April 15th, 2020, Menorca

Exactly 6 months later… and such a different world…

It seems only right that I pick this up again, as the world tilts on its axis into a whole new reality… for the moment, I am blessed with being in this beautiful, peaceful place, relatively unscathed, tho’ I have been out in “the world” only twice in the past month (since I have been here, with the first 2 weeks in full quarantine…)

To recap, I share the email I sent my friends after landing….

“I am in Menorca.  I was in New York, but I realised this was going to be a long haul and I couldn’t leave my sister on her own, so through many, many cliff-hangers, I finally managed to get on the last plane allowed into the island from outside Spain…. I am now in quarantine for 14 days, so as not to endanger the very person I have come to protect! Luckily a friend has a little house that’s empty just up the road from our house – very basic, and yesterday even without water (today I have it, for now).  When I’m settled I will write longer, but for now I just wanted to let you all know where I was, and that so far I’m fine (unfortunately I have been on 6 planes, in 8 airports, in the past 2 weeks, so I’m counting the days…).  There’s a complete lockdown here (even if I weren’t quarantined), no walking or biking, going anywhere for pleasure, only trips to buy food or medicine (or tobacco – this is Spain!), no more than one person in a car, etc…. but I plan to start planting the vegetable garden next week, once the field has been cleared… I knew there was a reason I learned how to grow food!  I feel incredibly lucky to be here, to have been able to get here, both for my sister and myself.  Leaving my apartment in Westbeth was really hard, but I know it was the right thing to do… Please keep in touch and let me know how you all are… far flung we might be, but you are all important to me.”

A month later, and I am still in the “wee hoose” down the road – much as I’d like to be in my own house, it’s good to have my own space – living with sis 24/7 is challenging, and who knows for how long this will be, so I’m happy to be the recipient of such hospitality – thank you, Judy and Caroline, for your generosity… sis and I walk every morning (totally against the rules, but the rules are made in Madrid, and our back lanes here in the country are rarely policed, thank heavens), and often times in the late afternoon. I do chores around the house, then spend hours in the garden and fields, plus time in the studio – but I wake up and go to sleep alone…  the 2 weeks of quarantine were overhung with anxiety, waiting for the axe to fall, but I seem to have managed to come through unscathed, in spite of the numerous airports and airplanes… Since then, I have been out into the world only twice, and both times were deeply unsettling, ever since it was pointed out to me that as a cancer survivor with a heart condition I am a “high risk” individual… what, you mean I’m no longer 35 and and invincible?? So food is ordered and delivered, and we keep to ourselves out of choice as well as necessity… thank god for the garden and our fields…

The huerto is finally planted – it’s been in a week now, and looking good, particularly after the good rain we had a few days ago.  Meanwhile I continue to hack away at my grand project, The Park  – carving out walking paths and sculpting old ullastres  in the abandoned back fields – I LOVE my chain saw and clippers! There are vast piles of debris that need to get burned, hopefully next week…
A month in, I am definitely feeling the lack of physical contact…. and I wonder when I will ever get to play music with other people again – in the room, so to speak… the annual Kamikaze reunion at the end of February takes on a whole new significance…
And then there is the loss of Hal… that really hits home…  I think of how hard it must be for all the folks in NYC not to be able to gather – such a fundamental part of the grieving process… we are now living in a virtual reality… But tho’ I am separated from may community, I have my garden… and my sister… I am so fortunate… as always…