The View from the Hermitage, Day 316

As we were walking The Family Dog this morning, Son #1 noted that we've had less to talk about on our walk with Mr. Biden in the White House and Xpot in hiding at Mar-a-Lago. He's right. There don't seem to be as many threads and sub-threads woven into our conversational tapestry. In thinking about this later, I realized how much it felt as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel lighter, not necessarily like dancin', but freer. The weight of the world is not as heavy as it was just a week ago.

There certainly is still news on the coronavirus front. The US has now passed 25 million cases. We're averaging more than 170,000 new infections each day and the number of total deaths is now over 419,000. Perhaps more noteworthy, we're averaging 3,088 deaths per day, more deaths than occurred in the September 11, 2001 attacks. I have trouble understanding how that fact can escape acknowledgement. How would we feel if that many people died each day from gun violence or drunk driving? A lot more people would demand answers and solutions. A large number of people still feel that the coronavirus is a hoax or that it will go away in its own. Maybe if I hung out more with these people, I would understand how they can ignore reality, but right now I'm not hanging out with anyone. There's a pandemic going on after all.

In the wake of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, 38 Capitol Police have tested positive for covid-19. It is not clear how many were on duty during the insurrection. I've heard multiple sources cite the insurrection as a super-spreader event. Given how many masks I did not see during the news coverage, I would believe that.

The CDC is looking into claims that the UK covid variant, which could be the most prevalent covid form by mid-March, is more deadly than the original one. There is also some evidence that the vaccines currently in use are not as effective against the variant from South Africa that has yet to be found in the US. One expert described the current situation as a race between the variants and the vaccines. If the variants take hold first, things will get much, much worse. Just how much worse do things need to get before more people start taking mitigation measures such as masks or distancing seriously? 

Speaking of masks, a reporter asked Dr. Fauci whether two masks were better than one. Dr. Fauci explained that masks work by preventing the transmission or viral particles, and going through two layers would be more difficult than going through one. I can't help but wonder why someone needed Dr. Fauci to answer that question. When we would take The Family Dog to the park, I would often wear two masks, a fabric one over an N95 designed for use on construction sites. 

Other random, possibly humorous news items. A woman who won a $60 million lottery says that the winning numbers came from a dream her husband had. Might this become a new source of discord in a marriage? "You haven't had any numeric dreams lately, dear, so I'm outa here"? I wonder if that could be cited as grounds for a divorce.

Mar-a-Lago is suffering from declining membership. Many members have left because they want no connection with Xpot. One source noted that members were "very dispirited" and had cited disinterest in politics and the fact that the food "is no good." They've been paying $200,000 a year (the dues doubled when Xpot became ThenPot) for lousy food? They should have left a long time ago. I doubt that Xpot is staying in the family quarters and having the wife cooking. The question also remains as to whether Palm Beach will seek to evict Xpot. When he negotiated changin Mar-a-Lago from a private residence to a club in 1993, there were restrictions on how many nights anyone, including himself, could stay there. These were overlooked, ignored, or negotiated when he was ThenPot, but he's a mere Xpot now.