Pandemic, Week 30 (Saint Michaels)

On Monday, the president was release from Walter Reed Medical Center and returned to the White House, where he promptly removed his mask and claimed he felt better than he had in 20 years (which might be because he's taking Dexamethasone, an extremely strong steroid). The president lost out on the Nobel Peace Prize to World Food Program, which was chaired by Hunter Biden from 2013-2019. The Vice-Presidential debate took place in Salt Lake City this week, with the candidates separated by a plexiglass. The barrier did not, however, stop a fly from landing on Mike Pence's hair and resting there for two minutes while he and Kamala Harris were discussing systemic racism. A group of six domestic terrorists were charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, while an additional seven were charged with plotting to target law enforcement and attack the state capitol building. Eddie Van Halen died.

This week the world hit 37.5 million for the total number of COVID cases and 1.1 million deaths. The U.S. reached 7.9 million and 219,000 deaths. The president held a rally at the White House after his physician declared that he had met the criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation – they have not indicated that he has tested negative for the disease, however.

But we were largely immune to it all, having rented a house on the water in Saint Michaels with the Telfair-Chas. The week, intermixed with school, work and conferences, has involved a lot of kayaking (and blue heron sightings), biking, puzzling, crabs, Polar Bear Club auditions, campfires, lots of fine dinners (including A5 Wagyu steak) and cocktails and most importantly, Allen and Owen (as well as Steve and Gabriel) got haircuts. And while not entirely without drama (apparently little old ladies don't like it when you kayak by their docks too frequently and will attempt to sick their dog on you while voicing their displeasure; also, when freezing chicken necks for crabbing purposes, think about extraction before placement...), hanging out with good friends in a beautiful place was a welcome reprieve from all the craziness going on in the world around us.

Which is why we're already making plans with them for the inauguration...

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