May 16

Today has been nice and sunny--so far. More rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow. The weather people on the morning news said we got more than 4 inches--some areas much more. I checked all of the plants I put out under cloches and they seem happy. I don't think they will be affected unless we have winds strong enough to blow off the caps. I still have 5 or six pots to put outside but no cloches for them until we get more vinegar and milk jugs empty and washed out. I spent a bit of time out front digging up the pampas grass and weeds. The landlords know we hate the damned stuff. It always grows profusely enough to interfere with our front door and it attracts all kinds of insects that then come in on our clothes. I plan to put a planter with a nice hibiscus out there after I get the main clumps of grass out.

Down With Tyranny makes a couple of points that reflect some of my thoughts concerning the course of the pandemic so far. Most of those protesting loudest (and brandishing their guns with macho bravado) probably don't know anyone who has had the virus or who has cared for anyone seriously ill with it, or (gods forbid) who have died from it. Until they do have that experience they won't really see it as serious. What they do know is that they have, at best, been inconvenienced or, at worst, have taken a serious hit to their income/business and they really don't know why. Their empathy seems to end where their convenience and income begins.

Another thought that has been simmering at the back of my mind every time I hear a news-reader, or political commentator moan about the lack of a unified plan from Washington, D.C., is that the complaint assumes that 1) the current administration is capable of formulating a unified plan for the country as a whole,  2) that the states would go along with it without complaint, and 3) that people in the various states would meekly obey. I think the virus has shown all those assumptions to be false. The current administration is not remotely capable of formulating any coherent plan, short term or long term. Various people have cited the plan 45 proposed for shutting down the economy but failed to note that the occupant of the White House started backing away from it almost immediately. Now he is busily demanding that the economy open up immediately and lambasting the governors, especially those who haven't kissed his behind to his satisfaction, move faster. The governors are pursuing their plans independently of the White House but often find them selves in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation between those who what things to proceed faster and those who want a slower, more cautious approach. So the second and third assumptions have gone up in flames. Everyone wants what they had in January but even if the virus disappeared today (which I don't expect) that will not happen. Too many businesses won't be able to reopen and some that do try won't be able to stay open. Too many people have too much to catch up on: bills, mortgage, rent, etc. The shake up from the pandemic is just starting and will be painful.

A couple of days ago as we watched the news and saw a segment which proclaimed, yet again, that the economy can't recover until we have effective testing (with tracing contacts and isolation) and effective vaccines. My comment was: what about the anti-vaxers, all those who are vehemently vaccines they view as dangerous. We have had outbreaks of measles, mumps, and whooping cough over the last several years as the numbers of the unvaccinated grow. This story from the Guardian indicates that the anti-vaccination sentiment isn't changing with respect to the coronavirus. A vaccine is a vaccine is a vaccine and they are all dangerous. Again, as with the coronavirus, few of us have seen a lethal case of whooping cough, or measles, or polio. I remember a girl in my 8th grade class who came from Czechoslovakia just ahead of the Soviet crack down and had polio. But the last case indigenous transmission in the U.S., according to the CDC website, was in 1979. We, as a society, have forgotten how serious these diseases were so that the potential side effects of the vaccine are more terrifying than the diseases the vaccines were designed to prevent.