Part twenty of my ongoing journal entries about life in the time of the 2020-2022 Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Previous posts: Part One (Jan-Mar, 2020). Part Two (April 2020). Part Three (May 2020). Part Four (June 2020). Part Five (July 2020). Part Six (August 2020). Part Seven (September 2020). Part Eight (October 2020). Part Nine (November 2020). Part Ten (December 2020). Part Eleven (January 2021). Part Twelve (February 2021). Part Thirteen (March 2021). Part Fourteen (April 2021). Part Fifteen (May 2021). Part Sixteen (June 2021). Part Seventeen (July-August 2021). Part Eighteen (September-October 2021). Part Nineteen (November-December 2021).
January 2, 2022
Happy New Year! Happy new quarter, happy new post. Time for some fresh thinking.
This morning’s 6am reverie sprung upon me unexpectedly. I didn’t realize I’d been cogitating on some threads, but they suddenly kind of came together and I felt it was worth trying to write down, so here goes.
When we were at the Diamonds’ house on Christmas Eve, my corner of the early evening cocktail and getting-caught-up-with-each-other conversation suddenly veered when (28 year-old) John Diamond jokingly made a reference to The Singularity. I can’t remember the context of his comment but something along the lines of not having to worry about something specific happening in the future because of the Singularity. I don’t think I’d ever been in a social situation where anyone brought up the topic, much less been in a group that actually knew something about it.
John’s father, Bruce, recognized the Singularity reference and responded that he didn’t want to be alive for the event, making it evident that it was something that he feared. John was not fearful but jokingly made it seem like a foregone conclusion that a Singularity was coming. There was a short discussion of when the Singularity might happen and the date of 2045 was floated, I think by (15 year-old) Ben O’Neill who Googled it. That was more or less the end of that discussion thread, but it has lingered in my mind.
I first encountered the notion of a Singularity around 2005 in Ray Kurzwei’s book The Singularity is Near. It shook my little world at that point and continues to reverberate, but I’ve encountered very little discussion of it since, other than an occasional reference as a loony Silicon Valley theory.
In general, I’m surprised and somewhat dismayed that there is not a lot more discussion about the future and what may be in store for humanity, our societies and our children. There are a ton of dystopian, fearful projections of the future, but few optimistic ones. I think we need a wider array of optimistic outcomes to fire our imaginations.
There are a couple of other lilypads I’ve encountered recently that feed into my current thinking…I want to capture them even if they don’t necessarily tie together.
- Smithsonian Futures exhibit. Allie and I visited The Futures exhibit for about 90 minutes on December 29. It was about what I expected, a hodgepodge of items including a look at visions of the future from the past, and several rooms of innovations to inspire thoughts about our own futures. There were a few interesting things that caught my eye, including the Bell Nexus Air Taxi, the Doing Nothing with AI robot, and the Oceanix floating city. There were a lot of other exhibits that I floated by, not wanting to get too close to clumps of other people. I enjoyed seeing the exhibit and was glad that it inaugurated a new life for the Arts & Sciences building. I wished I wasn’t so worried about Covid and could spend more time, sometime when it was less crowded, but that was not in the cards.
- Ted Koppel’s Mayberry report. Reading this Washington Post article and then watching Koppel’s CBS Sunday Morning segment on the fictional town of Mayberry was fascinating on many levels. The impromptu roundtable with “regular people” on the trolley was especially eye-opening. I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it but there will always be a substantial mass of friendly, well-meaning and highly misinformed people who long for a nostalgic life that never was.
- Two documentaries I watched on Amazon Prime: one about China’s rise in the last 40 years and one about China’s new Silk Road initiative. The rise of China over the past 40 years has been one of the most amazing and unlikely stories of my lifetime. China’s rise contrasts sharply with America’s stumbles over the same time, especially the last 20 years. On the other hand, Chongqing and a dozen other Chinese cities bear a striking resemblance to the dystopian futures of Blade Runner, Neuromancer, The Matrix and other scifi visions from my youth. Where would you rather live your life – Shanghai or Mayberry? It’s actually not an easy choice.
- Where will China be in another 40 years? The New Silk Road initiative is a significant plank in Xi Jinping’s vision to take advantage of geography and demographic trends, linking China more closely with Europe and Africa. No doubt it will spawn unintended consequences but the Chinese are positioning to influence those consequences in their favor where possible. The initiative makes even more sense when you consider…
- Washington Post article on Africa’s Rising Cities showing the demographic shifts expected over the coming decades to 2100. If the 21st century (and subsequent ones) is China’s century, can it be powered by the rise of an African consumer class? Will that help lift another billion people out of poverty into a globalized middle class? Will that be a net positive development for the world?
Those lilypads bring me back to the Singularity. I remain captivated by (and hostage to) the notion that accelerating technology trends – particularly in genetics, nanotech and artificial intelligence – will lead to an era of augmented humanity and cumulatively to a superintelligence that vastly exceeds our current abilities. (Not to be confused with the 2020 film Superintelligence, which I’ve never heard of but now will have to watch, even though it seems pretty awful.) The emergence of superintelligence, more likely gradual than a single epiphany, seems plausible sometime in the mid-2100’s. What comes after is an open question (event horizon) that we seem to lack the imagination to comprehend. That, to me, is the Singularity.
Having said that, I think we need to stretch our imaginations to explore the possibilities. Here’s one: there will not be one superintelligence, but many, and many of them will be Chinese. If superintelligences develop, will they be tied to a national identity? Will they transcend human borders? If multiple entities develop, will they collaborate? Compete? Go to war? Make war obsolete?
Why not be optimistic? We are not far today from breakthroughs in medical, environmental, nutritional, information and other technologies that will radically transform life for humans across the globe. Why not do what we can to accelerate those technologies that can deliver those breakthroughs, up to and including superintelligent entities that can better and more rapidly solve the problems? Is there even a choice?
I think we may be at a point somewhat equivalent to the 1460s or 1470s, on the cusp of an epoch change. The Columbian Exchange that began in 1492 sparked transformational changes around the world. Many, if not most, changes were unforeseen. Many terrible things happened, many wonderful things too. Within one or two lifetimes, the world fundamentally changed. I think it will happen again. Our hope is that this time it will be for the betterment of billions of people and many more billions of other living entities on our spaceship. I think, on balance, we have to embrace and shape the changes that will come. We are not likely to stop them.
And having said all of the above, let me add that these musings have transpired over three hours this morning, along with multiple trips to the bathroom with mild diarrhea. I first attributed it to the leftover Thai food I had last night but now I’m beginning to wonder if this is Covid-related. Google tells me that up to one-third of Covid cases first manifest themselves as gastrointestinal distress. We will see what transpires.
On today’s agenda, I am supposed to drive Barb and Allie to their tea at the Willard in DC at 1pm. I was kind of looking forward to the opportunity to drive around Arlington to sightsee while they are at tea. We’ll see how I feel closer to departure time. Barb may have to drive herself. More problematic is that I am due to drive Allie back to Boston tomorrow and return home Tuesday. That might not be a very wise activity if my symptoms don’t clear up quickly. Alternatives would be to delay for a bit, which Allie could possibly do, or get a flight for her and Perri which opens a separate can of worms, especially with the number of flight cancellations happening lately. Stay tuned.
So, while I’m at it, I may as well have our first 2022 look at Covid numbers. The case numbers are really staggering, much worse than at any time in the pandemic which is mighty remarkable in itself. We’re suddenly averaging well over 1 million cases per day worldwide, nearly double of just a week ago. More than half the U.S. is in Severe Outbreak territory and the rest is just one step down.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 289M; Daily average: 1,399K; Total Deaths: 5,440,000
- USA cases: 54.8M; Daily average: 387K; Total Deaths: 824,000
- Maryland cases: 701,000; Deaths: 11,758 (“Severe Outbreak”, Maryland death totals not updated) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 0 states “At risk of outbreak” ( )
- 21 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (Missouri, West Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, Washington…)
- 32 states “Severe outbreak” (New York, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, New Jersey, Florida…)
I forgot to report that our little DC getaway went well enough (it seemed), while we were there. Allie and I went down on Wednesday, checked into the hotel around 1pm, then walked to the Smithsonian Castle for the Futures exhibit. Allie was happy to walk to get better acquainted with Washington DC, its grid of streets, sights and statues. The weather was mild and we had a good walk. We saw the National Christmas Tree at the ellipse and took some photos.
Dinner at Pisco y Nazca was terrific. Allie and I shared four appetizers: a ceviche sampler, Peruvian shrimp chowder, empanadas, and scallops baked with parmesan. I had a Pisco Sour and a Chilcano to drink. The Chilcano, with pisco, lime juice and ginger ale, was particularly tasty. I could have had several more of those.
The John Oliver show at the Kennedy Center was fun. They checked our vaccine cards and we waited a while outside for a while before taking our seats. The Concert Hall was full with everyone masked. There was an opening act, Brooks Wheelan, who was largely forgettable until he was thrown off stride by a heckler yelling “Let’s Go, Science” in the face of some “Let’s Go, Brandon” jokes. Oliver made some jokes about DC but mostly leaned into his British childhood and recent American citizenship. Nothing groundbreaking but stories well told.
The next day, I went to get Barb. We returned to the hotel room and deposited Barb for the afternoon while Allie and I took a walk through Georgetown. We returned to the hotel and were getting ready for our pre-show dinner when we got messages that the evening’s performance of Beautiful was cancelled due to Covid exposures in the cast. We were not heartbroken and now we have a credit in my Kennedy Center account – it was nice they didn’t just eat my tickets. Evidently, the next day they went ahead with two performances of the play so I’m not quite sure why it was only our show that was cancelled. But so be it.
We still went for our dinner at Dauphine’s, getting the seafood tower appetizer as our main meal. Allie and I enjoyed the chilled oysters and clams, and we happily shared the lobster salad, little crab claws, marinated mussels and more. It was plenty though I’m sure the waiter wanted us to order more. Afterward, we walked to Founding Farmers with the thought of getting some dessert but it was very crowded. We opted for a takeaway order of kettle popcorn for Barb and even that took 20 minutes or so. We went on back to the hotel, got a bottle of wine for Allie and me to share, and were in bed by 11pm. Not a bad result, all in all. We had a good time.
Our New Year’s Eve was spent quietly at home. I made a sort of Steak Diane and though it wasn’t really my best effort, we all enjoyed it. Barb and Allie adjourned to watch some rom-com movies. I wandered among the various New Year’s shows, appalled at one awful display of current American culture after another. We made it to midnight and not much further.
And that gets you up to date. I’m glad to report that in the last couple of hours my stomach has settled down. Hoping that portends well.
January 9
A few weeks ago as the Omicron variant was kicking into gear, a reliable authority predicted that it would peak around January 9. That’s today. It doesn’t appear to be peaking yet. The volume of positive cases continues to explode in the U.S. and around the world. Only 4 states are not in Severe Outbreak.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 305M; Daily average: 2,280K; Total Deaths: 5,480,000
- USA cases: 59.9M; Daily average: 656K; Total Deaths: 836,000
- Maryland cases: 814,000; Deaths: 12,158 (“Severe Outbreak”, Maryland death totals not updated) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 0 states “At risk of outbreak” ( )
- 4 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (Montana, Maine, Alaska, Idaho)
- 49 states “Severe outbreak” (New York, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, New Jersey, Florida…)
Over the past weeks there have been many articles explaining that this round of the virus is different in that it is less severe, particularly for those with vaccinations, for example this from Leana Wen. So we’ve been encouraged to continue more or less with our routines and not lock down in the face of this surge. Today’s NY Times, however, reports that in selected cities deaths are indeed beginning to track along with the increase in case loads. It’s certainly worse for the unvaccinated than for those of us vaccinated and boosted, but the volume of cases is straining medical facilities everywhere. So once again, conflicting information reigns. You get to choose what you believe. It certainly seems safer to lower our risk levels, so no more eating in restaurants or going to movies for the time being. Also, welcome to January.
A few days ago, we made the decision to postpone our late-January trip to the Florida Keys, shifting it to May 1. That entailed changing our hotel, flight and car reservations. The hotel and car were reasonably easy to change. The flights on American were more difficult because for some reason their website wouldn’t let me complete the purchase. I ended up having to wait on hold for more than 3 hours to get a human service agent to make the change. Once I actually got someone it only took a couple of minutes because I had the information ready. Allie did her changes online a couple of days later with no trouble at all.
Laurie and I discussed our Nashville-Memphis trip in March and decided to stick with it for the time being, but we have until late February to change our minds and potentially opt for a later date, possibly in October. Maybe the virus will settle down sufficiently in the next 4-6 weeks to make us both more comfortable. Or maybe not. At this point, I rather suspect the trip will be pushed to October.
Everyone is tired of the virus and ready to get on with our lives, but the virus seems to have different ideas. There are some who guess (hope) that Omicron may be the last big gasp for the virus that exposes enough of the world to promote natural immunities and make Covid-19 endemic rather than a pandemic. That seems to me to be wishful thinking, but who knows for sure? It seems likely we will continue to see new variants, always with the chance that one will be especially virulent and resistant to existing vaccines and treatments. That’s a sobering and depressing thought. But I’m no immunologist. What do I know? As much as anyone, it seems.
The wave of worry around Omicron sparked me to check out the IHME forecast site which I’d forgotten about since early in the pandemic.
These forecasts are interesting and somewhat reassuring. They suggest that daily infections in the U.S. have actually peaked within the past few days, though at levels far higher than officially reported and levels that totally dwarf previous waves over the past year. Deaths will likely peak in late January at levels on par with the Delta variant last summer. If these forecasts hold true, that’s relatively good news. Until the next variant comes along, I suppose.
I’m not sure why I (we) got out of the habit of checking and respecting forecasts. Possibly because they were only ever vaguely accurate for 4-6 weeks in the future which never seemed long enough. But right now I’d be happy to have a reliable look ahead of any amount. It’s nice to see the lines trending closer to zero by April. I’d take that.
And, oh by the way, I’ve felt fine ever since last Sunday when I had a small bout of diarrhea and wondered if maybe I had Covid. I’m reasonably sure I didn’t, though I never took a test. That’s a different subject — we have been looking for the at-home antigen tests and can’t find any. I’ve never actually seen one in a store, come to think of it. I finally ordered some online a couple of days ago but delivery will be in a few weeks…probably about the same time Biden sends us a free one and probably long after they’re needed for this wave.
And also, I was able to drive Allie back to Boston on schedule last Monday, returning on Tuesday. I rented a car because ours are hobbling a little. I got a 2021 Camry and was very pleased with it. That redoubled our efforts to get a new car of our own which led to a flurry of activity last Wednesday. The dealer I’ve been working with said he had a Toyota Avalon hybrid (basically a souped up Camry) available. I went to test drive it the got Barb to come check it out. We actually weren’t very impressed and decided to stick with the Camry…but none are available. So our wait for a new car continues.
That’s the news from our little corner of the world, at least as much of it as I care to print for today. We’ll see what next week brings to see if we indeed passed the peak of Omicron or not.
January 12
I’m in a bit of a mid-January funk. We’ve come through the Holidays and are in the midst of the hurricane of the Omicron variant. New records are being set daily and conflicting information about what we should be doing abounds. We had more than 1.3 million cases reported in the U.S. two days ago on Monday which beat the previous record of 1.0 million reported the previous Monday. Maybe that was the peak?? We’ll see in another week or so, I guess.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 314M; Daily average: 2,615K; Total Deaths: 5,503,000
- USA cases: 62.4M; Daily average: 761K; Total Deaths: 841,000
- Maryland cases: 814,000; Deaths: 12,158 (“Severe Outbreak”, Maryland death totals not updated) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 0 states “At risk of outbreak” ( )
- 2 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (Maine, Idaho)
- 51 states “Severe outbreak” (Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Massachussetts, Florida…)
I spoke with Laurie a few days ago, comparing notes and she raised the question why the Omicron variant seems to have hit developed nations in the West so badly. In general, these are the nations that are most highly vaccinated – why should they be hit so hard? She’s right that we haven’t seen much discussion of it; I don’t have a good answer why.
Barb is still going into work but almost no one else is in her office. We’re avoiding restaurants again, which places more of a burden on figuring out what to eat each night. I’ve been slightly off my cooking game this past week. I made strogonoff last weekend to use up the last of our Christmas roast beef but I glopped it up with a little too much flour. I tried to redeem things last night with a nice ribeye steak from Costco that I cooked in our cast iron pan on the stovetop, but I slightly overdid it. It adds to the general sense of things not going especially well – things are not terrible for us by any means, but they’re not quite on track, either.
Our shower drain is still backed up. I’ve tried all I know to fix it but only made it worse. I’ve called our plumber for the past three days but haven’t heard back from him. I gave him one more try just now and decided to call a different plumber. The new one should come tomorrow…maybe that will help start a turnaround for me.
We still can’t find a new car for Barb. I test drove a Honda Accord yesterday and it was OK but I don’t think Barb would like it as much as a Camry, so our Camry search continues. We’ve expanded our color range. Barb’s car is scheduled for deer damage work on February 2 so at the moment she’s still driving with a wonky headlight. I’d like to get the new car sorted out before we put her current one in the shop…and I start having potential federal jury duty in Baltimore all through February.
I know these are piddly little inconveniences in our lives and I really shouldn’t complain, but they accumulate in the atmosphere of low-grade dread that seems to permeate our society at the moment.
The political front offers no relief, just further anxiety. Biden gave an aggressive speech last week to commemorate the Jan. 6 anniversary, but there’s been no followup. The Jan. 6 investigative committee seems to be going very slowly; they promise public hearings in the indefinite future but actual consequences for the perpetrators seem remote. Yesterday, Biden gave an aggressive speech about voting rights but there seems to be little chance of actual action. His social spending initiative seems completely stymied by Joe Manchin. Inflation is up, the administration’s virus response is muddy, poll numbers are down, Trump and the Republicans are chomping at the bit for midterm elections in November. None of it is good news.
The weather is cold, too cold to do much outside. We postponed our planned January trip to the Keys to get some warm weather relief. Now that will be in May, when the weather here will be nice.
I’ve been trying to get back into the 2008 Family pages on Billzpage, specifically our Spring Break trip to Paris, Normandy and the Loire Valley. There are a lot of photos and details to process and it has me somewhat overwhelmed. So instead I took time to complain in this post. It’s not particularly productive but at least it got me through to lunchtime.
On a slightly happier side of the ledger, I’m enjoying my current book, American Colonies by Alan Taylor. I’m learning a good deal in this Americas-wide look at the various colonies operated by the Spanish, English, Dutch and French. I’m about halfway through and have been carving out a chunk of time daily to paddle along further. The book helps clarify developments and interrelationships between the colonies in North America and the Caribbean basin.
I’ve also discovered the Dave Cobb radio show, Southern Accents, on Apple Radio. This two-hour weekly program features music and artists I like from Nashville, Memphis and Muscle Shoals. It’s a good primer for my upcoming trip. The show helps fill gaps in my listening habits now that I’ve caught up to real-time weekly podcasts of Revolutions.
January 19
Things are looking up, particularly after my little psychological dip a week ago. Last Wednesday, I was getting a little overwhelmed about a number of little things and the general state of the world. On Thursday, the new plumber showed up and fixed our balky shower drain which was a small but significant win. Sometimes that’s what it takes to turn the tide.
On Friday, I got a call from one of the car dealers I’d contacted (not the local Toyota dealer but one a little further away) who said they had a car that matched our wishlist. I made an appointment to see it that afternoon at 4:30pm and by 9:00pm I drove home our new 2022 Toyota Camry Hybrid XSE. It’s a nice dark blue color that Barb and I like, with black interior. It looks sporty but it isn’t, really – the 4-cylinder hybrid engine is more fuel efficient than muscular. But that’s more or less what we wanted. The car has nearly – nearly – everything we wanted. The one thing it doesn’t have is a built-in navigation system. Barb has become very dependent on having a map to tell her where to go. Instead, this car relies on connection to a smartphone to use Google Maps or any other map application. So now we need to get Barb acquainted and comfortable with plugging in her phone and using Google Maps. I’m hoping that’s a small hurdle. We’ll see. The alternative was waiting an indeterminate length of time for another car with that feature to show up and pay several thousand dollars more. I decided it was worth the risk to take this car. At a minimum, it will give Barb something to complain about for years to come.
The whole process of purchasing a car is still needlessly long and exasperating. Once I’d made up my mind there were still more than two hours of paperwork and waiting and ongoing negotiations over things like service contracts. At least my salesman (Kris Curry-Davis) was nice and energetic. I guess it went about as smoothly as it could, but it was still an ordeal. I drove the car home that night, popped it in the garage in place of my Volt which I traded in (so long, Volt), and hoped that we made a good decision. Over the long MLK weekend it snowed and we didn’t want to take the car out of the garage or get it dirty. So I spent time reading the manuals and getting acquainted with all the considerable technology in the car.
As a small aside, two weeks ago I popped into our local Honda dealer to test drive an Accord Hybrid to see if that car was a good alternative for us. After test driving it, I decided that the car was fine but not appreciably better than the Camry. I felt like Barb would always consider it not quite as nice as her Camry so it didn’t really fit our needs. As I handed the keys back to the salesperson, he noted that he checked his records and was in fact the same person that sold me my Honda Civic Hybrid back in 2007. His name was Sam Chads and he looked familiar but I never would have been able to place him as my former salesperson. It goes to show you that: a) it’s a small world, or b) what goes around comes around, or c) you should be nice to people because you never know when you might encounter them again, or d) some other cliched life lesson, or e) nothing at all really, but it was a mildly interesting coincidence.
And another small aside: to complete the trade-in of my Volt, I need to give the dealer the official title for the car. I didn’t have it on hand on Friday evening as we were doing the transaction but said I would get it to them the following Tuesday when I could fetch it from my safe deposit box. Yesterday (Tuesday), I went to the bank branch but it was temporarily closed, I’m guessing due to Covid. They provided an email address to get more information about when I might be able to access my box, but so far I haven’t got a response. Today I called Bank of America and went through the rigamarole of finding a human to speak with but ended up with no further information. So I and the dealer will just have to be patient a little longer. Another small example of the ripple of impacts Covid has on the efficiency of the nation.
And speaking of Covid…the NY Times announced today that “Omicron is in Retreat.” The 7-day average appears to have peaked on January 14 at 807K, for those of you playing at home. So, there you have it: the tide is crested and things are getting better. Right?
Numbers:
- Global cases: 334M; Daily average: 2,951K; Total Deaths: 5,555,000
- USA cases: 67.7M; Daily average: 757K; Total Deaths: 854,000
- Maryland cases: 910,000; Deaths: 12,786 (“Severe Outbreak”, Maryland death totals not updated) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 0 states “At risk of outbreak” ( )
- 1 state “Active or imminent outbreak” (Maine)
- 52 states “Severe outbreak” (Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Hawaii, Delaware…)
There I go making light of the numbers when I keep telling myself not to. Less than three weeks into this year, more than 30,000 people have died in the U.S., more than 115,000 around the world, the vast majority of them unvaccinated, preventable cases. This continues to be a dangerous, unpredictable disease. Just because we appear to be cresting over the worst wave yet, it doesn’t mean the virus is conquered. Further variants are guaranteed and may possibly be even worse. We hope not, but hope – plus vaccines, good masks and affordable tests – are pretty much all we have. And, to be clear, we are not out of the woods yet on Omicron, by any means. Case numbers may have crested but hospitals will still see surges for weeks to come, and deaths will rise for weeks beyond.
Looking ahead, slightly, the peripatetic Dr. Leana Wen had an opinion column in today’s Washington Post, “We Need to Hear Biden’s Year Two Covid Strategy”. It offers a fairly clear choice between two very different approaches: 1) more of the same, trying to keep infections at bay and reducing deaths, or 2) “return to normal”, treat the sick, recognize that deaths will continue for some (mostly unvaccinated) and hope (there’s that word again) there are no severe variants. It’s not an easy choice, but Dr. Wen suggests Biden’s administration needs to pick one or the other and stick with it. I lean toward choice 1, but it’s clear that a large chunk of the country won’t agree. So maybe 2 is the better bet.
Speaking of masks and tests, I finally got my hands on an at-home rapid test kit. I went into my local hardware store yesterday for something else and they had the tests plus a large supply of KN-95 masks available. It was the first time I’d actually seen either in a store. I bought one of the tests for $21. The same day, Barb ordered four free ones from the U.S. website that opened a day early. The Post Office sent me an email saying they will be sent in late January. By then we should also receive the one we ordered from Amazon two weeks ago. We should be well-set for the next wave, whenever that may be.
We learned that Betsy and Joe both tested positive last week. Joe had been sick with cold symptoms, headaches and tiredness for a week; Betsy had cold symptoms that she said were indistinguishable from her persistent allergies. But they both tested positive and quarantined themselves for a week. Thankfully, they are both vaccinated and boosted and the symptoms were fairly mild.
In other news, Allie started her new job at Lantern today. We wish her all the best! Laurie is moving into her new home in La Losa near Maggie. Sue turned 75 and sent us a long video about her memories of sharing the birthday with Dad and MLK. We got officially re-invited to Christine and Hunter’s wedding in Virginia Beach on April 2 and made plans to attend. Betsy let us know that Sara is thinking of inviting us to Colorado in late March for Emmy’s birthday but it overlaps with my trip to Nashville/Memphis. The jury is still out on whether Laurie and I will do the trip in March or possibly postpone until October; decision to come by mid-February. Barb surprised me by saying that she’s interested in doing something in Colorado again in the summer so we can see Emmy. And Betsy made noises about possibly coming east and staying with us for a few days in September with Emmy and Joe while Sara is at a wedding. I’m not sure how all this is going to play out. Life wants to return to something close to normal but we’re not quite there yet.
January 25
As we near the end of January, the disruptions of the holiday season (many of them good ones, mind you) and anxiety over the Omicron wave recede; things feel like they’re settling back into something close to normal. The new normal, I suppose. Our new car is in the garage, our plumbing is fixed, and there are no other immediate home repair annoyances for the moment (other than putting Barb’s car in the shop next week to repair the deer collision damage, but that seems all set up – I have a rental car lined up for the interim). I’ve been able to lose some weight and may be starting to change my eating habits for the better. I’ve started working on photos in Billzpage once again (our 2008 Paris trip, at the moment) after nearly two months of putting it off.
It seems like I don’t have to worry about Federal jury duty in Baltimore in February – after getting my summons deferred from January I haven’t received a follow-up; I called to make sure and the clerk said if I haven’t been called, don’t worry about it. I might still be called sometime later but for the moment it won’t be in February, so that’s a small relief.
This was supposed to be the week we went down to the Florida Keys – one of the reasons I deferred jury duty – but we’ve postponed the trip until May 1. It feels like that was a good decision. Upon reflection, the 3rd-4th week of January is too soon after the holidays for a journey. Better to do it deeper in winter when the need for a break will be greater. We would have rescheduled into late February or March but that timing didn’t work well for me or Allie, so it ended up being May, even though the weather will have already turned nicer here. I think the prospects of Laurie and I going on the music trip in March are looking up, but we’ll discuss it further and make a decision in another few weeks. What happens later in the year is entirely up in the air but at least I feel like we can start thinking about traveling again.
The virus – or at least this Omicron surge – is starting to let up in the U.S. (though not worldwide), particularly in this area of the country. It remains to be seen whether the drop is as steep as the rise was. We’re hoping so. Maryland’s case rate is already down 64% from its peak two weeks ago. And we’re hoping that another variant is not right around the corner. Such is the psychology of this pandemic. The situation is far from good, but at least it’s getting a bit better which brightens our mood.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 355M; Daily average: 3,420K; Total Deaths: 5,604,000
- USA cases: 71.7M; Daily average: 668K; Total Deaths: 868,000
- Maryland cases: 939,000; Deaths: 13,158 (“Severe Outbreak”, Maryland death totals not updated) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 0 states “At risk of outbreak” ( )
- 1 state “Active or imminent outbreak” (Maine)
- 52 states “Severe outbreak” (Kansas, Kentucky, Alaska, South Carolina, Hawaii…)
I haven’t mentioned the situation in Ukraine in previous posts but it has started to dominate the headlines and raise anxieties around the world. Russia is massing troops and threatening an invasion. Diplomatic discussions start and stop but it’s hard to know what is even being negotiated, mostly because no one knows what game Putin is really playing (which is the way he wants it, apparently). Something else to worry about but there’s not a lot we can do about it.
I guess that’s my update for the moment. Seems like I had other things I wanted to talk about but I guess whatever it was will have to wait.
February 2
Welcome to February, wherein we close out two full years of virus disruptions in our lives. Also, Happy Chinese New Year, as of yesterday. Kung Hei Fat Choy to all.
The Omicron wave continues to recede, which is the best news available. The case numbers are coming down globally as well as in the U.S. For the first time, Maryland has the best numbers in the U.S., so yay.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 382M; Daily average: 3,260K; Total Deaths: 5,687,000
- USA cases: 75.3M; Daily average: 424K; Total Deaths: 890,000
- Maryland cases: 957,000; Deaths: 13,532 (“Active or imminent outbreak”) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 0 states “At risk of outbreak” ( )
- 6 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (Maryland, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Connecticut, New Jersey…)
- 47 states “Severe outbreak” (Alaska, Washington, Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee…)
Howard County just rescinded its indoor mask mandate which was imposed about 6 weeks ago. That won’t change our own behavior much as we still wear masks to go shopping, but it does mean we will likely start going back to restaurants more often. We went to Shannon’s, our local old-folks pub, two nights ago when we dropped Barb’s car off for deer collision repair. That’s just one of a handful of times we’ve eaten inside a restaurant this year.
I learned today that Barb’s car will be in the shop for about 10 days as they wait for parts to be delivered. I’ve got a rental car and guessed that we might need it for that long. Hope it’s not longer. Barb is driving the rental, a little KIA, because she’s still afraid to drive our new car, which is not a good sign. I think it’s quickly become likely that the new car is mine for the time being. Guess I’m OK with that, but the idea was to get a new car for Barb. She is someone who really dislikes change.
Along that line, Barb has started to say that we may need to postpone our Australia/New Zealand cruise next year because she may not want to retire at the end of this year after all. She is starting to find reasons that she should stay at work longer – for the moment she’s saying because it will be hard for her people to manage a transition in December and therefore she should stay longer. I’m trying to dissuade her from delaying but she will do what she will do. I don’t think she’s really mentally ready to retire or to deal with whatever comes next. I actually wouldn’t mind postponing the cruise – I don’t relish the idea of flying or cruising in a situation where we still need masks and need to be on Covid alert. Better to do it when the crisis is really and truly past. But we could travel to other places (like California, Hawaii, or even Europe) next year and we don’t financially need Barb to keep working. But, as I said, she will do what she will do and the more I argue against it, the more she will dig in her heels. She gets to dictate her own pace. She already bought a car she’s too afraid to drive.
We haven’t decided anything about other travel this year. Things still seem too much up in the air. Laurie has just moved into her new apartment in La Losa so we haven’t had a chance to discuss the Nashville/Memphis trip yet, but we need to decide within a few weeks whether we are going in March or push it to October. Allie is going to San Francisco for a week to see friends later in February. Our Marathon trip with Allie is set for the first week of May. That’s about all we know for sure. Barb is trying to wheedle some time over the summer from a friend that has a house on Martha’s Vineyard, but that’s not firm. We may go to Colorado in June, possibly. I’d love to get back to Spain or Portugal sometime this year, but nothing’s been really discussed. We still have our British Airways vouchers for England/Europe (good through 9/2023) but likewise no progress. Everything’s still more or less on hold.
Otherwise, I just keep myself busy with the website (still working my way through our 2008 trip to France), reading (American Revolutions…off to a slow start but need to pick up the pace), and doing too many crossword puzzles. And now Wordle, which I just started playing this week. And the free word puzzles I finally discovered on The Atlantic app. The puzzles are starting to take a larger chunk of time each day than I’d like, but I’m finding them hard to resist. I keep telling myself they’re a healthy form of mental exercise, but I’m not convinced. They’re mainly just another distraction. In fact, I think I’ll do one now.
February 9
After yesterday’s Scattergories session, it seems slightly more likely that we will go ahead with our March trip to Nashville and Memphis. Susanna seems to be looking forward to having us and Laurie just found out that her friend Trudy from Norway will be in Asheville during our target time – her daughter is moving into town. I’m encouraged. Now we have to keep an eye on the virus to ensure Laurie is comfortable coming in March.
So how are things doing? Maryland’s doing very well, the first state to drop back into amber “At Risk of Outbreak” level after the Omicron surge. It would be nice if we were yellow (“Slow disease growth”) or better yet, green (“On track to contain COVID”), but the trends seem good and I think the state will shortly remove most of the remaining restrictions. Masks are still required in Maryland schools at the moment but this will probably soon change, following the lead of neighbors Delaware, New Jersey and New York. Tennessee, on the other hand, is currently one of the worst states in the nation. Caseloads and hospitalizations appear to have peaked in the last two weeks but they’re still some of the highest rates anywhere.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 401M; Daily average: 2,660K; Total Deaths: 5,763,000
- USA cases: 77.0M; Daily average: 241K; Total Deaths: 907,000
- Maryland cases: 966,000; Deaths: 13,787 (“Active or imminent outbreak”) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 1 state “At risk of outbreak” (Maryland)
- 29 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (District of Columbia, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, New York, Connecticut…)
- 23 states “Severe outbreak” (Northern Marianas, Alaska, Mississippi, Washington, West Virginia, Tennessee…)
I feel confident Tennessee’s rates will decline over the coming weeks, I hope to a level that Laurie is comfortable with. I’m ready to go ahead and take our chances with the trip, wearing masks where needed even if others aren’t.
Adding to this sentiment, Allie is heading off to San Francisco in a few days to spend a week with her friends Vika and Jeff. I’m quite jealous. I hope she has a great time. She’s also tentatively planning to go to Miami at the end of March with some other friends.
We just got Sara’s official invitation to come to Emmy’s first birthday party in Colorado at the end of March, but it overlaps with the Tennessee trip and Allie’s potential trip to Miami, so we won’t be doing that. We would like, however, to arrange another time to go visit Sara and the Embreys in Denver…we just can’t quite figure out when to do it.
Our weather shifted this week to sunny skies and slightly warmer temperatures in the 50’s, which brightens my mood. I was able to walk outside yesterday for the first time in a long while and will do so again later today. Manny’s happy to be on the deck in the sun, also for the first time since last year, I think.
I feel ready to get myself moving again. I’ve been getting progressively more dormant to the point of hibernation the past few weeks. I’ve been reading American Revolutions but it’s going slowly, recapping American Colonies to start and now threatening to become a chronology of the Revolutionary War. I’m hoping for more insight and less of a slog through dates and battles. I was able to complete two posts about our 2008 trip to France, which is a small accomplishment, but I still have a lot of 2008 photos to wade through and I’m not moving fast.
The Beijing Winter Olympics are underway but I don’t have much enthusiasm for them. Mostly these seem to be a lot of silly or made up sports, played in an atmosphere of repressive control in China. China’s zero-Covid policy is an excuse for a locked down made-for-television event that mostly plays into China’s worst tendencies.
There was a good article this week in The Atlantic by Arthur Brooks, “How to Want Less”. It’s a culmination of a series of articles he’s been writing on the subject of happiness and what that means in today’s world. I think he’s generally onto something, as I think am I, though our writing remains maddeningly fuzzy-minded. I generally agree with the very Buddhist notion of shedding wants and desires but not to the point of inertness.
I don’t know. I’m not ready to write in detail about the meaning of life. I’m missing out on sunshine to take a walk, and then I need to go procure snacks that I don’t want to eat for the upcoming Super Bowl game that I don’t want to watch. Deeper thoughts will have to wait for some later day.
February 14
Happy Monday, Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy Day After the Super Bowl. Let’s see where we are.
In world news, this seems to be the week that Russia will invade Ukraine, maybe. The U.S. government seems to be the main one that thinks so, evacuating Americans and the embassy in Kyiv (no longer Kiev). Russia denies anything is planned, Ukraine says stay calm, European leaders jockey to keep peace through negotiations. David Ignatius’ column in today’s Washington Post offers as concise a summary of the situation as I’ve read. Fundamentally, no one knows but the combination of weather conditions and culmination of Russian “exercises” in the region point to this being the optimal week to invade if they’re going to do so.
The possibility that Russia’s military buildup surrounding Ukraine has all been an elaborate and expensive bluff by Putin seems to be diminishing. What, exactly, he hopes to achieve is far muddier, other than rolling the dice to upset the world’s apple cart and hoping that Russia comes out the better for it. It’s hard to see that being a winning strategy. For anyone. It’s also hard to believe that any world leader would seriously play with the potential of a shooting war that could spin into another global catastrophe. But here we are. The odds of World War III seem low, but they’re not zero.
The efforts by many, from Biden to Macron to Boris Johnson and others to negotiate with Putin are very reminiscent echoes of Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 talks with Hitler in Munich. Coincidentally, I’ve bumped into a number of recent cultural references to those talks, from Netflix’s film Munich – The Edge of War to last night’s “Home Truths” episode of All Creatures Great and Small. Each of them play off the melancholy evocation of what might have been and the last days of peace before cataclysm. It doesn’t feel like we’re really at the same point, but who knows for sure? In another week, we will know more…perhaps.
Meanwhile, the Beijing Winter Olympics stumble along and Russia is playing the bogeyman there too. There’s a controversy over the top Russian female skater testing positive for a prohibited substance. A hasty arbitration meeting last night resolved that she can compete in the women’s competition starting tomorrow but not receive any medals until the case is fully decided, which may take months. It seems like a bad compromise in a complicated situation that stems back to never really dealing with decades-long Russian doping scandals. The charade of Russian athletes competing under the “Russian Olympic Committee” label has been a sham from the start. As if holding the winter games in Beijing this year was not already shameful enough. Still, I have to admit I’ve watched a fair amount of it this past week, despite NBC’s endless pumping of USA, USA, USA.
And then there’s that virus. Case counts are still dropping, and deaths appear to have peaked two weeks ago in this country. Maryland is all the way back down below pre-Omicron case levels. Tennessee is more than 68% down from its Omicron peak a little over two weeks ago, though it still has one of the highest rates of spread in the country. The counties around Nashville and Memphis are doing a little better than the rest of the state, at least.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 412M; Daily average: 2,319K; Total Deaths: 5,815,000
- USA cases: 77.6M; Daily average: 175K; Total Deaths: 918,000
- Maryland cases: 971,000; Deaths: 13,917 (“Active or imminent outbreak”) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 3 states “At risk of outbreak” (Maryland, Puerto Rico, New Jersey)
- 39 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Maine…)
- 11 states “Severe outbreak” (Northern Marianas, Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky…)
I haven’t been in touch with Laurie this week about our music trip in March. I’m hoping the news is good enough for her to move ahead with it. I’m ready to give it a go but we still have two weeks to make a final decision.
Allie is in San Francisco, enjoying some time with her friends. They watched the Super Bowl yesterday from some other friend’s place that had a magnificent view of the Golden Gate. I’m very jealous.
Barb and Leslie and I went to the movies on Saturday to see Death on the Nile. Afterwards, we went to an early dinner at Duk Khao Thai Eatery where neither Leslie nor Barb had been. The movie was mediocre but the dinner was quite nice – 2 Stars for the film, 4 Stars for the day, a pleasant Saturday. It was nice to get out and about once again.
And so, life trundles along at the moment. We seem to be over the worst of the virus for the time being. We hope we’re not on the brink of a World War. Otherwise, all systems normal. I guess maybe this is the new normal after all.
February 22
Welcome to Twosday, 2/22/22. It’s a good news, bad news sort of day.
The bad news is that Russia seems to be moving ahead with its somewhat slow-motion invasion of Ukraine. Yesterday, Putin officially recognized the “independence” of two eastern Ukraine states, Donetsk and Luhansk, and started moving Russian troops into them as “peacekeeping forces”. These are the two regions where Russian separatists have held some (but less than half) of those Ukrainian states since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. Western countries are cranking up sanctions against Russia but it’s doubtful they will be a real deterrent to Putin. It seems more likely that Russian and Ukrainian troops will soon directly engage over the contested territories in those states, giving Russia a pretext for a full-scale invasion. We’ll see what today and the next few days bring as the world reacts.
There’s much better news on the virus front as daily rates in the U.S. fell below 100,000 which puts us basically back to pre-Omicron levels. Maryland still has the lowest rate in the country (yay!) though we are not quite to the next lower level of threat (“Slow disease growth”). Maybe next week. Tennessee is also improving, though it’s still not great.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 426M; Daily average: 1,773K; Total Deaths: 5,889,000
- USA cases: 78.4M; Daily average: 89K; Total Deaths: 935,000
- Maryland cases: 998,000; Deaths: 14,011 (“Active or imminent outbreak”) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 0 states “Slow disease growth” ( )
- 13 states “At risk of outbreak” (Maryland, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Puerto Rico…)
- 37 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (Alaska, Maine, West Virginia, Montana, New Hampshire…)
- 3 states “Severe outbreak” (Northern Marianas, Kentucky, Idaho)
Laurie provided a bit of a scare late last week when Sam’s school sent everyone in his class home due to a rise in infections. But so far there have been no positive tests within Maggie’s family and Laurie has been more or less isolating in her new home nearby. As of now, our music trip is still on, with Laurie arriving here in 9 days. I spoke with Laurie today and all systems are go. We’re both looking forward to the adventure.
Allie got home from San Francisco on a red-eye yesterday morning. She – and her boss, evidently – were surprised they didn’t have President’s Day off and had to work a full day yesterday. We haven’t spoken directly with her yet but the trip sounded great. The weather in SF looked particularly nice from the photos she sent. We hope to catch up with her tonight.
I’ve started to get out and about more which is doing me some good. Last Thursday I took a little solo road trip to North Beach, a Maryland community on this side of the Chesapeake Bay, just south of Annapolis in Calvert County. It’s a tiny little town which I’d never heard of until I searched for day trip destinations in Maryland. They have a little beach, a pleasant boardwalk and pier to walk on, and a handful of decent restaurants. I drove down and had lunch at Hook & Vine, the top-rated place in town. I had a pleasant fried fish on a lettuce wrap so it was more of a salad. I also got some nice mac and cheese and a ginger beer drink (Winter’s Almost a Mule – ginger beer, rosemary, lime, cranberry) that was very tasty.
Next door was a cheese shop, Vaughan Cheese, that turned out to be excellent. Very pretty little shop with a wide selection of domestic artisan cheeses. The staff were very nice and let me try a few samples. I ended up buying two small wedges, a Cabra LaMancha goat cheese from Firefly Farm in Maryland and More Beer, a cow’s milk cheese with ash and an “earthy, creamy, funky” taste from New Jersey. Both were very nice and there were lots more I would be happy to try. I don’t know of any similar cheese shops in our area. It was a very happy find and I’m eager to go back (or use their excellent website) when my calorie budget can afford it.
On Sunday, Barb and I went to Bethesda to try the Pines of Rome. Some 40 years ago, one of our favorite cheap restaurants in Arlington was the Pines of Italy. We would go at least monthly to get a white pizza appetizer, Veal Francese for Barb and a grilled whole fish for me. When Joe and Betsy came, which was often, Joe would always get Osso Bucco. A waiter there would respond to any request with “Sure, why not?” which became a standing punchline among us all. The Pines of Italy in Arlington is long gone but I had heard there was a sister restaurant in Bethesda for many years…I just never sought it out or knew where it was. A few months ago we stumbled across the location and this Sunday we finally got around to giving it a try. It was like a time warp. We had exactly the same dishes and they were every bit as good. We are certain to return, probably too often. Happiness!
Yesterday I played tennis with our indoor group for the first time since December. It was good to get out and move around even if I didn’t play especially well. I’ve signed up for a mixed doubles league at Cattail that starts in April and goes through the summer. We’ll see how that works out.
Tomorrow I will go to lunch in Annapolis with Jenny. Another positive outing. We will be trying Boatyard Bar & Grill which is well-reviewed and I’ve never tried.
So, lots of good things are happening. The weather is getting better, more or less. I’m starting to look for more things to do and see in the area. It’s a more economical use of my time and energy rather than pining for big international trips. Things are looking up, as long as the world doesn’t spin into another world war anytime soon.
February 27
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine starting on February 23. In these first few days, Ukraine put up more resistance than maybe Russia anticipated, and though there has been fighting and casualties in Kiev and Kharkiv, so far neither city has fallen. There is already talk of peace talks soon, perhaps, but Russia also put its nuclear forces on alert last night, so who knows? Perhaps the best solution would be an agreement that keeps Ukraine neutral for the time being and allows Russia to withdraw, but it seems more likely that Russia will continue fighting and try to oust the current government of Ukraine.
The U.S. and Europeans have imposed some sanctions on Russia that appear mostly toothless, but may raise gas prices and stoke inflation domestically. That seems to be about as much sacrifice as we in the U.S. can stomach. It seems a very small sacrifice on our part to make while Ukrainians are dying for their independence.
In better news, the virus situation continues to improve.
Numbers:
- Global cases: 434M; Daily average: 1,564K; Total Deaths: 5,942,000
- USA cases: 78.8M; Daily average: 66K; Total Deaths: 947,000
- Maryland cases: 1,002,000; Deaths: 14,105 (“At risk of outbreak”) per CovidActNow.org
- 0 states “On track to contain COVID” ( )
- 2 states “Slow disease growth” (Nebraska, Puerto Rico )
- 36 states “At risk of outbreak” (Maryland, Ohio, Delaware, New York, Connecticut…)
- 12 states “Active or imminent outbreak” (Maine, Alaska, West Virginia, Montana, Kentucky…)
- 2 states “Severe outbreak” (Northern Marianas, Idaho)
The CDC revised its mask guidelines a couple of days ago, finally moving to a color coded system by county…something I felt was needed nearly two years ago (see April 24, 2020). Even Leana Wen says the CDC finally got masking guidelines right. Lord knows why it took this long. Happily, Howard County is in a nice pocket of green, so masks are no longer needed indoors here. The school system will also stop requiring them on March 1 (this coming Tuesday).
Our music trip in March remains a go. Laurie will be arriving next week and I’m quite excited for it. Nashville is yellow and Memphis is green on the CDC map so we should be in relatively decent shape. We’ll be driving through many orange counties over the course of the trip but we will be sure to hold our breath.
I had a nice lunch with Jenny in Annapolis last Wednesday. We ate at the Boatyard Bar & Grill, a highly rated, venerable Annapolis institution that I’d never been to. I thought it was so-so at best, so there’s no need to go back, but I had a nice time catching up with Jenny. She’s a happy grandmother of two, slowly distancing herself from FIRST and robots. She and Yoni are heading back to Aruba in a few weeks and are slated to do an Iceland-Norway-Denmark cruise in the summer.
On Friday, I went to DC for a concert at the Kennedy Center featuring Aoife O’Donovan with an opening set by Yasmin Williams. I really got the tickets in support of Yasmin Williams, the guitarist I had seen last November in Baltimore. Yasmin was good, enchanting me again with her melodic tapping guitar style. She was a little more mature and assured than in November. I still hope for big things for her.
I’ve been an admirer of Aoife O’Donovan since she co-founded I’m With Her with Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins, and for her many collaborations with other artists. I tried brushing up on her solo work but must admit that most of the songs wash over my ears without sticking. Sure enough, this concert was much the same. Her voice is lovely but she often stretches to odd places and her enunciation is wispy enough that I can catch less than half of her words. She didn’t really seem to engage with the music or the audience, even sucking most of the life out of a Bruce Springsteen song (“Open All Night”) from Nebraska…not an easy accomplishment. Her three piece band didn’t help punch things up. The older, overwhelmingly white, very NPR crowd – my type of people – offered tepid applause at best. Even the encore where Yasmin came back out to accompany the title track from Aoife’s new album, “Age of Apathy,” was tentative. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from the show and was still rather disappointed.
I still had a good time that day. Before the concert, I took a few hours to drive around Arlington, fulfilling the mission I wanted to undertake in early January when I was supposed to drive Barb and Allie to tea in DC. I first headed to the Iwo Jima Memorial, parking for a while and taking a few pictures.
I searched out some of my old haunts up and down Wilson Boulevard. I was shocked to see for myself that my first apartment building at 1411 North Garfield Street was still there among all the new construction. It’s been 45 years since I lived there in my sophomore and junior years at college. It was a ratty old place then; I really wonder what it’s like now. Is it still two small apartments or one larger one? Is it air conditioned? Does Vas still live there?
I spent an hour or so driving around Arlington before stopping for dinner at Ruthie’s All Day. I’d spent quite a while researching where to eat and opted for this somewhat trendy BBQ/diner. I got there just about 5pm but the hostess said it would be a 45-minute wait which was hard to believe since the restaurant was maybe half full. I took an open spot at the bar with the sun glaring painfully in my eyes. I quickly ordered a beer and grilled branzino. Both came out very promptly and I was out of the place in about 25 minutes. It was not a satisfying dining experience though the branzino was cooked well.
With time on my hands, I decided to drive out Route 50 to our old place at Chrisland Cove. I sat in commuter traffic for a long time before getting to the townhouse at dusk. It was too late to stop or take a picture, but the little community with the lake still looked nice. With night falling, I headed back into DC to the Kennedy Center for the concert. Even though dinner was not the best and I sat in traffic more than I should have, I had a good time tooling around Arlington. A great deal has changed in 45 years but I still more or less knew my way around.
So, things are looking up, other than that whole Ukraine mess. We will hope for the best on all fronts. It’s been two full years with the virus dominating our lives. Maybe that’s about to end, at least for a while.
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