the following day the numbers were corrected and the streak -- I'm at 555 days in a row now -- is back on. And so is Heretics of Dune.

Phuong Pham Millman:🧡Subscribe: https://bit.ly/3uXkQGo
Monday, June 14, 2021
Accepting Covid restrictions; more creatures and reading
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