The View from the Hermitage, Day 343

I am closing in on the one-year mark here at the start of the 49th week. I naively never thought I'd be at this a whole year down the road. My conception of time may never revert to what it was. I talk about things happening in or awaiting some year down the road, but it's without any feeling for how long in the future that might be. Time has morphed from something point-to-point to something more like a cloud. Somewhere out there is an event, but it's floating around. Dr. Fauci said today that we may still need to wear masks in 2022, and 2022 did not seem like "next year" or only 10 months away. It's another cloud sitting somewhere out there.

As an update to yesterday's adventures in rodent hunting, The Family Dog has, on every walk since, stopped at yesterday's bush in search of another small rodent. She also checks out the spot on the other side of the road at which she dispatched yesterday's catch. It will be interesting to see how long this lasts. I wonder if snow or rain will play with the scents enough that she decides stopping is no longer worth it. 

Total covid-19 cases globally are now over 110,000,000; deaths are approaching 2,500,000. In the neighborhood of 205,000,000 people have received at least one dose of vaccine. Vaccine rollout in the US is one of the best in the world. Twelve percent of the population has gotten at least the first dose. Other countries with higher percentages are Israel, Seychelles, the UAE, the UK, and Bahrain. We might want to start thinking about helping the 130 countries that have yet to receive any vaccine for their citizens. If we want to reach global herd immunity, all the countries arriving there at the same time would be helpful.  

They're called "long haulers" here in the US, individuals whose covid-19 symptoms linger for months or longer. The condition more generally is called "long covid" and its ongoing symptoms are very similar to those experienced by survivors of Ebola and chikungunya, a virus spread by mosquitos. Those symptoms include joint pain and failure, cognitive problems including migraines, and fatigue. Inflammation is suspected as part of the cause, though what causes the inflammation is not clear. The immune system can be finicky, helping to heal us even unless it decides we are the problem and attacks the person and not the ailment. 

Study is being given to the "boredom economy" created by pandemic lockdowns, how we are coping with what one source called our "collective sense of ennui." Should we still be employed and immune to financial issues, we have been investing in such things and activities as bread-making, gardening, home improvement, and jigsaw puzzles. We have also invested in alcohol; sales have soared during the pandemic, something to which I can personally attest. Interestingly, the long-term and more intense boredom could lead both individuals and businesses to become more creative. We think differently when we have more time to think. 

Besides its significant effect on the K-12 education kids are getting, the pandemic has also significanly altered the college selection and admission process. More and more colleges and universities, including the Ivy League and other "prestigious" schools, are not currently requiring standardized test scores as part of an application. Such schools are seeing surges in applications. Cornell University received 17,000 more applications than usual. Applications to Penn State are up 11 percent; for Harvard, 42 percent; and for Colgate University, 103 percent. Students are more willing to take a chance on admission if they don't have to submit test scores. On the flip side, though, smaller and/or less recognizable schools are losing students and their tuition dollars, leading some to cut programs, or people, or even close.

I'm going to have to give some thought to our "collective sense of ennui." What have I changed to cope with pandemic boredom? Or am I just doing more of the same I did in the pre-covid days? I wonder...