Pandemic, Week 26 (The Six Month Mark)

This week, Bob Woodward revealed he'd recorded 18 interviews with Donald Trump between December 2019 and July 2020 for his book, "Fury," where Trump acknowledged the seriousness of COVID-19 in February while publicly downplaying the threat of the virus. Trump named potential Supreme Court nominees including Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton. The Justice Department announced they would be taking over the defense of the President in a defamation suit stemming from a claim of sexual assault against Trump in the 1990s. The recently renovated White House Rose Garden is being re-sodded after damage incurred from the President holding the GOP convention there. Wildfires, including one ignited after a pyrotechnic mishap at a gender reveal party, have burned 2.5 million acres in California and destroyed communities in Washington and Oregon. They have also blocked the sun in parts of the country and turned the sky disturbing shades of orange. In other news, the President was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The total number of reported COVID-19 cases in the world hit 28.9 million this week with 924,000 deaths. The U.S. recorded 6.7 million cases and 198,000 deaths. One of the clinical trials for a COVID vaccine was halted this week after a participant had serious, neurological symptoms.

We spent the rest of our long weekend at Katherine's competing in a couples' yoga face-off (Katherine and Lee won) and Corn-hole (Nora and Mom Mom beat Owen and Grandpa Fawcett once Mom Mom began actively encouraging Nora), making butter, choosing fantasy football teams, puzzling, and observing Katherine and Lee in full apiarist mode. Back home, Nora joined the drama club and had her first rehearsal with DCYOP for the fall. Owen was promoted to Orchestra I at Duke and had his second week of in-person (but socially distanced) climbing team. Allen and I wrote 90 postcards (30 in Spanish!) to encourage citizens to vote in Texas.

But most of our energy this week was focused on planning some additional escapes from DC as social distancing continues to wear on us. When this all started, we really had no idea that six months later we would still be in the thick of it with no end in sight. I hope that in another six months we're not facing the same uncertain future.

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