Tuesday, July 28th, 2020
It is getting a little cooler. Today saw a high of only 34C and it predicted to stay around 30C for the rest of the week, so back to spending mornings at least working from my garden couch. Nights are more pleasant and we can sleep with open windows and fans instead of in an airconditioned environment again, which is far nicer. The only downside is the noise. The birds make one hell of a racket when they wake up at around 4am. It is like they are having a party.
Speaking of, someone is surely having a party every night in my bird bath as now for four mornings in a row I find it turned upside down. Who would do such a thing? The chipmunks, who to my infinite joy have taken up residence in the garden wall again, are way to small to make the bowl with the rocks tip and I have in the four years we have been living here not seen a single racoon. So, who is it? Am toying with the idea of getting a camera so I can observe what is going on the next day.
I did place an order for outside heaters. Once they arrive, I will need to find an electrician who can pull a line for me and install them. This is my effort to prolong social life in the age of Corona, even if it is probably not great for the climate. I have also ordered a foldable fire pit and I still have almost half a cord of firewood from last winter. Of course this means I will need to order wood sometime in January when it is bound to be wet, as we easily go through a cord of wood in the cold half of the year.
Most of the day, 9-15:30, was spend on nonstop calls, one of which was very productive. As we made progress on our strategy. Am finding that going through slides together in virtual meetings is yielding great results. Who would have thought?
I did manage to get my swim in and to my joy we had Aikido practice in the park again. Initially I felt like an idiot trying to learn what appears to be a very simple Jo move. I think by the end of class I got the gist of it, which is always rewarding. Though I am far from getting all the pieces- hand moves, weight shifts and direction – coordinated at the same time, it feels as if the hands at least have figured out what they should be doing. Sensei and Sarah have shown infinite patience with my inabilities for which I am very grateful. Now if I found one partner willing to form a practice pod, I might even remember the moves on the mat. But let’s not be greedy.
I have so much more of my life back than I had thought possible a month or two ago. Daily swims, weekly sails, twice weekly weapons practice, the odd social gathering……… Apart from more Aikido I miss meeting my brilliant friend. Given he is immune compromised that will not happen until there is a vaccine which we have all been inoculated with.
On the vaccine side of things there is good and bad news: China’s vaccine is entering phase 3 trials and is currently tested on some 30.000 people. It has some definite advantages in storage and distribution over Moderna’s vaccine, which has also commenced phase 3 trials. While the potential of a vaccine is great news, it does cement China’s reach for world domination by yet another step. Interesting that Brazil is on the top list of receiving the vaccine from China. This is unlikely to be related to Brazil’s resources of course. 😊 Moderna is targeting a 60% immunization rate. That may seem high. However, the measles vaccine is 97% effective by comparison. In the meantime the Virus continues its evil spread.
Globally 16.5 million infections have been confirmed and the USA maintains its record share with 4.42 million reported infections. The USA death toll has surpassed the 150k mark by 1k today. Florida is now a case study for virus spread; and it is not as if they were not warned... Time to learn a lesson the hard way I guess. As Georgia is trying to do. Jefferson is reopening its schools on Friday bringing 3.800 students back to face to face teaching in four schools. By MoCo standards, with 150.000 students that is a tiny school system and maybe just the right type of laboratory for the nation. It will be interesting to see how this experiment goes. Hoping the NYT will visit Jefferson in about four weeks to see the results.
The link between pandemics and climate change / protecting the rainforests is becoming ever more evident. These two are deeply interlinked. If we are to prevent future pandemics, we will need to reassess our relationship with nature, blocking each step in the chain of disease emergence.This should begin with reducing the rampant consumption that drives deforestation and wildlife exploitation. Sigh, what can I do to help?