Pandemic, Week 63 (Surprise!)

This week, 35 Senate Republicans blocked the bipartisan January 6th Commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection, which would have passed were it not for the filibuster. The European Union banned travel over Belarus after the country forced down a flight to detain dissident journalist, Roman Protasavech. The Manhattan district attorney convened a grand jury to determine indictments for the Trump Organization criminal probe. Alabama lifted its ban of yoga instruction, which was barred from public schools in 1993 as "a method of religious training." Students are still not allowed to meditate. Eric Carle, author of, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, died.

The world reached a total of 170.6 million COVID cases and 3.5 million deaths this week, of which the US contributed 34.0 million cases and 609,000 deaths. 134 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, or 41 percent of the total populations, with 50 percent of the population having received at least one dose. As a result, the average number of newly reported COVID cases in the US has fallen below 30,000, the lowest figures since June 2020. But while the US is increasingly opening up, anti-vaccine protestors have compared mask wearing and vaccines to the Holocaust.

Nora (finally) received their new glasses (and toppers) this week and got to unveil them to friends and family alike. Owen uploaded (after two painful hours of trying to get a take to successfully work while wearing a bowtie)) his recording of Pomp and Circumstance for Duke's Graduation. Allen and I even got a date night (with indoor dining) to kick-off Memorial Day Weekend. 

But for us this week was all about Katherine's birthday and trying to coordinate a surprise party in the midst of school, work, Grandpa Don's knee surgery (which went great and he's thoroughly enjoying his pain meds) and a pandemic, which required limiting the guest lists to the fully vaccinated and their children. We spent the week as a family artistically translating our love for Katherine and the things she loves into a birthday banner (which involved finding the perfect marker color for beer, capturing Monty's glandular issues and even the 3-D printer!), plus ordering cupcakes, and figuring out sleeping arrangements while Mom Mom, Lee and Adrienne dealt with the food and logistics. The party was a lot of fun (though maybe a little fuzzy) and a wonderful celebration of a person that doesn't get celebrated nearly enough. Happy birthday, Katherine – hopefully next year will be bigger and better.

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

Pandemic, Week 62 (Brood X)

This week a cease fire was reached in Gaza after 11 days of violence resulting in the deaths of 248 Palestinians and 12 Israelis. The House, including 35 Republicans, voted to create a commission on the January 6th insurrection, despite objections by its Republican leadership. The bill now moves to the Senate which would require 10 Republican to approve the measure, unless the filibuster is revoked. The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case from Mississippi banning abortions after 16 weeks in an attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade; meanwhile Texas passed a law banning abortions as early as six weeks. The New York state attorney general's office announced that it has widened its investigation into the Trump Organization to include criminal wrongdoing. The Great Eastern Brood of cicadas (aka Brood X) have emerged after 17 years en masse in the Washington area, only to fall prey to a "zombie fungus" which causes their butts to fall off. Actor Charles Grodin died.

This week the world reached 167.0 million COVID cases and 3.5 million deaths, of which the US accounted for 33.9 million cases and 604,000 deaths. For the first time in 11 months, the daily average of new COVID infections has fallen below 30,000. 49 percent of the US has now received at least one dose of the vaccine with at 39 percent of the population being fully vaccinated. DC lifted mask and social distancing restriction for vaccinated individuals and capacity restrictions on businesses this week, though masks are still required on public transit as well as hospitals, schools, and sporting events.

This week we added to our brood, with one lone cicada in the backyard and five new fish – Godzilla, King Kong, Test Subject 1, Test Subject 2 and Rutabaga (the kids named them). We had lost our last fish early on in the Pandemic and hadn't felt comfortable going to pet stores to replace them for until now.  So we ventured out a bit  more: Nora got a haircut (their first in seven months), we went to Meeting in person, and even made it to the Telfair-Chas to celebrate Megan's birthday with some dairy-free cupcakes that turned out a lot better than Nora and I thought they would, after several measuring mishaps. And so much like the cicadas, we are starting to emerge from our Pandemic cocoons.

I just hope our butts don't fall off.

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

Pandemic, Week 61 (Mother's Day and Birthdays and Vaccinations, Oh My!)

This week, at least 140 people were killed in Gaza as violence in the Middle East intensified after Hamas launched rockets in protest of Israeli raids on a Jerusalem mosque and Israel retaliated by bombing residences and buildings, including those that housed the international news offices of Al Jazeera and the AP. Liz Cheney was removed from GOP leadership in the House after fist bumping President Biden at his Address to Congress and calling out Republican's perpetuation of "the big lie." The Colonial Oil Pipeline was shutdown for six days after a ransomware attack resulting in gas shortages and lines in the southeast of the country. Chik-fil-A is rationing its dipping sauces due to supply shortages.

The world reached 163.2 million COVID cases and 3.4 million deaths this week, of which the US accounted for 33.7 million cases and 600,000 deaths. The CDC authorized 12 year olds and older to receive the Pfizer vaccine this week, and so Owen promptly got his first dose on Thursday. Meanwhile, Ohio announced five, $1 million lotteries for adult vaccine recipients to try and increase vaccination rates. With the influx of Ohioans and the under-16 crowd, 47 percent of the US population has now received at least once vaccine dose and 37 percent are fully vaccinated. The CDC revised its guidance, so that if you're fully vaccinated, you can pretty much go anywhere now without a mask, which given the resistance to adopting a "vaccine passport" to indicate who's been  inoculated, means that the US is now relying on the honor system for its public health.

But for us, the focus was the annual week long festivities of mothers known as Mother's Day and Mom Mom and Elaine's birthdays. We kicked off the week with a Mother's Day brunch at Katherine's, followed by a suite at the National's game (which included unlimited food and beer, which dulled the pain of the Nats losing to the Phillies), homemade ravioli and dinner at Rose's Luxury with Megan & Steve (in between there were presents and COVID shots and the harvesting of peonies). As usual, it was a stressful time for Allen (particularly after we ruined the suite surprise for Mom Mom and the CSA was late delivering some critical ingredients for my birthday dinner). But also, as usual, he did an amazing job (and now gets to relax for another year). 

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

Pandemic, Week 60 ("I'm just a boy with a new haircut")

This week Facebook decided that Donald Trump would remain temporarily banned from the platform. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is backing a challenge to the Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney after she published an op-ed in the Washington Post criticizing Trump's election fraud claims and his culpability in the January 6th insurrection. The May jobs report found that employment increased substantially less than expected in April, prompting GOP governors to slash unemployment payments to force more Americans to return to work. A sixth grade girl shot two students and a staff member at an Idaho middle school. A 23-ton rocket crashed into ocean by the Maldives, fueling criticism of the Chinese government and its failure to plan for re-entry of space debris. Elon Musk hosted Saturday Night Live.

The world hit 158.4 million COVID cases and 3.3 million deaths this week, of which the US accounted for 33.5 million cases and 596,000 deaths. As cases rise in India and other countries, President Biden announced his support for suspending patents on the vaccines. Here in the US, 46 percent of the population has received at least one dose and 34 percent are fully vaccinated. The FDA is expected to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12-15 imminently (we've already signed Owen up for a wait list).

Since Allen and I are now 2 weeks out from our second shots, I convinced him that all I really wanted for my birthday was for us to both get a professional haircuts (Allen's first in 15 months). I also asked that he trim his beard – which while not quite at the millennial ironic stage, had long passed the "I am proud to be seen in public with you" phase. It looked so good, that I decide Owen was also overdue and got him cleaned up over the weekend. (I'm hoping to pencil Nora in soon.) Other than that, the kids went to school (sometimes), we worked from home (always), we dined at a real restaurant (outside), and on Saturday we headed up to Katherine's for some chill time (and a walk past "Fawcett's Mill") before the onslaught of Mother's Day and birthday celebrations.

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

Pandemic, Week 59 (The Great Outdoors)

President Biden held his first address to Congress, which included the first time the President was flanked by two women (Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi), limited attendees to 200 and featured Senator Ted Cruz sleeping. The office and apartment of Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, were raided by federal agents as part of an ongoing investigation into his activities in Ukraine. Claims emerged that John Kerry reveal sensitive information to Iran about Israeli bombing of Syria during the Obama administration. Fox News corrected their erroneous claim that Biden's climate plan would limit Americans' red-meat consumption, but only after the false report had spread in right-wing media.  Medina Spirt won the Kentucky Derby. Olympia Dukakis died.

The world reached 152.8 million COVID cases and 3.2 million deaths this week, of which the US accounted for 33.1 million cases and 591,000 deaths. India set a global record for the most new cases of COVID-19, at more than 300,000 per day for over a week. In response, the Biden administration has agreed to send therapeutic drugs and machinery to India to help with vaccine manufacturing and eventually, surplus vaccines. Meanwhile, 44 percent of the US population has received at least one dose of the vaccine with 31 percent fully vaccinated. In response, the CDC has begun lifting outdoor mask guidance for vaccinated people.

And so we spent a fair amount of time outside (albeit generally masked) this week. Allen and Owen made it to another Nats game where they ran into Molly and Adam and actually got to see the Nationals win. Nora continued outdoor DCYOP rehearsals, and is no longer the only viola as Maeve rejoined this week.  But mostly, we got to enjoy Katherine's azaleas and the Kentucky Derby (Allen won!) on a lovely, May night.

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