The text on the image reads
My sleeves bring all the swabs to the deck.
Ahoy there! They’re bigger than ours!
A-HOY! They’re bigger than yours!
I DID IT! I walked to the pharmacy!
I expected more people to be wearing masks.
I did not expect to see so many joggers and bicyclists out there for their health spewing their mouth moisture all over the sidewalk at high velocities without masks to protect the rest of us. Super gross, people. Super gross. Not everyone has your immune system.
On the plus side, there were a lot of people actually wearing masks and almost everyone kept a respectful distance—except some of the joggers. (Again, gross, people. No one wants to breathe your lung particles right now.)
It was fun, though, to go walking through my neighborhood dressed like a pirate again. It's been a while. I left the parasol at home this time so I could have my hands free for the pharmacy and used my husband's larger pirate hat for the sake of keeping the sun off instead. It's a good hat, a combo effort. The lantern on the side of it came out of my great grandmother's hope chest—and he got it to work! It lights up! I held his hat on my head with ye olde skull-heart scarf. Sunglasses and a mask, of course, obscured the remaining parts of my face. I put on the largest necklaces I could find this morning that didn't weigh too much for a walk. I thought the spiky necklace the other day was the largest. I was wrong. I'd forgotten about a few things that were buried. The vest/bodice has been in my collection for over 10 years. The skirt used to be a dress. The red skirt wrap is actually a pashmina (still a little chilly this morning). And what else? THE SLEEVES! Dude. When better to wear a shirt that has more sleeve than shirt than when I'm a pirate? They're architectural. I feel like a linebacker. It's wonderful.
And from over six feet away, a few people appreciated my ridiculousness. They were all wearing masks. It warmed my heart. And that's part of why I did it, to make myself feel better. I knew it would cheer me up (possibly for days) to pirate-walk myself on my errand. I hoped it would cheer others up, too, or, at least, give them something to talk about other than the virus for a hot second. (All the better that they don't know who I am, heh.) It was an unexpected side effect that having random strangers say hi through their masks and/or say something kind made me feel good, too. It was a little piece of normality and humanity (from a safe distance) that I think I've been missing.
So, thank you, fellow mask wearers!
I wish I would have started wearing mine earlier. I'm still not going out again anytime soon, though. That curve's still curvy, and I saw more gaping mouths than I'm comfortable with.
There are a ton of resources and tutorials on the internet for how to make a face mask. Here are couple links to get you started.
Three ways to make a cloth face mask from Wired. Sew and no-sew.
How to make a mask with 2 pieces of fabric, can hold a filter layer. Sewing required.
There are a ton of places to buy non-medical masks popping on line, just an easy internet search away. I'm noticing more and more of them looking professional and/or clearly safety-oriented. Not everyone can wear a bandana or a sock as a mask without risking terrifying repercussions.
There are also organizations that invite you to donate so that others can have masks. For instance:
Masks for the People: Humanitarian Campaign
Some background info on Masks for the People
Humanity Heroes
More info on Humanity Heroes Donations
P.S. I have opinions, man. One of those opinions is that compassion is important. <3