I always have a spiral notebook on hand in which I write, mostly to clear my mind. I decided to review some of the 2020 entries. The notebook that had January in it is long gone, and it was impossible to get 2020 into 800 words. Get comfortable.
March 3, 2020 –
Everyone is in a panic about the coronavirus now that there are deaths in the
US. The first deaths are here in King County, at a nursing home in Kirkland.
Today is Super
Tuesday, a day when several states have their primaries. Suddenly Joe Biden is
considered a front runner.
March 4 – What with the
coronavirus, the Trump virus, and the cowardice and hostility of both the
Democrats and the Republicans, these are not happy times. I cannot understand
why so many people are so happy to throw themselves off a cliff. So they can
laugh at their perceived enemies on their way down?
March 13 – Self-isolating
since Tuesday, and a boring business it is. The novel coronavirus has been
declared a global pandemic.
March 14 – Jay Inslee
is following China’s model. Lockdown. The state is closed.
March 19 – First day
of Spring. Getting out of bed did not work for me today.
April 1 – Velvet
called me about 10 a.m. to tell me that her eldest son, Troy, has died. It was
sudden and unexpected.
Note: a few weeks
later Velvet tells me the coroner reported that Troy tested positive for the
coronavirus.
April 29 – Wednesday
morning. Reading a lot. Dusted off my kindle because the library’s closed.
May 13 – Headline in
today’s Seattle Times: “Health experts warn of resurgence.” What? I thought we
were still in “surge.”
May 14 – My Joseph’s
Coat rose is blooming in the middle of May. In case I doubted climate change,
which I did not.
May 25 – An African
American man named George Floyd was killed today, by a policeman named Derek
Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. The country is not
taking this at all well.
Note: All of June and
early July were taken up by a racial reckoning: Black Lives Matter protests,
followed by police riots, vandalism, and arson. These encounters lasted most of
the summer and included the occupation by protesters of several blocks up on
Capitol Hill, in an area called CHAZ (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone) or CHOP
(Capitol Hill Organized/Occupied Protest). It was cleared out by police after a
few weeks.
It was not only
Seattle. Protests broke out across the country. People are so fed up with
racism in this country. Well, some of us are. The police and the militant right-wing
groups (Proud Boys, Nazis, etc.) reacted violently to the protests.
Meanwhile Trump
supporters blamed everything on Antifa, which is not a thing, but a position,
and does not have a capital A, and they complimented one another on how
peaceful and proper their demonstrations were.
Jesus wept.
July 19 – Drove down
to Dockton Park last night at 10 o’clock to meet up with Becky and Roy to see
the Neowise comet. Cloudy, but we hoped. After a while I saw what looked like a
strange light in the clouds, and aiming my binoculars saw the comet. Way cool.
July 24 – News conference
at 10 a.m. with Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan, and Seattle Chief of Police Carmen
Best. Durkan said she spoke with the head of Homeland Security yesterday and
was told they saw no need to send federal troops to Seattle, and that she and
Police Chief Best would be notified if troops were going to be sent. Meanwhile,
Federal troops were arriving in Seattle.
August 3 (Monday) – Becky
called me a little after six this a.m. to say she was up all night with chest
pains. She does not want to call 911. Should she have Roy drive her up to the
fire station? Well, YEAH.
(pause) Heart attack.
By eleven this morning she had a brand-new stent or two in her left anterior
artery. Recovery will take a while, but she’s ALIVE, and she will recover. Whew.
August 6 –
coronavirus test.
August 10 –
coronavirus test came back negative.
August 12 – reheated
yesterday’s coffee. Drank it all. It did not have a dead fly in the bottom because
I covered the mug with a Kleenex overnight. Only takes one fly to learn that
lesson. FYI: a dead fly is about the size and shape of a raisin, but fuzzy.
The noise of the
political campaigns is constant and unbearable.
August 29 – Second coronavirus
test. Pre-admit test at Swedish. Having an angiogram on Monday (test came back
negative).
September 2 – “You
have the arteries of a 20-year-old!” my cardiologist enthused. I think he was
exaggerating, but still, cool.
September 3 – It is a time for strange phone calls. Got a call from a scammer in southern California who pretended to be someone I knew. Said he’d been in a car accident, was in jail, and was too embarrassed to call his wife. Told me his lawyer would call in a few minutes and hung up. Sure enough, a call came through, and this guy said he was the lawyer and my friend needed $5,400 bail money, and I should help him. “How do I do that?” I asked. “Well, you go to your bank …” I stopped him right there and told him no bank was going to give me $5,400. THEN he said, “You could probably get him out for $2,000.” I laughed, told him I was an old lady living on Social Security and I didn’t have $2,000, and that’s when he hung up and I was talking to dead air. Shoot. I was just starting to have fun.
September 11 – The
whole West Coast is on fire. The air is unbreathable. The pandemic rages on.
The protests go on. With the internet, I feel like I am in a comfortable
solitary confinement.
September 17 – Some
people want everything to go back to the way it was after we have a vaccine. That
will not happen. Some of the changes we have been forced to make have shown us that
there are better ways than the way we have always done it. I am loving
telemedicine. How much easier is it to have a phone call or a zoom session than
driving into Seattle?
Then there are the
terrible changes: people losing their jobs, and then their homes, and people
getting sick and dying with Covid-19. Everyone is stressed out. There is talk
of mental illness and the need for suicide prevention.
Here is the National
Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255. They are there 24/7. Write that down.
You might need it.
As an introvert, I thought this isolation thing would be a snap. Not a snap. Sometimes I get squirrely, gasping for human contact and for singing harmony. I pick myself up and go on, and as crazy as the whole world and our country have become, I still have hope. But I will say that when Pier 58 on the Seattle waterfront collapsed, I thought, that’s it, this is the apocalypse.
September 18 – Ruth
Bader Ginsburg has died.
October 4 – Trump is
in the hospital with Covid 19.
October 6 – Trump was
released from the hospital yesterday and said Covid-19 was no big deal. People
are dying for his sins.
October 15 – Cousin
Charlotte texted me at 4:30 a.m. to tell me to pray for Amy. Amy Coney Barrett,
that is, Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. The idea is to pack the Court
with conservatives who will roll back Roe vs. Wade, and put an end to the
Affordable Care Act, thus depriving millions of people of health insurance.
I’m praying, all
right. Why are all my family members Trump supporters?
November 3 – Election
day. I have been ignoring the news all day. Cannot bear the monkey chatter and
meaningless speculations. Have a Hallmark movie on. Eating cereal and potato
chips.
November 7 – Becky
called at quarter to ten this morning and said, “Turn on the TV.” So I did.
The election has been
called for Biden by the news networks, including Fox News. People are dancing
in the streets.
Trump refuses to
concede. Goes on TV to say he won. Big.
November 26 – Thanksgiving.
Had a wonderful Zoom visit with my grandson, his dad, and his stepmom. A benefit
of Zoom Thanksgiving: I did not have to wash every dish, bowl, and piece of
silverware afterward.
December 3 – My older
son called last night to tell me that one of his closest high school friends
has died. Alcohol poisoning. This is a community sadness. Another island kid
gone.
December 12 – Donald Trump
is filing lawsuits to overturn the election, which does not seem to be working,
but his followers are enjoying throwing their weight and automatic rifles
around. We seem to have a cold civil war now, which is bad enough. If it
becomes a shooting civil war, we will all learn firsthand what real tragedy is.
As if the coronavirus is not killing people fast enough.
A vaccine has been
approved and is coming this week, says the Seattle Times.
My microwave oven has
died. Damned unsporting of it, in my opinion.
December 14 – The
Electoral College votes Joe Biden into the presidency. Trump has lost, is still
losing, and still insists the election was stolen from him. He may not overturn
this election, but he has such a huge following, and so many are armed and
ready to fight for him. Everyone who acknowledges that Biden won the election –
including Mitch McConnell, who decided to accept the vote of the Electoral
College and congratulate Biden on his win – immediately becomes Trump’s enemy,
and “not a patriot.” Including the people who have supported him slavishly
until now. They let in one little glimmer of reality, and pow, they are on
Donald’s blacklist.
A Covid-19 vaccine
has been developed and is being given to health workers first. There is hope. Our
governor, Jay Inslee, wants to open up the schools.
I read this piece and
think, well no wonder I’ve been feeling depressed. Suddenly it all makes sense.
Time goes on
regardless, though. Let’s get ourselves psyched up for 2021.
Well, dear hearts, that
is it for this year - so far. I close with the best wishes for however you do
or do not observe the darkest days of the year and the return of the light as
we roll around the Sun.
Special prayers for
everyone dealing with cancer. I know so many of you.
Blessings, love, virtual
hugs, grace, and peace be with you all. See you in the New Year, God willing.
