Oh, These Strange Days
There is always some part of me that feels compelled to come back to LJ every once in a while even though I am pretty sure almost no one reads this. Oh well. So be it.
Since this will likely be the last entry I write for 2020 it feels fitting to share some random end-of-year type things. Reflections, parting thoughts, tiny tidbits. Stuff I can look back on when I want to remember just how strange this year has been. 2021 is going to start with the same level of strange but I am cautiously optimistic it will end with, if nothing else, a world breathing a sigh of relief. Some will actually take the time to learn something from all of this, re-thinking their approach to everyday health or what to do when you have a cold or when it's cold season but I am not holding my breath for a broader social sea change.
Anyway...some thoughts...
My son and my daughter-in-law, who got married in July in the midst of all this and by some small miracle didn't (so far as I know) have any of their 100+ guests get infected, will be tempting fate by flying home from Indiana to Oregon this weekend to visit for the holidays. I am not pleased with this idea as things are actually *worse* now than when they had the wedding! My visit with them is going to be very limited. Outside and distanced, just long enough to give them their birthday presents, with no close contact. I just can't put myself that close to two people in their early 20's -- prime candidates to be asymptomatic -- who just traveled through multiple airports from a state with more per capita cases than my own. If it were up to me they would stay put. It seems reckless, especially since there is a good chance we'll be in a much better place by the time their lives in Indiana (my son's grad school stint will end in May) come to an end.
I will be doing some limited travel and visitation for Christmas. My younger son works and attends college about 2 hours from here and his holiday was beginning to look gloomy *and* risky. He lives with four other people so the day-to-day is always tricky but with the holiday approaching he said his roommates were likely having family and friends over and it made him nervous and depressed (he doesn't love crowds of people he doesn't know). So I've decided to book a hotel for Christmas Eve into Christmas morning. He and I will be a duo for the night, grabbing some takeout and watching old movies. Just the two of us. And then I will drop him off at his Mom's on the way back to Portland. It is not how I planned to spend Christmas but, then again, no one should be doing what they would normally plan, right? My plan feels like minimal risk and my best chance to give my youngest a good holiday, especially since he has had a rough go of too late, working too hard on the paid work side while finding distance learning at the collegiate level a monumental challenge (and fuck-up).
Post-holiday I will spend a few days not seeing anyone. Not even my partner. She is a medical researcher so she knows all of this too well. She takes more precautions and safety measures than anyone I know and I love her for that even though it sucks a bit at Christmas. By New Year's Eve I will either have gotten sick from my Christmas plans or I will be feeling fine. Such is life.
--
Election 2020, I hope, will someday be remembered for the following:
1. America elected it's first woman to be Vice President. I still hope the weight of that eventually sinks in and isn't so drowned out by the behavior of a tyrant that has whined and bitched ever since it became clear he'd lost.
2. That the U.S., notorious for low turnout elections, actually had a massive turnout. The largest in a century when adjusted for population. That is to be celebrated, especially given the circumstances and the risks many had to face to go to a polling place. The turnout alone is why President Elect Biden has a mandate. It wasn't a landslide but it was a big enough win in a very high turnout election that he should govern as he sees fit.
I'll admit it: Biden wasn't my first choice. Nor my last. But I can say with confidence what others have said: He was the only Democrat in the field that could have beaten Trump given everything at play. In the middle of a pandemic, with more people dying than necessary, the majority needed familiarity and trust. Biden isn't perfect but he is familiar. We know what we're getting, both good and bad. And seriously? This shouldn't have even been close.
--
Today was the birthday of my first ever girlfriend and we've managed to stay friends for 30 years (as of this year). She lives in Ireland now with her husband and kids and is rarely on social media but she piped in today and shared a few messages. In the middle of that I was able to share with her the news about my book, which is a piece of very memoir-like fiction set in 1990 and 1991. Basically, the book's story and characters mirror a lot of people I knew, places I went, the school I attended, and both who I was at that age and also not who I was at that age. I thought she of all people would enjoy reading it. So I got her address and sent her a copy. That felt pretty amazing because I have always felt lucky that my "first love" was a good one. No regretful moments or decisions either of us regret (so far as I know). Our boyfriend-girlfriend connection was very PG-13, so to speak, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I hope when she reads the book it makes her smile and remember where we came from.
That is all I have for this. Happy Holidays!
Since this will likely be the last entry I write for 2020 it feels fitting to share some random end-of-year type things. Reflections, parting thoughts, tiny tidbits. Stuff I can look back on when I want to remember just how strange this year has been. 2021 is going to start with the same level of strange but I am cautiously optimistic it will end with, if nothing else, a world breathing a sigh of relief. Some will actually take the time to learn something from all of this, re-thinking their approach to everyday health or what to do when you have a cold or when it's cold season but I am not holding my breath for a broader social sea change.
Anyway...some thoughts...
My son and my daughter-in-law, who got married in July in the midst of all this and by some small miracle didn't (so far as I know) have any of their 100+ guests get infected, will be tempting fate by flying home from Indiana to Oregon this weekend to visit for the holidays. I am not pleased with this idea as things are actually *worse* now than when they had the wedding! My visit with them is going to be very limited. Outside and distanced, just long enough to give them their birthday presents, with no close contact. I just can't put myself that close to two people in their early 20's -- prime candidates to be asymptomatic -- who just traveled through multiple airports from a state with more per capita cases than my own. If it were up to me they would stay put. It seems reckless, especially since there is a good chance we'll be in a much better place by the time their lives in Indiana (my son's grad school stint will end in May) come to an end.
I will be doing some limited travel and visitation for Christmas. My younger son works and attends college about 2 hours from here and his holiday was beginning to look gloomy *and* risky. He lives with four other people so the day-to-day is always tricky but with the holiday approaching he said his roommates were likely having family and friends over and it made him nervous and depressed (he doesn't love crowds of people he doesn't know). So I've decided to book a hotel for Christmas Eve into Christmas morning. He and I will be a duo for the night, grabbing some takeout and watching old movies. Just the two of us. And then I will drop him off at his Mom's on the way back to Portland. It is not how I planned to spend Christmas but, then again, no one should be doing what they would normally plan, right? My plan feels like minimal risk and my best chance to give my youngest a good holiday, especially since he has had a rough go of too late, working too hard on the paid work side while finding distance learning at the collegiate level a monumental challenge (and fuck-up).
Post-holiday I will spend a few days not seeing anyone. Not even my partner. She is a medical researcher so she knows all of this too well. She takes more precautions and safety measures than anyone I know and I love her for that even though it sucks a bit at Christmas. By New Year's Eve I will either have gotten sick from my Christmas plans or I will be feeling fine. Such is life.
--
Election 2020, I hope, will someday be remembered for the following:
1. America elected it's first woman to be Vice President. I still hope the weight of that eventually sinks in and isn't so drowned out by the behavior of a tyrant that has whined and bitched ever since it became clear he'd lost.
2. That the U.S., notorious for low turnout elections, actually had a massive turnout. The largest in a century when adjusted for population. That is to be celebrated, especially given the circumstances and the risks many had to face to go to a polling place. The turnout alone is why President Elect Biden has a mandate. It wasn't a landslide but it was a big enough win in a very high turnout election that he should govern as he sees fit.
I'll admit it: Biden wasn't my first choice. Nor my last. But I can say with confidence what others have said: He was the only Democrat in the field that could have beaten Trump given everything at play. In the middle of a pandemic, with more people dying than necessary, the majority needed familiarity and trust. Biden isn't perfect but he is familiar. We know what we're getting, both good and bad. And seriously? This shouldn't have even been close.
--
Today was the birthday of my first ever girlfriend and we've managed to stay friends for 30 years (as of this year). She lives in Ireland now with her husband and kids and is rarely on social media but she piped in today and shared a few messages. In the middle of that I was able to share with her the news about my book, which is a piece of very memoir-like fiction set in 1990 and 1991. Basically, the book's story and characters mirror a lot of people I knew, places I went, the school I attended, and both who I was at that age and also not who I was at that age. I thought she of all people would enjoy reading it. So I got her address and sent her a copy. That felt pretty amazing because I have always felt lucky that my "first love" was a good one. No regretful moments or decisions either of us regret (so far as I know). Our boyfriend-girlfriend connection was very PG-13, so to speak, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I hope when she reads the book it makes her smile and remember where we came from.
That is all I have for this. Happy Holidays!