Memorial Day 2022

Taps for the fallen

Yesterday was Memorial Day, and it always fascinates me how many Americans do not understand the significance of the day. Known as the unofficial start of summer, it is typically celebrated with barbecues and family gatherings. In some families it has been called Decoration Day, as that is when they went to decorate the graves of deceased relatives. 

In fact, it is a day set aside to honor the men and women who died while serving in the United States military. It is not to be confused with Veteran's Day, which honors all those who served in the military.

Our community held its second annual Memorial Day golf cart parade yesterday. As you can imagine, the golf carts are all decked out in patriotic themes. Last year the parade was led by a group of bicyclists, but since then Phases 2 and 3 of the community have been built out. It is very hilly, and this year's route was nearly 6 miles long. The Lifestyle Director decided to invite the e-bike riders to lead the parade this year. Seven of us signed up, and most of us put at least a little decoration on our bikes. I believe there were 14 golf carts who participated in the decoration contest, plus 4 more that were on loan from Carolina Carts, one of our community sponsors.

Before the parade, we gave thanks to those who have kept our country free through their bravery. As we rode through the community, with patriotic music sounding from the golf courts, neighbors waited on their front lawns to wave and cheer us on. I'm proud to be an American, and happy to call Imagery home.

Memorial Day 2022

One Million Dead, and Counting

The U.S. has now recorded over a million deaths due to Covid. Many experts feel that is an undercount due to lack of tests/testing and reporting. At the beginning of Covid the press speculated that perhaps 200,000 Americans would die from Covid. We were appalled, and thought that couldn't possibly happen. Yet now look at the number! And where is the outrage? Are we just so numb to the numbers due to the amount of time we have been battling this virus? While it may be true that Covid will never really go away, similar to the flu, I hope it can be controlled to the point that we aren't looking at this number of deaths in the future. Too many people have not lived to see another sunrise.

sunrise

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

sign at winery last week

It's been awhile since I have written a post exclusively about Covid-19. But nearly 1 million Americans have now died from Covid. A million!!! Never did anyone imagine that we would lose so many people in our country due to this virus. And we are far from being out of the woods.

Unfortunately, signs everywhere are pointing towards an uptick in Covid cases. This is predominantly due to the mutation of this virus. The current variant, Omicron (BA.1), now has a subvariant called BA.2. Each new variant seems to be more transmissible than the previous one. The good news is that the new one does not seem to cause more severe disease in patients than the previous one. However having vaccines and boosters does not seem to prevent one from getting Omicron, though symptoms, hospitalizations and deaths seem to be less in those who are vaccinated.

Current thinking by the experts is that the coronavirus will never go away. It will continue to mutate, and will be somewhat controlled by vaccinations. Most people have gone back to their pre-covid routines, filling stadiums, concert halls, churches, etc. It is rare to now see anyone with a mask on. Though we have had our vaccines and the two boosters, we still wear a mask in places we feel we are susceptible to exposure. We are not going to large venues, or traveling outside the country yet. It's not perfect, but we also need to live our lives as safely as we can.

Here is where things supposedly stand: North Carolina has had 2.69 million cases and 124,598 deaths. In the United States there have been 82.6 million cases and 999,000 deaths. Worldwide there have been over 522 million cases and 6.3 million deaths. I say "supposedly" because most people believe the numbers are under-reported. Many requirements for reporting have been dropped, and with the availability of home testing there is no way to know how many people have tested positive.

Will I still be writing about covid at the end of 2022? I would like to think that I won't, but we are a long way from this being over. The supply chain in our country is still a mess, businesses cannot find people who want to work, inflation, fuel prices and interest rates are up. The airlines are a mess with staffing shortages and higher fuel prices, so even country-wide travel may be off the table for us. At least those involving planes. We tried to book tickets to Denver from Charlotte for June, and the cost (even with flexible dates) was nearly $1,900 per round trip ticket! It's just crazy. Fortunately there is nowhere we have to be, so we will plan more regional trips where we can drive the new car. And staying here and enjoying Mother Nature is no hardship. Below was yesterday's sunrise. We are blessed beyond measure.

Good morning, sunshine