Well, Half-Past November plus a couple of days

We went out on our grocery run this morning. We were surprised to see as many people at the little dairy but every now and then more people than we expect show up as early as we do. We got our usual--milk, eggs, butter, and yogurt plus a package of hamburger patties and a couple packages of pirogies. But one guy was filling up a box and their meat freezer was about 2/3 empty. At our other supermarket we saw a few more cars than usual but the real surprised was at the checkout. We haven't seen so many people with such loaded carts since March. One couple had two loaded carts. The toilet paper aisle was almost bare and the signs limiting customers to two items were back. We remarked on the situation to the checker who said it was because our county had been assigned to the red level of restrictions. Our governor had replaced the numerical levels with color codes. I knew that but when I checked a couple of days ago we were still in the orange. That might have spooked some but it doesn't mean much to us. None of the COVID restrictions have affected us much. We don't travel, we didn't consider shopping a sport or entertainment, and we didn't gather with large crowds nor with small crowds often. My sister-in-law's funeral was that last large person gathering we attended. What we saw was an echo of last spring but this one is a clearer reminder of the early pandemic. I am amazed by how many Republican governors have suddenly come to the point of adopting some restriction to combat the virus.

Random Observations for November 18

Ceremonies, customs and traditions are part of the glue that hold us together and so many are under pressure from the pandemic. By custom and by law we send kids out of the house to schools from age 5 or 6 which allows both parents to work in the economy. By tradition we have elections in which one party loses and concedes, publicly, while congratulating the winner. We look forward to the holidays when we can get together with often far-flung family. But all of our expectations are being stretched and mangled to the point that we hardly recognize them.

Pfizer has come out with an amendment to its announcement of last week: its vaccine shows a 95%+ level of effectiveness. They will go ahead with a petition for emergency use directive from the FDA. But that doesn't mean either their vaccine or the Moderna vaccine which also showed a preliminary effectiveness of 90%+, will be available to ALL Americans before mid to late 2021--in other words not soon. We will have to mask up and social distance for some months yet. Unfortunately, so many are resisting such measures.

I keep hearing pleas from medical and other experts pushing for a "national response". They all cite the problems that comes with 50+ separate state responses. Unfortunately, they all are pushing against an entrenched historical tradition under which the states have their own sovereignty. The United States was established as a union of sovereign with separate spheres of authority for the Federal and state governments. Expecting a national response is as logical as expecting the measures mandated to be enforced in France or Germany. A coordinated national response requires leadership which as been lacking in our current Federal administration.

Canada celebrated its Thanksgiving a month ago and has had a big surge in COVID. Ours comes up next week and I expect we will have a similar surge on top of the spike we now have. And just think of Christmas coming up. We are very attached to our celebrations as I said above.

Most of this year, after March, we have seen news stories about lines. Unbelievable lines to vote, staggering lines for COVID tests, and astounding lines for food at food banks. I remarked to Mom that I remember bread/soup lines but only from pictures of the Great Depression in history books. I am too young (at 71). I asked if I missed some along the way and she didn't think so. There were some now that I think about it during the Great Recession but not so many and not so long.