I spent much of the morning in one of my happy places, in front of a sewing machine. I started a new project to use up some of the fabric glut. I'm far enough along that I now need to decide how I want to arrange things. I have photos of various arrangements and, while those incubate, I'll have plenty to do with the sampler for my pandemic quilt. One commentator mentioned using fabric stabilizer for that. I tried this, and will definitely use it when I do the real deal.
The CDC is concerned about the coronavirus variants, saying that we could have over 530,000 deaths by March 1. A model out of Columbia University holds that a loosening of restrictions nationally this month could lead to an additional 29 million covid-19 infections. Yes, we now have vaccines against the coronavirus, but the data suggest we're worse off than we were last spring when the first lockdowns took place. Some people complained then, but a larger number of people complied, and things got better, at least until things started to reopen. People have started to get complacent, thinking that things are getting better and will continue to do so, so why worry about masks and distancing?
On a better side, global confidence in the available covid-19 vaccines is growing. Maybe we'll have more than enough people getting vaccinated to give a start toward herd immunity. COVAX, an initiative of the World Health Organization, has announced plans to distribute 330 million doses of vaccine to developing nations by July 1. That would certainly improve the global picture.
Closer to home, Virginia's governor has said that tomorrow he will announce a plan to keep K-12 students in school longer in the summer to make up for what they may have lost due to virtual learning. A psychology professor at the local university suggested this a short while back. The professor made the point that summer instruction needed to be for all students, not just those needing remediation. It needs to be seen as something for all and not something that singles out a subgroup of kids.
I saw the summer school announcement on Facebook and, based on the comments there, shit's gonna get real. Several parents were saying that their kids did not need to take part. They (parents) said that they had invested time and energy all year to ensure that their kid(s) learned what they needed to learn and would be getting all As as final grades. Sleep-away summer camp was cited by several as being more important to their kids. Various aspects of summer camp were cited as reasons for its being better than school--leadership, special programs, etc. To top it all off, though, one parent noted that they needed the time away from their kid, that they loved their kid but needed the break from parenting.
The Sons did residential academic programs for gifted kids during their high school years. Did I enjoy my time away from one or both of them? I enjoyed that they were in a very happy place and would come home talking about what class they might want to take the next summer. (These were real academic classes, for which their high school awarded them credit.) Did I need time away from my kids? No, though they might have needed time away from me.
Intriguing item with which to end today's post, here's a quote from a blurb I read this morning:
"Eavesdropping marmosets understand other monkeys' conversations and judge whether they want to interact."
I wonder how they would feel about summer camps' being put on hold.
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