Plague Journal, Potpourri
No ‘new’ big issue on my mind today,– just the usual ones.
On Monday, Trump tweeted a photo of himself wearing a mask with a presidential seal, writing, “Many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance.”* CNN reported that the president’s falling poll numbers likely played a role in his latest decisions to wear a mask and resume his daily 5 p.m. update on the coronavirus pandemic……
As of Tuesday, COVID-19 had claimed at least 140,909 lives in the U.S. and infected at least 3.8 million people.
— excerpt Marketwatch July 21, 2020
Now he is “all about” fighting the pandemic in line with recommendations from epidemiologists. Follow this man, and you will certainly reduce your chances of survival. He cares about nothing other than re-election for another term.
This man will kill you.
Went to visit with a friend yesterday at his place outside of Barrington. We talked at some length about works of art which he acquired over the years. Each had a story. It is delightful to hear and see the procession of life experience, as beautiful objects embellishing the walls of a dwelling are
viewed. One story: an exquisite print which one would be privileged to purchase at a fair price, was actually retrieved from the trash in a parking garage, subsequent to an office remodeling project in the downtown Chicago building. (Never under estimate good fortune!)
Then we walked about the yard and viewing the plantings, the variety of hostas, flowers, and trees. We talked about the work of plant selection, and the patience of years that gardening requires. While we sat together on the patio, another individual joined us, who was an avid gardener. A mechanical engineer by profession, I suspect his greater passion was helping things to grow.
In all of this conversation, we wore masks, and practiced social distancing. A fine afternoon, and reminder that hope is alive. Hope lives with all that comes from the earth that sustains us spiritually, existentially with beauty, and the learning that comes with engagement with life; helping to “make things grow” in a backyard garden.
To conclude, a few pictures taken Sunday upon a visit to the Fabyan Japanese Tea Garden in Batavia.
*The rationale for mandating wearing of masks has to do with reducing the dispersal of viral laden droplets — when a masks are worn indoors (even with social distancing). Wearing a mask has nothing to do with the opinions of “some people,” nothing to do with patriotic commitment or it’s absence, or with the inability to practice social distancing.
