Photo: Dibsy Machta Photo: Anna Mindess
Every day since March 17 when the shelter in place orders were instituted, Dibsy Machta has decorated her front door at 808 Shattuck Ave. with colorful construction paper cut-outs. The messages urge her Berkeley neighbors to stay safe. They also tally up the grim numbers of COVID-19 deaths both in the US and worldwide. To mark the number of days we have been in lockdown, Matcha has incorporated Roman numerals, scientific numbers and prime numbers. She’s used playing cards, dice and egg cartons.
One might assume Machta is a furloughed math teacher with a huge supply of materials leftover from classroom bulletin boards. But actually she is a retired medical office manager who now sees how her hoarding tendencies have come in handy.