The View from the Hermitage, Day 259

Day 259, Week 37, call it what you will, there's still no real end in sight. It's not clear there will be by the time 2020 rides off into the sunset either. Will the old year leave in the same flaming dumpster it settled into last March? When I look ahead to 2021, I try not to think of the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 that killed nearly 230,000 people. Mother Nature does not observe holidays. If she gets in a bad mood, all bets are off. In other words, we are not out of the 2020 woods just yet.

On the very local, household, front, I have abandoned the search for curtains or drapes via retail establishments. Finding the same thing in different lengths became too vexing. We are also trying to patronize local businesses where possible, and there are several local custom window treatment places. I know that we'll pay exorbitantly more than we would at some place such as Wayfair or Lowe's, but we'll be supporting a local small business. Since I don't feel comfortable having someone come into the house right now, we'll put the old curtains back up for insulation and wait until life is more stable.

Locally but not at my house, the city had its third murder in a month yesterday morning. It's the fifth murder so far this year. I've heard few details, though it sounds as if around 30 shots were fired in the incident based on the number of shell casings recovered. We've got a month still to go, so a sixth would not be out of the picture. Also, the county school system reported its first student covid-19 cases, five at one elementary school. It sounded as if one student tested positive with contact tracing pointing to five other students with whom they had contact with away from school. Four of those students tested positive. All are isolating. A couple of adults at the school also tested positive, though it wasn't clear to me whether the adults were exposed to the student(s) or in some other way. 

The seven-day rolling average of new covid-19 cases in Virginia may go past 2,600 today after dropping a bit on Friday. Thanksgiving Day was, as might be expected, not a day for an overly large number of new cases to be reported. It sounded as if the governor did do a briefing last Tuesday, but it was more of the same be-careful-you-can-do-this song and dance. Other states are tightening what they can to lessen exposure. I don't view stopping alcohol sales at midnight as tight enough. It may be the the covid-19 cases the governor and his wife had were mild enough for him to think it's not that big of a deal. Guess what, Ralph? It is!

The Washington Post had an in-depth article this morning on what The Lame Duck has been doing in the time since the election. What was reported was not reassuring. I would compare it to something such as The Count of Monte Cristo but in that work the character wanted to leave his imprisonment. The Lame Duck is the opposite. He has no desire to leave the prison of the Presidency. Interestingly, I recall one mention of Jared Kushner in the article but no mention of The Lame Ducklings, Don, Eric, or Ivanka. Are they perhaps trying to distance themselves from Daddy Duck?

The Post also had an interesting column by Ruth Marcus on the pros and cons of prosecuting The Lame Duck once he is no longer President. Central to such consideration is whether pursuing charges would further divide an already-very-divided country. That consideration slowed by knee-jerk response of, "You have to ask? Of course we should nail his butt to the wall!" Would the Proud Boys stand back for that or are they standing by just in case that happens? What message does it send not to prosecute him, say, for crimes committed before he became President? That you really can stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone? That having half the country support you absolves you from any and all offenses committed at any time? There's a lot to think about there, which I imagine various prosecutors are doing right now. 

Back to the here and now. I have lost track of the number of Facebook pages I have seen showing the Christmas trees and decorations people have put up (some before Thanksgiving!) or are putting up this weekend. It's not as if I'm hosting any visitors any time soon. We live somewhat off the main roads, so it's not as if people will be driving by and admiring our outside decorations which end at putting up icicle lights around the front porch. I have at least addresses ten envelopes for Christmas cards. I call that a good enough start at Christmas.