Pandemic, Week 85 (The Way the Wind Blows)

This week President Biden met with Pope Francis before heading to the G20 Summit in Rome and then to Glasgow to discuss the United Nations Framework on Climate Change. President Biden unveiled the Build Back Better bill that includes $555 billion for climate programs. Senate Democrats unveiled a plan to tax billionaires on assets they own to offset costs in the Presidents' social spending plan. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a state where no billionaires reside, voiced his opposition.  The Supreme Court agreed to review EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. An army led coup occurred in Sudan, where the new leaders have suspended internet and other communications, restricted movement of civilians and reportedly killed at least 10 protestors. The civil trial began related to the violence that occurred at the Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. Facebook announced that it was changing its corporate name to Meta – CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement while standing in front of a bookshelf with a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce prominently displayed.

The world reached 247.0 million COVID-19 cases and 5.0 million deaths this week, of which the US accounted for 46.8 million cases and 766,000 deaths.  221 million Americans (67 percent) have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 192 million (58 percent) being fully vaccinated. The FDA cleared the Pfizer vaccine for children age 5-11, but the CDC still needs to make a formal decision before roll-out can begin.

This week started with some climbing (and ping-pong) for Allen and Owen, therapeutic massage for Elaine, and homework for Nora. Our friends Brandon & Anneke (and their kids) from Austin joined us for dinner on Wednesday, having intended to visit last month before an ill-timed COVID exposure thwarted the scheme. I hadn't seen them in years and had never met nine-year-old Olive; Allen hadn't seen them since March 2018. It was also spirit week at both Stuart and Duke, so the kids used alternative backpacks, dressed in decades long past, and wore administration approved costumes to school. We even swung by the Brown family's 25th Hottern' Hades Chili Cook-off/Sudds Halloween Party on Saturday (which in addition to costumes, chili and beer, included live music this year) before heading to Aunt Katherine's for homemade Chicago stye pizza, s'mores and tales of Katherine and Adrienne's latest ill-fated camping experience (think bomb cyclones and an empty gas tank...).

But the big event for us was seeing Hadestown at the Kennedy Center. It was our first live theater experience since January 2020 (if you don't count Owen's June 2020 performance of 10 Ways to Survive Quarantine or Nora's turn in the December 2020 performance of Virtually Ever After). It was also the show that we were supposed to see earlier in the month on Broadway with our friend who passed away. But as we keep reminding ourselves, joy and grief can co-exist. So we went, and enjoyed having a night of family and theater and watching a great show together. But we also cried a little bit, reminded, as they say in Hadestown,

To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now. 

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