Monday, November 23, 2020

              It is a cool and foggy morning here in SW Florida. A welcome cold-front is delivering colder air to us. We stopped by a specialty market early, to shop for Holiday provisions, and then visited the First Watch chain for breakfast. A ride to Naples allowed us to walk out on the 12^th street pier. The sun had burned off the fog here, so we got to enjoy the sun and surf of the Naples Gulf beach. Many visiting families were strolling the pier and enjoying frolicking on the beach. It really can be almost surreal to wander amidst people enjoying the beach on vacation and remembering how bad things are elsewhere. I suppose people felt like this during wartime. Life went on even though thousands fought and died daily, seemingly out of sight and mind.

The news this week is mixed. On one hand, a drug maker named Astrozeneca has come out with a third vaccine to combat the Corona Virus. It does not have to be super cooled like one of the others. And, according to a company spokesperson, they have three billion vials under manufacture. Oddly, the initial announcement listed their drug as 70 % effective. By later in the day, it was being placed in the 90% effective range, like the previous two proposed vaccines. Whatever, it is one more arrow in the medical quiver to help slay the Corona Dragon.

Industry experts are suggesting that some of the vaccines could be employed as early as mid-December of 2020. Those would go to first responders, nursing home patients and other “essential personnel.” They are hopeful that sufficient quantities of the vaccines could be available for the general population by the summer of 2021.

        The darker side of the news if that the virus is spreading rampantly unchecked throughout the world, as well as here in the United States. Toronto, Canada just imposed a business lockdown, for several weeks, as has London and several other European Cities. Canada has closed its borders for yet another month. Until late December of 2020, to try and stem new infections.

       New York City and several American cities are doing the same. Infection rates are running way up the charts into critical areas. Covid-19 hospital bed are already scarce in many cities. PPE gear and medical personnel are also becoming scarce. During one day this week, 196,000 new Corona infections have been reported in the United States. We are closing in on the 260,000 deaths from Corona complications total this year. Infections, in the U.S population, are above 12 million cases and rising.

        As bad as thing get, there is still resistance to preventative health measures. Bars, gyms, restaurants and other “super spreaders” are pushing back against proposed lock downs. Many of them will probably not survive financially  to see the end of the viral pandemic.

      Several countries, like Denmark and Viet Nam, report decreased infection rates as universal mask wearing occurs in their populations. You would think this a simple message, but the resistance to compliance is still marked in the United States.

       The CDC is asking citizens not to travel home for Thanksgiving, but their pleas go unheeded. Airports and highways are clogged with travelers. The homing instinct is strong in families. Officials plaintively urge people to pass on this holiday, so that loved ones will be alive to celebrate the next year’s festivities. I fear a terrible toll will be realized over the next few weeks.

      Locally, we plan to dine alone for Thanksgiving. Many of our friends and neighbors are doing the same. We live in a vulnerable, elder community where the Corona ravages could spread through our midst like wild fire. We already have a few more cases even though the preventative efforts are both thorough and  ongoing. Curiously, some of the partners of people, who think they might be infected, still feel empowered to play golf and socialize, instead of confining themselves until all parties have tested negative for Corona. I don’t think some folks are really aware of how deadly this scourge really is.

       The financial markets sail merrily along above the 29,000 points level. I suppose money doesn’t get sick or take a vacation. It just keeps compounding. There is renewed talk in Washington of another stimulus bill, that would help out local governments and businesses. But, it will have to wait until a new administration and a new Congress is sworn in January.

      As a backdrop, the outgoing administration still refuses to acknowledge that it lost the last election. A variety of lawsuits, challenging all electoral results are still in the works, even though some thirty of these suits have been dismissed outright by the courts. One conservative, Republican Federal Judge called the law suits a “Frankenstein Monster,” with no substance or basis in fact, based on wild, unproven speculations and conspiracy theories.

     Still, dreary or not, it is Thanksgiving, a holiday where we Thank the good Lord for the blessings that we are given. I included this traditional message to friends and family.

                                       Thanksgiving

                   As Thanksgiving Day approaches, our thoughts turn fondly to family dinners, funny looking turkeys, football games and for some, a much-needed day off. It is a time for homecoming, a holiday uniquely North American in concept. And in Buffalo in particular, it marks a day of relief from the recent storms and another opportunity to thank the Lord for the bounty that we are given.

                  Our memories wander momentarily to simpler times long ago, when we were younger and an older generation sat around the dinner table. A wistful smile emerges at some pleasant thought of a loved one, not now among us, and how they too enjoyed their time with us. It is an opportunity for families past and present to come together and give thanks for the blessings we share. 

                   And what of friends and neighbors? They too deserve our warm thanks and appreciation for another year. For they have spent their lives in our company. Our good days and our bad days are all part of their lives as well. And many is the time an offered smile from a friend or neighbor helped us get through a difficult day. And maybe a special thanks to the shovel brigade that dug out our driveways.

                   So take a moment and Thank the people around you for all of the kindness, help and decency that they have afforded you in this last year. Give Thanks for them, for they too are but with us momentarily.

                   My warmest thanks to each of you for your friendship and indeed for that special smile that helped one day when I, like you, needed it the most. And I hope y’all get through this difficult time and emerge from it stronger and happier for the blessings that have been showered upon us.

                    Happy Thanksgiving to each of y’all and your extended families. May the blessings of The Lord continue to shine upon y’all.

                                        (45,386 total words)