A social distancing jaunt

Photo courtesy of Colorado Public Radio

As of this afternoon Governor Polis of Colorado has asked Colorado residents to wear face masks when out in public.

As I had mentioned in an earlier blog, my mother in law had been kind enough to sew us some masks which until today we hadn't felt like we really needed to wear. Thank goodness for her, as I'm no seamstress (seamstrer?). There is now a website, the Colorado Mask Project, that shows how to make do-it-yourself masks if you'd like to give it a try. You're probably aware that medical grade (N95) masks are in extremely short supply and are being reserved for first responders and medical staff. Up until now most of the guidance was that homemade masks did next to nothing to protect you but apparently the thought now is that some protection is better than no protection. Viruses are very tiny and can easily penetrate most handmade masks but the masks may in fact help catch the larger particle droplets containing the virus that folks breath and sneeze. And since many folks are not showing any symptoms of illness even when they are already contagious that healthy looking jogger or cyclist who is breathing hard may be expelling millions of virus-containing droplets. The masks may help sequester those droplets.

Anyway, I hadn't planned on this being a newsy blog but there you have it. What I had really intended was to share something a little more fun, especially if you are really not leaving your house even for exercise. My wife and I had taken a bike ride into Chatfield State Park the other day. It was early in the morning as we were trying to avoid as many people as possible and you'll see in the video the Park was fairly quiet at least compared to normal. So sit back and take a spin with us. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we'll all be out in the great Colorado outdoors enjoying again what our State has to offer...