The View from the Hermitage, Day 281

The Christmas Ape has spoken. Christmas is coming. I do not remember when the tradition of The Christmas Ape began. My brother gave Son #1 a stuffed ape back in the day. The ape had a zipper up its back and could be opened up to become a globe. At some point, the zipper locked up and became zipless. At some point after that as we were finishing decorating the tree, Son #1 ran up to his room and came down with the ape, announcing that it should sit on top of the tree instead of the star. The top of the tree could fit into the zipless opening. We reached the compromise that the ape, already christened The Christmas Ape, would wear the star as a hat. And so was born a family tradition.

And here's the tree, lit, decorated, and presented. We left a few ornaments off for Son #2 and DiL= to hang on Friday. The presents are for five people and two animals. I like this much better than a large tree that forced the presents out in a larger area. We can actually walk past this tree to move between the living and dining rooms. 

The Washington Post asked readers "How would you describe 2020 in one word or phrase?" You can probably guess what the words were--Ugh, Surreal, Relentless, Heartbreaking, and the like. The Post's choice for "best summation" was from a 9-year-old in Beverly Hills, Michigan. I have heard no better description of 2020 than this:

Like looking both ways before crossing the street and then getting hit by a submarine.

Let me reiterate that this was offered by a 9-year-old. The Onion should hire this kid now or, in the vein of college athletics, offer the kid a full-ride education to finish and turn pro, obviously with The Onion.

Axios reports that The Lame Duck has abandoned plans to announce a 2024 run before the inauguration because doing so would show his base that he's giving up his fight to overturn the 2020 result. And if he's given up that fight, why should they send him more money to keep fighting? There are also reports that The Duck is going off the deep end and again considering declaring martial law so that troops can run new elections in the states he has contested without winning. I really hope it does not come to that, but there is no way in the universe to know what The Lame Duck will say or do from moment to moment. 

From The Lame Duck to Neanderthals is not too large a jump and leads nicely into the report I read this morning that Neanderthals and their predecessors may have hibernated. Fossilized human bones show signs of damage similar to that seen in the bones of animals that hibernate. That said, there are scientists who say that large animals such as bears don't actually hibernate as much as they fall into a less deep sleep or torpor. Because of their size, they cannot lower their body temperature enough to hibernate.

Something positive to come out of the pandemic! 2020 has seen one of the lowest levels of lightning deaths. Only 17 people have died from being struck by lightning. Staying indoors more or doing fewer outside activities could be the reason for the decline. It wasn't a huge decline. there were 21 lightning deaths in both 2018 and 2019, but there were 40 in 2016. We need to take the good where we can find it.

The stimulus bill was passed. Unlike with the first stimulus, The Professor and I will not receive any payment. This is fine with us. We did get a payment from the first stimulus. We upped the amount from three to four significant digits and made a donation to one of the local food banks. We would have donated whatever we got this time as well. 

The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter is drawing close. We hope not to have to live until 2080 to see the next one because it was cloudy here tonight. Details tomorrow.