10 months in COVID-19 Pandemic
/The vaccines began in the 10th month of the pandemic. It is a grand hope tempered by a sluggish rollout so far and a more contagious variant that is already problematic in the UK and being found in the US now. We have stopped most of our ideas of ‘getting out’ more…we are back to the strategy of ‘staying at home as much as possible.’
The 10th month included a crescendo of events other than the pandemic that ramped up stress levels higher than ever before. As I write this – the events of January 6th are at the top of the crescendo. I will always remember being at home trying to keep an eye on the news without being overwhelmed by it just before things broke apart. I was frustrated and a little angry that the Missouri and Texas Senator (and too many of their cohorts in the House and Senate) were using a usually mundane session of Congress as a political grand stand to perpetuate statements that had already been investigated and proven untrue – sometimes in a court…..and then it got worse very quickly with a mob storming the US Capitol – pushing past barricades, breaking windows, climbing walls, wearing costumes and seemingly treating the event as a party in the Capitol complete with damaging the building and the people trying to preserve it and the institution in houses, the House and Senate members evacuated from their chambers. It was horrifying. I didn’t stay up for the Congress to complete their work of the day…kudos to them for the long day to get it done. In the aftermath – the extent of the problem in our country became clearer…and the discomfort of knowing that the delusion of an election stolen from Trump is so deeply anchored in the belief of some people that it became an effort to overturn voters, the Electoral College and the rule of law. The country is more fragile than it has been during my lifetime…because of the failure of the Executive Branch of our government (through ineptitude and malfeasance) and the pandemic. We have so many concurrent crises (which could have been avoided or ameliorated with competent leadership); we are not as strong as we always thought we were.
In the best case…I hope the focus over the next month can shift away from worrying about the next surprise from the President to getting as many vaccines delivered and into people plus following advice to reduce risks (masks, washing hands, social distancing, avoiding being in indoor spaces with people outside our ‘bubble.’ My husband and I have bookmarked the vaccination site in our state to sign up for a vaccine as soon as our group is eligible.
The high points over the past month have been associated with family events – birthday, anniversary, holiday – celebrated virtually with Zoom calls and (in the case of the birthday) slices of red velvet cake enjoyed by several of us in different states on the day. Special foods almost every day like pumpkin roll, hay stacks, and snow ice cream. There were events in nature to enjoy too: a pileated woodpecker in the forest, sunspots, and lady bugs occasionally on the walls of my office escaping the cold. I donated another porch sized pile of stuff – clearing out some household accumulation that we no longer need. There were good things that happened in pandemic month 10.
At the 10-month mark – there is a ‘light’ at the end of the tunnel - getting the two doses of the vaccine. I don’t think it will happen for us in the next 30 days but sometime after that…early spring if the projections hold. We have tightened our risk reduction strategies somewhat because of the more contagious variant and may do more in the 11th month of the pandemic. And I am hopeful that the trauma and drama from the top leadership of the US might be significantly reduced as President Biden takes office. We will all be healthier with less stress caused by the actions of our government day to day.
