Coronavirus The Heat

Coronavirus you are so mean! 

A heat wave has settled over Southern California for over a week and is forecast to last another two. 98 degrees today in South Pasadena. What do people do when it is hot? They go to the movies, the mall, the museum, eat inside a restaurant, basically go anywhere there is air conditioning. Thanks to the coronavirus all of those options are cancelled.

How about a nice hike? You would have to go really high up to find some relief. Last weekend Lake Arrowhead was 88 degrees at 5,174 feet - still a bit warm.  Big Bear was a little more comfortable at 82 degrees, but they were also having scattered thunderstorms. That would make hiking even more uncomfortable. And again, you can't go inside anywhere to escape the rain or heat.

Being in Southern California, we are blessed with golden beaches and the cool Pacific Ocean. Only issue is millions of other Angelenos would probably be headed that way as well - covid be darned. The temperature at Manhattan Beach last weekend was forecasted to be 86 degrees. So unless you were in the water all day, you will be broiling on the sand. And even if you braved the crowds and sun, once there you would still have to eat your lunch or drink your Starbucks outside.

 

Maybe my teenagers who sleep during the heat of the day and stay up during the cooler evenings night have it right. Night surfing anyone?

 

Note - I did go to Manhattan Beach yesterday despite my fears of crowds and heat. I took my boogie board and had a grand time. The weather was a hazy overcast all morning keeping the temperature in the upper 70s and it was not that crowded. Perhaps Angelenos had the same fears I had and stayed home making traffic a breeze. 

Lots of times one's fears are overblown and once you do something you realize its not so bad. 

Another good thing is theoretically the coronavirus dies in the sun. So if you brave the heat outside, almost everything thing you touch will be sanitized.  

 

Fortunately, in California we have a "dry" heat which means we avoid the humidity of the east coast making life more bearable than many other unfortunate souls. My son remarked yesterday, "Dad, remember how when we stepped out of the airport at JFK and our shirts immediately clung to our bodies." 

"Yes, I do," I said and laughed counting my blessings as we sat on the sand watching the waves.

I will take the California heat anytime - but that coronavirus is really trying my patience.

 

Take care and be safe.

 

Posts Tuesday and Saturday

Coronavirus Eating On The Street

Good bye parking, hello dining.

In Manhattan Beach today, I saw how street parking was replaced with outdoor seating. Wooden stands were constructed ten feet into the street, covered with black cloth, and low plastic walls enclosed the dining space.

Between the spaced tables were plastic partitions. Servers wearing masks and face shields served customers. The local ice cream shop had their own street-level outdoor dining area with a pink picket fence separating traffic from their cute white chairs.

Manhattan Beach is serious about the coronavirus and helping its businesses while keeping consumers safe. Driving into Manhattan Beach, a large road construction sign said, "Face masks required, fine $350." I must say 99% of the people on the street and boardwalk wore masks. The exception was the people eating outside. You can't eat with a mask on.  So there is that small risks, something could go wrong.

But, I must say that eating on the patio of a restaurant in Oregon on our recent road trip was a great experience. To sit down and have someone bring us dinner and take care of our dishes for the first time in four months felt odd at first and then energizing.

My mother told me that the Glendale Galleria, an enormous indoor mall, has converted part of its parking structure into an outdoor eating area.

In South Pasadena, Mama's Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta put up an enormous white pop-up in it's parking lot, put out a statue of liberty, and laid out tables with red table cloths for to customer's outdoor dining experience.

Fiore Market Cafe also in South Pasadena had a small three-piece instrumental band play on its socially-distanced patio for lunch the other day.

I am glad to see more and more business adapting to the new "normal" and overcoming the challenges to stay in business.

I was speaking to my barber last week whose store placed a pop-up tent in their parking lot and moved three barber chairs outside and we agreed that the worst is past us - the unknown. Now, everyone knows about the virus; it will not wipe out the earth's population; people and business have dealt with and adapted to living in the  coronavirus environment for over 5 months; and life has entered a new state of normal.

It is still scary and I bid you to take care of yourselves and be safe, but determine how you can make the best of your situation rather than waiting for something to happen.

Posts Tuesday and Saturday