Pandemic, Week 67 (That's a Wrap)

This week Senate Republicans used the threat of filibuster to block voting rights legislation while the Justice Department sued the state of Florida claiming that its voting restrictions target black voters. Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed George Floyd, was sentenced to 22 years. The Supreme Court issued rulings that found: disgruntled cheerleaders have protected speech; unions are not allowed to trespass on worksites to recruit members; President Biden can replace the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders can't invalidate $124 billion in transactions stemming from the government's intervention in the 2008 housing crisis; and that the NCAA violates antitrust laws by limiting benefits to student athletes. President Biden negotiated a bipartisan infrastructure deal (which may still fall apart). And pop singer Britney Spears challenged her father's 13-year conservatorship in court claiming he used it to control her finances and even her reproductive health, resulting in the hashtag #FreeBritney trending.

The world reached a total of 182.5 million COVID cases and 3.9 million deaths this week, of which the U.S. accounted for 34.5 million cases and 619,000 deaths. 178.9 million Americans (54 percent of the population) have received at least one vaccine dose while 152.2 million (46 percent of the population) are fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, the President of Philippines has threatened citizens that refuse to get vaccinated with jail.

This week we celebrated Father's Day, our 18th Anniversary and Ducky returning from whence she came (well, some of us celebrated...). But mostly this week was about the end of the 2020-21 school year (finally). While neither of the kids really had classes this week (though Nora did have an assembly where they received an award for general "Excellence" and Owen was still turning in work on Monday), both dutifully logged in every day for attendance purposes. and then went about their business (which involved Air Disasters crafting for Nora and a lot of Dr. Who for Owen). Nora celebrated the last day by meeting Anais at Stanton Park and enjoying free ice cream from a community minded realtor; Owen finally had his friend Adam over (and then got a waffle cone at Rita's after dinner). 

And while it might not have been the most exciting of endings, it was a tremendous relief to put this year behind us for (hopefully) a more traditional education experience come this fall.

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

Pandemic, Week 66 (#itwasintents)

This week President Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss nuclear arms limitations and cyber security, to mixed reviews. Israel voted out Prime Minister Netanyahu after twelve years in office. Juneteenth was signed into law as a federal holiday after passing this week unanimously in the Senate and by all but 14 Republicans in the house. The U.S. Conference of Bishops voted to potentially deny Communion to Catholic politicians that are pro-choice, a move that specifically targets President Biden, despite being warned by the Vatican of the dangers of politicizing the Eucharist. A Cape Cod lobster diver was swallowed by a humpback whale before being safely expelled.

The number of total COVID cases worldwide reached 178.9 million and 3.9 million deaths this week. Total cases in the U.S. hit 34.4 million and 617,000 deaths. 177 million Americans, 53 percent of the population, have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and 149 million, 45 percent of the population, is fully vaccinated. This is a good thing, as the markedly more transmissible and severe Delta variant of COVID that originated in India, is now the dominant strain of the virus.

But for us, this week was focused on tying up loose ends. We spent Saturday working in Katherine's back yard (hauling rocks, painting, digging up root balls, cleaning up bird baths and bamboo) to make the place look good for Allen's belated (and alternative location) work retreat. Owen finished all of his class recordings (including an epic all-day affair to nail the transition of the 4th and 5th movement in the Shostakovich).  Katherine drove Grandpa Fawcett to Iowa while we continued to watch an increasingly insolent Ducky. Allen and I had a lovely at home date night on Thursday followed by a surprise lunch date with the Telfair-Chas on Friday in honor of Juneteenth. Allen and Owen made the Nats game on Friday and got to see Yan Gomes hit off walk-off double resulting in Soto scoring and the Nats beating the Mets.

But the big event was Nora's DCYOP concert on Saturday. DCYOP was remote last spring and for the fall and winter semesters this year. But this spring, they decided neither rain (well technically, they did cancel one rehearsal due to rain), nor cicadas nor a pandemic could stop these dedicated musicians from rehearsing in-person. And so, starting in April, every Saturday Nora and I headed to a tent at Takoma Park Education Campus where a masked Nora played viola in the Young Artists Orchestra. The practice paid off and this weekend Mom Mom and Grandpa Don joined us for their outdoor concert – with only a few few raindrops -- and a lovely testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of the arts.

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

Pandemic, Week 65 (Bee's Knees)

This week, President Biden met with foreign leaders while attending the G-7 meeting in England. The President Biden also officially canceled the Keystone Pipeline, due to environmental concerns. Reports emerged that the Trump White House had subpoenaed phone records of two Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. The FDA granted accelerated approval for the Alzheimer drug, Aduhelm, despite 10 of the 11 members of the FDA approval committee voting against it, resulting in the resignation of three of the committee's members. Simone Biles won the vault, balance beam, floor exercises and the all-around title at the U.S. Women's National Gymnastics Championships. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the birth of their second child, Lilibet Diana, named after her great grandmother and late grandmother. 

The world reached 176.5 million COVID cases and 3.8 million deaths this week. The U.S. accounted for 34.4 million of the cases and 615,000 deaths. 173 million people in the US, 52 percent of the population have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 143 million, 43 percent of the population, are fully vaccinated. Despite these gains, US vaccination rates are slowing down, in part due to a misinformation campaign by vaccine opponents, including those that testified during a hearing at the Ohio statehouse that the COVID vaccine magnetizes people, resulting in their ability to stick spoons, keys and forks to their foreheads. (For the record, it does not.) 

We were busy as a bee this week, especially on Sunday when First Day School harvested honey from its beehives. The whole family participated as we de-capped, spun, funneled, bottled and even sold honey, but Owen really got into it and stayed late to finish bottling and clean up. In addition, Owen had his final cello jury of the year, Nora took care of Ducky (who's staying a few more days with us while Katherine takes John to Iowa, but then she's really going back), Allen had an article published in Nature on climate policy models, and Elaine happened upon a mariachi concert on the Hill. At the end of the long week, Nora and I met up with Mom Mom and Katherine for manicures and pedicures before meeting the boys for dinner where we extracted the following promise from Mom Mom and its corollary from Katherine:

Now you just have to wait five more year...

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

Pandemic, Week 64 (Just Ducky)

This week, former lieutenant general and National Security Adviser who pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI before he was pardoned by Trump, Michael Flynn, appeared to voice support of overthrowing the U.S. government, at QAnon affiliated event in Texas. At the same time, reports surfaced that Trump expects to be "reinstated as President" in August.  Meanwhile, Facebook announced that its ban on Trump will continue through at least January 2023 due to his post being, "a serious risk to public safety." Trump also ended his blog after only 29 days of publication due to "measly readership," and is now looking for a new platform. Texas democrats blocked a vote on a proposed voter suppression law by leaving and denying republicans a quorum. The governor has responded by stating he'll add the bill to a special session on gerrymandering later this year. A ransomware attack is causing a shortage of beef in the U.S. Tennis star Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open after she was fined for refusing to participate in post-match press conferences. A new report by American intelligence officials finds no evidence that UFOs reported by Navy pilots are in fact alien spacecraft.

The world reached 173.7 million COVID cases and 3.7 million deaths this week. While the U.S. still has the highest total number of COVID cases and deaths at 34.2 million and 612,000 respectively, it was revealed that Peru actually has the highest COVID-related death rate in the world after their data was revised. Total vaccination rates in the U.S. hit 51 percent with 42 percent of the population having been fully vaccinated, including, as of Thursday, Owen. In order to boost vaccination rates, West Virginia announced a gun lottery as well as hunting and fishing licenses for life, for residents who's received at least one dose of the vaccine by Father's Day.

But for us, this week was all about pets. Sadly, Test Subject 1, Test Subject 2 and Rutabaga all went to that big aquarium in the sky this week (I'm not sure that's how that actually works), leaving us with just Godzilla and King Kong. Fortunately, we were not lacking in animal companionship for long as Katherine and Nora had previously plotted that we would cat-sit Ducky – the cat that Katherine and Nora either saved or kidnapped (it's still unclear) two years ago while vacationing in Duck, NC – while Katherine and Adrienne vacationed in Antigua. Sadly, Antigua had a spike in COVID cases forcing them to largely shut down and Katherine and Adrienne to reschedule their trip. One would think that this would render our cat-sitting unnecessary, but apparently you'd be wrong. And so Ducky is staying with us (specifically with Nora) for the week.

And despite Nora's aspirations to the contrary, just for the week.

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