Sunday, July 12th, 2020
How is that for the number of days: 123? What a perfect sequence.
A leisurely Sunday morning at home before heading out to the Bethesda pool for our two hour slot. We got there 15 minutes early but had to wait for a lane for almost an hour as some were ahead of us in the line. We worried about paying to get in and not getting a chance to swim. Lesson learned: Get there twenty minutes before it opens as otherwise it is unclear if one will have a chance to swim for more than 20 minutes. We ended up getting an hour (I) and 45 minutes (EM). Sadly did not get to do any backflips as I swam until the last possible second – poor timing it seems.
My former neighbor in Cape Town called me today looking for an escape for his elderly parents while their apartment was being renovated. I wrote to my wine maker friends who not only make the most amazing wine, but also have beautiful cottages one can rent, to check if they were open for business. I was very saddened to hear that after the fire which devasted their farm two years ago, all of this years’ white and rose needs to be canned. Due to faults on a filter it has become undrinkable. This was their first full harvest after the fire. As it is things for wine makers in South Africa are dire given the governments ban on exports and sales as part of their effort to curb the spread of Corona. To add insult to injury they have had two break-ins and a close relative has now also been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer and they could not even travel if they wanted to for potentially final goodbyes. It is to sad for words. And having people close to my heart affected by the virus this badly, brings it closer to home.
Tonight three of the Aikidoka came over for a Braai of German bratwurst accompanied by German potato salad. We had one of the few bottles of wine from my South African friends which I brought back from our last trip almost a year ago. It was their Starwars series as all the barrels it ripened in were named for Starwars characters such as “Yoda”, “Lea”, "Luke Skywalker", and so on. C68 is a Chenin Blanc, a grape only cultivated in South Africa.
We spend the afternoon planting more flowers and of course making the potato salad. And are now expecting our guests after covering and uncovering the outside furniture three times as repeated drizzles started. Now the clouds are breaking open and the sun is emerging, so we should be good.
The Virus continues to cause havoc with ever exploding numbers in the USA. The world today knows of 12.6 million cases of which 3.3 million can be attributed to the USA, which is retaining its quarter of global infections; America first. In some countries the virus is in decline after 20% of the population were infected. Scientists are puzzled. So far this does not hold true for the USA, where a sidelined and silenced Dr. Fauci is the only sane person in the administration, who at least understands that fighting Corona is a global effort. I doubt this will go down well with the moron in chief who is hoping Kanye West will take votes from Biden. I think that is off the track, if anything this staunch Trump support should take votes from Trump. Amidst rising cases Republican Governors are back tracking and it does not go down well with their constituents, I wonder if that may have anything to do with discreditation of science.
Noteworthy also that a country with a population of more than three times the US population (India) has a third (27k) of new daily infections of what the US has (60+K). Should that not make you thoughtful?
A country close to my heart, South Africa, is supposedly hardest hit on the continent. I guess it is because they can test like no other country on the continent. Noting that the president wears a mask and leads by example (his wife is a doctor). Also, while I understand that hospitals should not have to deal with intoxicated people, the alcohol ban is devastating for the wine, which is not insignificant in the countries GDP.This of course brings my thoughts back to my wine making friends and their perils. Hoping for better times to come for all of us before we hit the next perfect sequence of 234.