Pandemic, Week 53 (A New Hope)

This week, a man walked into three spas in Atlanta and killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent. Atlanta police claimed that the killings were not a hate crime but rather because the shooter was a sex addict having a "bad day." Given there have been 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents in the U.S. this past year, the actual motivations of the killer are less clear. Meanwhile in DC, an armed gunman was arrested outside of Vice-President Kamala Harris's residence. Following Joe Manchin's statement that he was open to reforms of the filibuster, President Biden echoed his support, triggering Senator Mitch McConnell to vow a scorched earth policy if any reforms are adopted. Rep. Jimmy Gomez introduced a resolution to expel Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for advocating violence against other House members, the Speaker and the government in general. The Biden administration is facing criticism for its response to a surge in migrants at the Southern border and a record-number of unaccompanied minors being held for more than 72 hours in government detention facilities. The NCAA tournament began this week, but the games were largely overshadowed by complaints of the disparities between female and male athletes' amenities.

The world reached 123.4 million COVID cases and 2.7 million deaths this week. The U.S. accounted for 30.5 million cases and 555,000 deaths. There have been 118 million doses given in the U.S. and 41.9 million persons (12.8 percent of the populations) have been fully vaccinated, including Grandpa and Grandma Z. Clinical trials of Moderna for kids 6-months to 12 years have begun. The CDC announced that schools can now space students 3 feet rather than 6 feet apart (DCPS has not yet responded to the announcement).

But for us the big event was that Owen started in-person school this week. Well, sort of. He has 3.5 hours of cello instruction (sectionals, orchestra and technique) at Duke on Monday afternoons, which means at noon we have to take his temperature, drive him to Georgetown, wait until he is admitted to school, drive home and then pick him up three and a half hours later. It means he misses one of his English classes and we have to take leave from work, but it felt totally worth it for Owen to actually get to interact with his fellow musicians in person.

Otherwise, it was pandemic as usual for us. We hiked with First Day School at the Friends' Wilderness Center in Harpers Ferry, WV; toasted St. Patrick; had a zoom recital for Owen; and hosted the Telfair-Chas for a (chilly) socially distant dinner. But while most of the week had a familiar rhythm to it, there was still an undercurrent that just maybe, a change is gonna come.

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