Pandemic, Week 19 (Corn Fest-ish)

A Wall of Moms, a Wall of Veterans, Dads with Leaf Blowers, and the Mayor of Portland were participating in peaceful protests when they were gassed by federal agents in order to "protect federal property." The Chinese Consulate in Houston was given 72 hours to close after the U.S. accused it of economic espionage; China retaliated by ordering the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu closed. The Nats (minus Juan Soto who tested positive for COVID) faced the Yankees for their opening day as baseball returned (albeit for only a 60 game season). The game included Dr. Anthony Fauci throwing out the first pitch, the players from both teams kneeling before the national anthem, no fans in attendance, and the game ending after six innings due to severe thunderstorms (the Nats lost, 4-1). The President  bragged about his cognitive ability by repeating the following word string twice during an interview, "Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV."

The world hit 16.1 million COVID-19 cases and 645,000 deaths this week – of which 4.3 million cases and 149,000 deaths were from the U.S. In response to recent spikes of cases in Florida, the President decided to cancel the Republican Convention in Jacksonville, having earlier moved it there from Charlotte, NC due to Florida's more liberal opening policies. DC is now mandating a 14-day quarantine (beginning Monday) for people returning to DC from certain hotspots, including Iowa.

Fortunately, we'll be back on Sunday.

For our last week in Iowa, we seemed to spend it finishing projects. Owen had his last "summer intensive" lesson with Ms. Purdie before he starts at Duke Ellington (remotely) August 10th. Work on the zip-line was completed (work on scaffolding for the zip-line is still underway) and all of us plus Grandpa Z got to test it. Nora helped write and record, Mythologia Cataracta (The Myth of the Waterfall), for her latest Camp Shenanigans podcast and also participated in her fifth grade class's book club. Grandpa Fawcett joined us at Grandpa and Grandma Z's towards the end of the week as a precaution while his sister Margie from Florida came to visit.

But the big event this week was Cornfest. It was a stripped down celebration this year, with only 35 people feeling comfortable in gathering together, covered wagon rides limited to family units, the banishment of the food line, masks wearing in the main cabin, and the absence of the corn-eating contest (the plaque will list "COVID" as the winner in 2020). We were a little conflicted in attending (Grandpa and Grandma Z decided to pass), but in the end, we decided to risk it for one more day at the pond, lots of corn, more zip-line runs, and some special time with family before the long drive home. It was a lot of fun.

And hopefully, we all stay healthy.


(To see all of this week's pictures, click here.)

Pandemic, Week 18 (Neowise)

This week, following calls for a boycott of Goya products after their CEO praised the President, both the President (in the Oval Office) and Ivanka Trump posted pictures of themselves endorsing Goya beans (and violating ethics rules). Federal Customs and Border Patrol agents, dressed in military fatigues, apprehended citizens and detained them in unmarked minivans in Portland, OR. The Nationals had an inner squad game at Nats Stadium. Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced her cancer has returned. Congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis died.

Meanwhile the world hit 14.4 million COVID-19 cases and 603,000 deaths with the U.S. reaching 3.8 million cases and 143,000 deaths. The White House argued that schools should open this fall, regardless of whether they've met the CDC's guidelines because, "Science should not stand in the way" of re-opening schools. In addition, the White House decided the CDC should no longer be in charge of COVID data on hospitalizations, and that hospitals should instead report the information directly to the White House. Congress is debating another coronavirus stimulus package with Republicans insisting on liability protections for businesses whose workers contract the disease at work; Democrats insisting on direct payments to most Americans, expanded unemployment insurance payments, and assistance to state and local governments; and the President balking at funding expanded testing. The governor of Oklahoma, who attended Trump's Tulsa, OK rally, announced he had COVID.

We continued to chill (and work) in Iowa. Efforts on the zip-line stopped abruptly when it became apparent that: 1) it wasn't steep enough to actually transport anyone, and 2) there was a fray in the cable and so all 600+ feet will need to be taken town and replaced. Revised plans are still being developed. So we watched Hamilton. We made pretzels. We saw Pete and Bernie (who had a doctor's appointment in Iowa City). Nora got prescription sunglasses.

But most significantly (from an astronomical standpoint), we enjoyed the approach of Neowise, the first comet in 23 years to be visible to the naked eye. Allen and I initially checked it out in Iowa City, but then enjoyed a Fawcett/Zimmerman socially distant comet viewing at the pond the next night (with s'mores!).

Given comets were once believed to be heavenly omens, one could argue that Neowise's presence means that things on earth are about to improve. We really, really hope so.

(To see all of this week's pictures, click here.)

Pandemic, Week 17 (Is this Heaven)

This week, Kanye West announced that he's running for president. The Supreme Court ruled that roughly half of Oklahoma is owned by the Creek Nation and that local prosecutors lack the authority to pursue criminal cases against Native defendants. The Court also ruled that the President does not have presidential immunity and that state prosecutors can obtain his financial records. The President responded by declaring that the he was the victim of political persecution and then commuting the sentence of Presidential Advisor Roger Stone for obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress.

Meanwhile, 12.8 million COVID-19 cases and 568,000 deaths were reported worldwide. Texas set a record of 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day this week, contributing to the the U.S. total of 3.4 million cases and 137,000 deaths. The CDC provided guidance on school re-openings which the President criticized as "very tough" and "expensive," after which the CDC said it would issue new recommendations. Also the President wore a mask for the first time in public (at a visit to Walter Reed Hospital).

We made it to Iowa Sunday night in just under 14 hours, with two stops and no conflagration. The next morning, Allen and I began working remotely from the central time zone while the kids kept themselves occupied until we could all go to the pond. Activities for the kids have included Owen's (remote) summer intensive for Duke, a lot of Kahn Academy, editing/writing with Grandma Z, sculpting, and trivia (where Grandma and Grandpa Z proved they are not our lucky charms).

But their favorite part of the day (when it's not storming) is when we head out for a few hours (or entire day if Allen's off work) at the pond. There is a lot of swimming, some new projects (including beginning work on a zip line!), and a lot of not-entirely social distancing with Grace and Grant.

(To see all of this week's pictures, click here.)

Pandemic, Week 16 (The Rooms Where Little Happened)

The President held a fireworks display in advance of Independence Day at Mount Rushmore, despite environmental concerns. Sadly, his son couldn't attend as his fiance had just been diagnosed with COVID-19. Disney Plus released the filmed performance of Hamilton from 2016 with the original cast which we gathered on Mom Mom and Grandpa Don's porch to watch (Katherine is still in quarantine, post-Florida trip). Carl Reiner died. The Supreme Court ruled against limiting abortion access in Louisiana though also kind of explained how future states could get around that ruling. The Mississippi legislature finally voted to remove the confederate symbol from its state flag. Meanwhile Washington's football team has decided to undergo a thorough review of its name.

The new worldwide count of COVID-19 cases was 11.3 million and 531,000 deaths. The U.S. accounted for 2.9 million COVID-19 cases and 132,000 deaths. The governor of Texas has acknowledge that he probably shouldn't have opened bars so early.

On Sunday we celebrated Dave's 50th birthday via zoom. Monday we had Molly and Adam over for a socially distant backyard dinner and cello concert (Owen even got some applause from the alley). Tuesday Nora got her hair cut at Bravado. It was the first time any of us had ventured into a Phase 2 establishment for a service. Only Nora, myself, the stylist and a receptionist were in the salon, we all wore masks and we had our temperature taken prior to entry followed by some sanitizer. It was only about twenty minutes total (though I was anxious the whole time) and she looked pretty cute afterwards. Nora and her friend Sadie recorded two separate podcast episodes: Germs in the Bathroom and Trolls Under the Bridge (apparently the focus this week was prepositional phrases). Somewhere in there we also discovered the errant Easter egg John hid a little too well, met Katherine's latest pets (from a safe distance) and redecorated the kids rooms a bit (which just meant switching the space pictures to Nora's room and the U.S. map to Owen's). And we stayed up late on the Fourth (not voluntarily) watching (though mostly listening) to at least six separate neighborhood firework displays (that went off until around four in the morning).

But most importantly, we took the car in to be inspected in response to a recall. Unfortunately, the 2020 Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid may be prone to bursting into flames, and while there's no current fix for it, the manufacturer wanted to check to see how flammable ours was. It took a while for them to make a determination (two full business days and some aggressive prompting from Allen), but we have been cleared to drive it to Iowa.

But if there's no blog next week, you'll know why.

(To see this week's pictures, click here.)