2020-02 An Isolated World

Staying at Home

The Chinese New Year holiday is prolonged, however we have nowhere to go except staying at home.

Eva

The snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) by the kitchen door is one of Eva’s favorite daily spot. From here she can overlook the whole living room, enter the kitchen right away when she smells something, and hide behind the big plant if she feels odd.

White

The bed is one of White’s favorite daily spot. But mother doesn’t allow him to stay there, so he’s always checking who’s outside the door whenever I pass by.

Both Cats

White still likes to approach Eva; well Eva still tries her best to avoid him.

Begging for Food

Eva comes to mother’s chair for food on every meal. White only run into the kitchen if he smells chicken liver.

Life under Pandemic

Returning Flight

The COVID-19 gets worse in Feburary, so the date of getting back to work has been postponed again and again. Considering that it may be dangerous to travel during peak days, I book a flight right before the Lantern Festival back to Shenzhen. Half of the cabin is empty and I occupy one row of seats.

The security of the community registers some information and then lets me in. The streets in Wuhe is completely empty, and there are barely any passing cars on Wuhe Avenue even in day time. I’ve never seen Shenzhen like this.

My Plants

All of my plants at Shenzhen are still alive, and they seem even in better shape than when I was taking care of them.

Living

To maintain a hard-working character, I still come to the office everyday (not only for the daily two face masks). I become adapted to the empty world very soon, and even like it a little bit. No matter what, life still goes on. “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” - Martin Luther.

Food

Mother fills my suitcase with all kinds of food. Fortunately the supermarkets in Shenzhen are still open, so I take the pandemic as an excuse to feed myself bunch of snacks. Once again I single-handedly clear the stock of dried toufu in my favorite flavour.

Curl-tailed Orange Tabby

The pandemic brings me two surprising relationships, one of which is the orange tabby living in the Korean convenience store. It is an outdoor cat, whose tail is probably injured before and keeps curled around. The store is closed for days or even a month, so it is kept inside and stares outside from the window. I can see its eager to go outside, and I hear it meowing loudly throught the glass. A couple days later it starts to recognize me, and will meow on the sight of me from far away.

Basketball Jerseys

I own a jersey with my name on it for the first time. I gether all the old jerseys I can find to take a picture. I guess my retirement is not that far away.

Practice

Sometimes I practise until my fingers feel so numb that I can’t tell if they are pressing the strings or not. Even with this effort I still suck at it.