I slept in this morning because I had problems falling asleep last night. Note to self: no more staying up late because of the Olympics. I regret to say that I have become that person who doesn’t do well if her daily routine is thrown off. I’m grateful I got some sleep, but here I am at 9 am, still groggy, still barely awake, trying to compose a post.
But it’s beautiful outside; very sunny and bright. My view to the right from my blogging chair in the den? Flowers – all of the flowers at the back of the big garden bed; brown-eyed susans, tall David phlox, along with the sunlight drenching the leaves of the catalpa.
I’m very, very grateful for this house and our property and the gardens I have built up over the past 15 years. I’m grateful for mama robin who is feeding two babies all by herself and for the babies that are getting bigger every day. I’m grateful for all the bird nest adventures we’ve had this spring and summer; three nests, three broods.
My list could go on and on but I’ll stop there. In the midst of the madness of this world, I have to stop sometimes and concentrate on the good. It isn’t always easy. Will we ever work again? I don’t know. Don asked that question yesterday. Just when we think we might be coming out of this pandemic, selfish people who refuse to get vaccinated help fuel a fourth wave. The ramifications of that are enormous. Too many people will die needlessly. Needlessly. Too many people will be forced to cope with more lockdowns, children are at risk, families once again unable to see each other, businesses going under. All of this, why? Because a simple vaccine that will save lives has been politicized. I look at my smallpox vaccination scar from childhood, clear evidence that vaccines work. But we live in a world of conspiracy theories, of cult-like lemmings, ready to go over a cliff just to spite those who have real expertise and who are trying to save them.
I predict – and I hope I’m wrong – that theaters will be impacted by this once again. As will television and film. So, the question “Will we ever work again?” is real. I hope we do. We need to work. Don, especially, needs to work. He desperately wants to work.
Anyway, nothing I’ve said here is new, but it’s now been a year and a half since either of us has worked, longer for Don because he hadn’t worked for a few months before the pandemic started. I had just finished a coaching job a couple of weeks before lockdown.
Okay. Enough complaining. I confess we have lived in a world for the past five years that I don’t understand, don’t want to understand, and am bewildered by. And it just seems to get worse.
I haven’t painted in a few days – maybe I’ll feel motivated later today. I’m reading a lot and that’s a good thing. I received three beautiful portraits of the dogs in the mail and I’ll share them with you when my laptop comes back and I can take proper photos of the artwork. I miss my laptop! But I do know that Apple received it yesterday and the repair work is in process, so hopefully, I might get it back by the end of the week.
I also got a notice in the mail that the miniature show I attend most every year (near Hartford) is back and will be held in September. I really want to go. Masked, of course. Fingers crossed that I can.
Stay safe.
Happy Tuesday.
Hello,
I feel bewildered, too. I believe/hope there is a special place in hell for those who refuse to get a vaccination.
Thank you for your beautiful photos and cogent words.
You and Don will work again..I feel it in my heart.
Take Care,
Kaye
Park City, UT
Thank you, Kaye.
Stay safe.
It is a blessing that even though you both have not worked you both seem to have maintained a good lifestyle.
To be able to pay for your home and still buy treats.
I understand it must be very difficult for Don.
Yes as Dr. Fauci said we are headed in the wrong direction.
Thanks, Linda.
Stay safe.
Thoughtful and interesting post, Claudia. Up to now I don’t know anyone who has refused the vaccine but if I did I would ask them why have they got the mindset of a medieval peasant? Do they not realise that they have highly likely been vaccinated as a child for various viral infections?
The idiots who argue across the world that it’s some conspiracy to keep track on citizens, well if you have a mobile phone (cell phone), you’re already being tracked. If you live in the UK then there’s hardly anywhere that isn’t covered by CCTV. I’m happy with this if it prevents/ solves crime or finds a missing person.
I sincerely hope theatres open soon for you and Don so that you can get back to work as normal.
Stay safe and Happy Tuesday
Oh, Dee+Dee, I have plenty of people I know who have refused the vaccine; they’re in my family, out of state from where I am in Calif. And my second cousin recently died of Covid in his early 50s because of it; believe me, for him, it was entirely political in origin, in terms of why he wouldn’t get vaccinated (or wear a mask). His uncle, aunt; their adult daughter and her young granddaughter? They won’t vaccinate either. They actually are against ventilators because they think the ventilators kill you. (They think the enemy is the ventilator, not the virus.) You don’t want to hear the rest of their excuses and messed-up reasoning, believe me. (These are NOT unintelligent people, which makes it all the more mind-blowing; the uncle is a CPA, his wife has a Master’s degree from a high-profile university and the adult daughter has a BS; my point being, they’re not uneducated people; they have the ability to absorb and understand and READ about Covid [I didn’t mean for that to sound snobby; I’m sure there are tons of people with a lack of education who are inherently intelligent and wise and naturally sensible, unlike my idiot relatives {my grandpa only had a third-grade education and my grandma, his wife, an eighth-grade one; they were noble, dignified, rational folks}].) On the other side of my family, I have a first cousin who is adamantly anti-vax as is her adult daughter and son-in-law (their two children under the age of 12 apparently don’t get a vote); however, she wants to come to California right now and visit her adult son and HIS young daughter under age 12, and the son said, “Sorry, Mom; we can’t see you; you can’t be in our home; I won’t risk the health of my family, especially my little girl.”
Hello Vicki, it must be so disheartening for you to have family members with such views. The fact that they distrust the ventilators is beyond ridiculous, how on earth do they think premature babies are kept alive! All you can do is try your best to look after yourself and your husband and not even entertain engaging with their nonsense. Just keep in touch with rational folk like your first cousin.
I don’t know everything that’s happening in the States but here in the UK there’s talk of a ‘Covid Passport’, in which you have to prove that you’ve been double vaccinated before you can attend things like nightclubs,events or even university. Whether it is enforceable is to be seen but at least it’s a start to encourage the unvaccinated to reconsider.
Take care
Thanks for your thoughts, Dee Dee.
Stay safe.
similar thoughts here about the pandemic and people choosing to politicize something life-saving like vaccines (especially that fight a mutating virus that is so easily spread and has killed & hurt so many people) . i don’t understand that one bit.
prayers that you and don will get to work and sooner than might seem possible right now.
also hope that you can see the robin babies fledge. and paint and read more, work on the dollhouse, safely go to that miniatures show, get your laptop back soon…
extra-hot here today and for the next couple, then maybe a “cool-down” to the low 90s. :/
stay safe, well and cool, everyone!
need to get back to work.
kathy in iowa
Hope the weather gets better soon, Kathy!
Stay safe.
I love your blog(that goes without saying). Your photographs inspire m, e to dig out my watercolors. I am in the house today….our area air quality is UNHEALTHY going on day three. It affects me ….runny nose, itchy eyes, cough and more. Having a procedure on my eyes this Friday so I am being extra careful avoiding any irritant. I encourage everyone out there to be careful and stay safe. I feel like I am living in a low budget science fiction movie.
Perfect description, Maria!
Stay safe.
So many good comments! I am constantly amazed that people who seem obsessed over the most ridiculous conspiracy theories always have their cell phones molded to their hands. Tracking at its finest!!
The “numbers” are growing so quickly and I still have issues with the CDC over their (IMO) way too quick decision a few months ago to announce no masks for vaccinated people. Declaring an all clear so soon was beyond bewildering. I feel our roles in the low budget horror film, as Maria said, has been cemented for a long, long run. Will anyone admit they were wrong? That, along with the decision to go ahead with the Olympics, and seemingly every other event known in the world, leaves us in a very scary position….deadly, in fact. One would think we might have learned from history. Especially a history that is merely months old and certainly with tragic outcome which are fresh in our collective memories.
They aren’t the brightest bulbs in the room, Chris.
Stay safe!
Claudia I cannot agree more about the situation ahead. Recently had a friend loose a family member who had refused vaccine, only early 60″s and seemingly no remorse after he had traveled and infected several others. No one else suffered such consequences as he, but sadly he believed in the “hoax” theory. I also believe theater will be impacted. Our local summer outdoor venue opened at full capacity, too risky for us and we see many other season ticket holders have opted out as well. Please, please, please get vaccinated folks!
Amen, Sherry!
Stay safe.
It’s really difficult right now to not be invaded by that sense of despair. And frustration. The news of the world is just horrifying, when we’d come so close, SO CLOSE, to getting back to some measure of normalcy which everyone desperately needs after so much restriction in our movements.
Your words: “Will we ever work again? I don’t know.” My husband talks about this a lot. He’s a freelancer and always has been since he was in college; he depended upon doing some extra ‘jobs’ in retirement. However, in his line of work, every project lined up with his own small company (and that of others) has slowly dried up due to the pandemic. Stuff that was on hold for so long just finally ended before beginning. Many dashed plans for SO many people, both work and play.
(I’m aware of some [not all] in my midst who had summer getaways planned in August; but, with the Delta variant in such high gear, and hearing more and more about vaccine efficacy doubt [breakthru infection; the experts hope the vaccine can stand up against the Delta variant, but how much really can be known?], they’re altering their plans [for instance, re-thinking boarding a plane or a train or a tour bus or hitting an amusement park/venue with throngs of other tourists; looking more instead toward some modification, like a staycation since the contagious-virus news seems to be changing each day, such that uncertainty has crept back into our lives {even our Disneyland has a warning on their website, “…inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present…” }].)
Anyway, for me and the hubs at home, we’re ‘nowhere’ on needed-extra income (and I’m supposed to be saving for a roof on the house!). Am having to tighten the household budget more and more (I keep reminding myself I can’t buy books!). We had never, of course, looked at (or depended upon) Social Security as anything but SUPPLEMENTAL income. Still, an infusion of some extra cash would be a godsend. Oh well. I know we can manage at home; we always do. I’ve been going through the pantry storage and trying to see if it’s possible that we could live on our shelf-stable food for an entire month; stay out of the grocery store for 30 days. (We were successful at this in the early days of Covid virus/lockdown in 2020, so why not now?!) It’s supposed to be a real money-saver if one can do it. We have a minor amount of fresh produce coming from the backyard veggie garden and I’ve got some fruit that I’ve frozen. I think I can give it a go; we’ll see.
But can’t believe that we’re back to 2020 (the wrong direction), which increasingly seems to become the case; locked down (our choice), not going anywhere; uneasy. I guess masks are going to be part of our ‘wardrobe’ for the rest of our lives. I’m okay with it; still, it’s just … sad. Like, my husband quickly got used to his own new normal and tends to want to go into stores at 5pm; a run to the hardware store yesterday: I said, “Would it be more wise, rather, to go there in the morning, earlier in the day, with fewer people, when they first open and the store has been cleaned, instead of right now when the store might be its busiest with lots of customers?” We can choose to make that choice; the ‘tired’ but important (and ongoing) ‘personal assessment of risk’. Again, grateful to have the ability to choose.
Well, so much for Debbie Downer. I think, too, I’m just so disappointed that my part of Southern California did NOT get rain when anything south of L.A. did (we’re north outside the City). I was just so hopeful we’d get even a little bit of that storm coming out of the east from Arizona, but it … again … did not happen for us. I was just looking at my rear yard where there used to be nice, green lawn; because of our attention to water conservation, it is now just beige powdery dirt, not one blade of green grass. (Last week when my husband and I drove around town after an errand, it was heartbreaking to see everyone’s dead front lawns; it’s just so ugly and unappealing. Colors in the landscape are muted because of so much dust on everything, never naturally washed off. And we don’t dare waste water to wash stuff off otherwise. Our surroundings are really quite colorless; brown. Even my roses are ‘done’ due to the summer heat. I don’t know if we can ever revive the geraniums.) This is my parents’ house since the 1950s, and my dad would be turning in his grave if he saw his landscaping right now, yet I know he’d also understand because he was a practical man, and he never faced the kind of drought we have for the past six or seven years. Sigh. Again, I just wanted to smell the rain, you know? Feel ‘wet’ on my skin and not the continual dry, dry, dry, dry.
And this is when/why I must not complain (I’m hearing myself complain too much and I know it’s because I have worry; just generalized WORRY right now!), because how would anyone want to be my husband’s sister-in-law today: Had been doing pretty fine in her early-mid 70s, only to be diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year; much chemo continuing to weaken her while she awaits a bone-marrow transplant; she fell last night in the bathroom at home, so is in the small-town hospital right now with a concussion, and this is in another (LOW-VAX) state where the influx of Covid-positive patients are, according to her husband, taking over this modest medical facility, and you can imagine how hard the harried staff is doing everything they can to keep the virus out of the cancer section/ICU (we just hung up the phone with the husband and he is a nervous wreck; her immune system, of course, is just ‘shot’; she has no defenses although she did get the vaccine); my life is easy compared to this, so I will tell myself I have no troubles!
xoxo
Thanks for weighing in, Vicki.
Stay safe!
Will we ever be able to ______? Big question that I don’t think any of us are able to answer. For each of us, the answer is different I am sure. For you…will you work again? For me…will I ever be able to hug my London son again? How many more months will it be?
I am disgusted with people who refuse to get vaccinated. As a country, we have been getting vaccinations for decades, to prevent many diseases. Why is this any different? What gives them the right to endanger so many others? Don’t they care about themselves or their families? And I agree with Chris, why did the CDC declare that masks were not necessary for vaccinated people? So many questions….so few answers.
The Olympics? I feel for the athletes, but should they really be held in the middle of a pandemic? When the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship last week, many were worried that Covid would again spread. The crowds, the cheering. Great game. But worth the risk? I personally don’t think so.
Basically, there are too many questions, and not enough answers…and I am afraid. People…..please get vaccinated! That’s the only way out of this! ;)
Too many restrictions were eased when they should have stayed in place, Donna.
Stay safe!
I hope you can go to the miniature show. You’re long overdue. I fear you may be right about the upcoming elevations affecting theatre. Even if the companies would agree to carefully perform (I envision lots of productions of “The Gin Game” with a small cast) who will feel comfortable attending? I know I’m not in that place yet. Michigan’s numbers are going up and the way things have been politicized here, no way mandates will go into effect again. My mask is back hanging on my neck, ready to be pulled up at a moment’s notice.
We have settled into a bit of a new normal here — avoiding stores at busy hours, masks in public places unless well distanced or possibly outdoors (and possibly even then). I’m glad I’m at the cottage where it is quiet, peaceful and, so long as I don’t go to town, safe and secure. But it’s just so sad.
Add to it listening to the hearings yesterday on January 6. They were riveting and tragic in the stories told. No words.
Agree with everything, Jeanie. I guess it’s going to be this way for much longer than we had hoped.
Stay safe.
Bonjour Claudia,
Yes, the world is full of morons of the worst kind: selfish morons!
Here in France too, we are dealing with anti-vaccines. On the other hand, people who will not be vaccinated will not be able to go to restaurants, cafes, hotels, amusement parks etc … because now there is an obligation to provide proof that one is vaccinated with both doses, unless you provide a PCR test of less than 24 hours and the tests will be paid from the beginning of September. Until now the tests were completely free and people abused them.
the health pass is compulsory in most European countries.
So, that makes a lot of anti-vaccines think because they are going to be very annoyed even in their workplace. When you think that some caregivers refuse to be vaccinated! Some have infected their patients who died ! it is criminal !
How far can such stupidity go? cultured people are not necessarily intelligent. Unfortunately, we have proof of this every day.
Stay safe Claudia, you and Don.
Bonjour de Paris !
The government has decided to make vaccination compulsory for nursing staff or caring for the elderly or vulnerable.
That is slowly starting to happen here, though it should have happened long ago. It’s so maddening. These people who refuse to get vaccinated are bringing the rest of us down! I’m sorry it’s happening in France as well, Helene.
It’s sheer ignorance and stupidity.
Hang in there, my friend.
Stay safe.