{"id":1235,"date":"2020-04-29T19:06:09","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T19:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/?page_id=1235"},"modified":"2020-10-18T15:57:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-18T15:57:09","slug":"betsy-newman","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/?page_id=1235","title":{"rendered":"Betsy Newman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fear is a constant, unwelcome companion. Fear of touch. Fear of breath. Fear of the invisible. Fear of friends, except on a screen. Social distancing doesn’t make sense – being social means being together. I crave the time when we can be together again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Betsy Newman
COVID – Double Portrait
(after two months of isolation)
Columbia, SC – 2020
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Betsy Newman,
“Left over”
Digital Photgraphy
Columbia, SC
2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Betsy Newman,
Digital Photography
Columbia, SC 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having been isolated for more than tow months and with her images from home, Betsy seems to explore the vastness of her space while experiencing Social Distancing and isolation at the same time the unavoidable impact in the environment due to the COVID -19 pandemic. Betsy also shares her journal during Social Distancing with us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpts from my coronavirus journal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Journal Betsy Newman
Tomatoes, Carrots, Peppers, Okra
Columbia, SC
During Covid- 19
2020<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sunday, April 5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s now a month since I had a normal Sunday, on March 8th\u2026but I wasn\u2019t feeling well then. I had had a headache since the day before, after I returning from the Gullah Geechee conference the previous Wednesday. Anyhow, the next day I was sick with fever and a cough \u2013 bad flu symptoms for 2 days, stayed in bed, couldn\u2019t eat. At that time I felt sure I had the coronavirus but somehow I didn\u2019t feel the gravity of that possibility. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

(note: I had the test and it came back negative).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, April 6 \u2013 10:39 AM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A beautiful morning, sunny and warm but not hot. Birds singing, very little traffic. But fear is pervasive. Fear of the grocery store!! I hate being afraid of the groceries but now I just saw a video saying you should wipe down everything you buy. Is the virus lurking in the fridge, on the shelves? Should I go back and wipe everything? AARGH!!! <\/p>

Yesterday Steve\u2019s brother called this a \u201creckoning\u201d and I reckon he\u2019s right. Also I read, \u201cDon\u2019t try to be happy, just try to learn.\u201d OK then\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, April 8 \u2013 3:57 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a generally positive person, maybe naively so sometimes, but this has crushed my spirit a bit. This is global, it is bad and it is having an especially terrible impact on people other than me \u2013 poor and working-class people, people of color, people with kids and not one to take care of them. I\u2019m incredibly lucky but it\u2019s a sorrowful feeling nevertheless. Sorrow for humanity and our country in the grip of a madman. Got to get outside now and work in the garden\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, April 9 \u2013 9:55 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Journal Betsy Newman
Bonnie sleeping by my chair.
Columbia, SC
During Covid- 19
2020<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today the okra sprouted in my little veg. garden. Such cute sprouts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, April 13 \u2013 10:48 AM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow \u2013 days with no journal entries \u2013 how did that happen? One day melts into the next, so remembering is hard, but all the more reason to write things down. As of right now we have no electricity! There was a scary thunderstorm this morning and between 4:15 AM when I got up to take Bunnie out and 8:00 when we got up, electricity went off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hearing more and more about class\/racial disparities w\/regard to social distancing \u2013 not possible when you and your 5 children are sleeping on a friend\u2019s livingroom floor (actual story in the Times <\/em>today.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, April 18<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haven\u2019t written since Monday \u2013 loss of electricity was a mind-blower that sent me into a more surreal place than before, if that was possible. I actually felt disconnected a bit from the ability to function \u2013 couldn\u2019t sleep. But never mind \u2013 48 hours w\/out electricity and social isolation, working from home and getting paid for it \u2013 our lives could be so much worse!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday was Steve\u2019s 65th<\/sup> birthday. I made a cake and we sang HB to him on Face Time w\/Jim and Erica and then w\/Britt and Alejandro. So we actually celebrated w\/more people than we would have under ordinary circumstances, when I would have taken him to dinner w\/just the two of us. So in a strange way social distancing has provided more opportunities to \u201csee\u201d people albeit virtually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, April 20 \u2013 7:50 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just went out to empty the trash and saw my neighbor \u2013 he didn\u2019t look well and he told me he has COPD \u2013 he feels short of breath. Oh God \u2013 I feel like he has the virus \u2013 a middle-aged black man who goes to work every day. Such a good man \u2013 he says his wife is OK \u2013 but I feel caught in the horrible inequality of our time. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, April 21 (had to think about the actual date)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow is the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of Earth Day \u2013 1970 \u2013 yeah! I remember being at Antioch College for the first Earth Day and hearing Gary Snyder read his poems. Aah \u2013 what a lovely memory! Looking at CNN while writing this \u2013 headline: \u201cChildren Say Goodbye to Father Over Phone.\u201d Damn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, April 23 \u2013 9:05 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About to watch Episode 11, Season 3 of Babylon Berlin \u2013 v. atmospheric, love listening to the German, and the rise of the Nazi party resonates as an all too relevant theme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still a beautiful, cool, rainy spring w\/exception of a few very hot days. Okra put out its second leaf. A couple of good-looking squash plants grew up out of the compost so I planted them in a bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, April 27 \u2013 7:28 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went grocery shopping again today. I used to enjoy it but now it\u2019s so fraught with fear and germs. I yearn for a more carefree time. But I will say that going to Sierra Leone (in January) put it in some kind of perspective even before the pandemic. Seeing how you can survive with so little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve\u2019s playing the guitar. Really the only music I listen to, and so beautiful. Dogs \u2013 W.T.P. (Winnie the Pooh) stretched out on the floor \u2013 Bunnie saying, \u201cWhere\u2019s dinner?\u201d It\u2019s very domestic right now and the birds are calling to each other:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wren 1 \u2013 \u201cWe missed you, we missed you, we missed you.\u201d Wren 2 \u2013 \u201cTuweet, tuweet, tuweet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, May 4 \u2013 Sometime after 10:00 PM. Two months since the quarantine began<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last two days have been hard emotionally \u2013 clashes of wills w\/me and Steve, sadness, extreme sadness. I thought yesterday for the first time that there are friends in other states whom we may never see again \u2013 when can we travel? We take so much for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, May 7 \u2013 10:00 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m about 100 pages from the end of Frederick Douglass\u2019s biography. At a gathering for his 71st<\/sup> birthday on 2\/28\/1888, he said, \u201cI never had a birthday. We (slaves) were born at times \u2013 harvest times, watermelon times, generally hard times.\u201d<\/p>

And, \u201cPerhaps there is too much past. But remember that all the present rests on the past. Remember is as good a word as forget.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Monday, May 11 \u2013 9:36 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening\/not listening to the news. Rachel Maddow comparing Nixon\u2019s Supreme Court case about the Watergate tapes to the case before the court tomorrow re Trump\u2019s taxes. \u201cNo one is above the law!\u201d Let\u2019s hope not!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the scarlet runner beans are average 4\u201d tall \u2013 wow! Hope they thrive and survive the heat that is to come!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, May 12 – 9:30 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Cuomo CNN program \u2013 discussing shooting of black man in Brunswick, GA. Hard to watch \u2013 does nothing ever change? On Rachel Maddow \u2013 Elizabeth Warren warning of new spike of coronavirus \u2013 hard to do anything w\/out national leadership\u202620 million people lost employment last month \u2013 20 million lost health insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today my Dad would be 101 years old. Happy Birthday, Daddy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, May 14 \u2013 9:15 PM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anderson Cooper show discussing when sports will get back to normal. NOBODY KNOWS!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday, May 23 \u2013 Memorial Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess I\u2019ve taken a break from my journal \u2013 who knows why? I think of the journal my great-great-grandfather, Colonel Gibson kept meticulously \u2013 he recorded the weather every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a strange phase of the pandemic, with things opening up \u2013 but not at the same rate everywhere. We had Britt and Alexandro over for dinner \u2013 sat on the porch and extended the table so that we could sit 6\u2019 apart. It was wonderful to see their sweet faces in person, yet it felt very odd and not quite right. Was it the right thing to do? After almost 3 months in quarantine? That\u2019s the thing \u2013 we don\u2019t know. Nobody does. But how good to have company\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about Besty Newman<\/a>\u00b4s work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fear is a constant, unwelcome companion. Fear of touch. Fear of breath. Fear of the invisible. Fear of friends, except on a screen. Social distancing doesn’t make sense – being social means being together. I crave the time when we can be together again. Having been isolated for more than tow months and with her…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1235","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","empty-entry-meta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1235"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1444,"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1235\/revisions\/1444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garcialemos.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}