Today is a day to commercialize love. No, not prostitution, love, which is freely given but also earned and celebrated and reduced to a product which is equivalent to a certain amount of products being exchanged. The day of San Valentín.
I was at home, not doing much of anything, and the day seemed beautiful. Yes, it was sunny with clouds, and the clouds seemed to be retreating. Originally I had wanted to go to a public garden but, as I thought about it, I reflected on the fact that these places would be full today, as they are on weekends in general as people seek relief from the pandemic. So no, I didn't go to the Huntington Library Garden, not to the San Diego Garden, nor to other gardens I wanted to see again. I thought, I need to go out, so I went to a certain campus in Pomona.
Arriving I saw there traffic was being directed to a certain area next to the dormitories (which are empty, by the way). The campus is a vaccination hub, so they are receiving people with appointments. So what did I do? I avoided the line, since I don't have an appointment, and I went to campus, which was mostly quiet except for a young woman and her driving instructor driving round and round the parking lot where I wanted to park, making me nervous that she would crash her car into mine. I went to another parking lot.
It was quiet, and I went to the usual route. First, the canonical building, then the Japanese garden, the the garden with the gazebo, then walking around the campus going to the top. It was good exercise, but I also wanted to take photos. I took my Kraken 6x12, which I wanted to fix so that it would focus at infinity, but it doesn't. It is the wrong size, it is too long and I can't fix my Graphlex 135 lens to it. The creator gave me the wrong cone, but at least, it can focus at close distances. I also took my regular Holga 6x6.
It was quiet. And to think, I have been teaching here for ten years, the longest I have been employed anywhere. I love the peace and quiet, but it is filled with memories. There were also plenty of people driving around the campus, trying to find something to do on a Sunday, and a few parents with children trying to provide them an outing during a pandemic. I checked on Worlmeters today, and we are zeroing in on 500,000 Covid casualties here in the United States alone. I feel if this runaway train doesn't slow down, it will really hurt Biden. It isn't his fault, he isn't inciting people to not use facemasks or not receive vaccines, but he will be blamed. The same thing is happening to Governor Newsome here in California, the knives are out and he is being blamed for the Covid disaster here in the state.
Here are a few cellphone photos. I will upload more photos in batches. I was there from 12 noon until almost 3 p.m. I got plenty of exercise today.
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