The Weekly Margs by Zach Margolis

F is for Face Masks

Nov 15, 2020

This year's hottest new accessory

Hi! Welcome back!

I started 2020 with one mask, it has an N99 filter (and a vent, boo) that I had purchased last year for wildfire season. Today, I have 8 masks and thanks to some impulsive online shopping earlier this week, there are 4 more on the way. COVID isn’t on track to be gone from our lives any time soon, so as far as I’m concerned, we might as well wear some fun masks to limit the spread in the meantime.

So I’ll give you one guess as to what this week’s pictures are of.

Aerosol and Droplet Spread

Before we get in to this week’s pictures of well-behaved people in masks, I want to take the time to share some information on the spread of COVID to help people make informed choices about how they socialize.

This article from El País has some excellent visualizations of aerosol spread of COVID indoors in various scenarios. Spoiler: even with masks on and healthy 6ft distancing, aerosol spread still occurs indoors. Please cancel your Thanksgiving plans that involve multiple households being indoors together.

Mask Up!

Masks are the simplest way to decrease chances of COVID transmission. They’re not the only way, they’re not foolproof, but they help. I’m sure everybody reading this wears them regularly outside the home, so great job! Let’s look at some picture of folks I’ve taken wearing their masks. One thing I love is how good people have gotten at smizing and how it even comes through in photos.

Here we have Meghan and Mac, both wearing face masks as well as practicing good hand hygiene by using hand sanitizer. We had just picked up some froyo (I think from Souvla) and were about to eat it in the park. I think they were smizing extra here because we knew how silly it was that I was trying to photograph something as mundane as using hand sanitizer.

Here’s Ben wearing a mask. A small group (four) of us biked over to the Presidio to watch the sun set after I hosted trivia on Zoom one evening. Back in July, the sun set so late compared to now! This was taken at 8:30pm! I love the golden hour colors here, and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

This is me, the same evening as the previous photo. Again, some excellent golden hour vibes near the iconic bridge.

I’m wearing the first mask I bought this year, and I think it’s my favorite and also most-worn mask. I like this mask because it’s soft and comfortable and large, and easily covers both my nose and chin, so I don’t have to constantly adjust it like some of the smaller masks I have. I bought it from Asmbly Hall, one of my favorite local clothing stores here in SF right as they opened for pickup orders.

Here’s my mom, from the same trip to Mono Lake as in last week’s issue. We ate outdoors at a really cute restaurant there with great views of the lake basin. Mom is extremely crafty and made the mask she is wearing in the photo. Over the last few months, she’s made and donated probably hundreds of masks and various forms of PPE like long-sleeved scrubs to groups in LA.

Thanks again for reading! Hope you all continue to stay safe and make safe choices!

XOXO,
Margs