It's a wet, gloomy Friday here in DC. We got hit with heavy thunderstorms last night -- flash flood warnings and whatnot. It's probably a good thing, actually. You don't want to have a super dry Fourth of July weekend. We haven't seen the raging wild fires here that have been devastating parts of the West Coast, and I'd prefer it stay that way. Not sure if we will see any fireworks this weekend at all. I'm not that into the little home-show stuff you can buy legally (or of dubious legality at an Indian reservation), and the major fireworks shows, like the one on the National Mall, are such hassles. They are pretty cool though. Maybe when the kids get older, something like that will be worth it.
I wouldn't want to do it now because I think the kids would complain about the walking (among other things). Lil' S1 in particular seems to never want to do anything that involves any walking at all. I'm worried that he's gradually moving toward a very sedentary lifestyle. He doesn't really like sports; he refuses to got on hikes (an activity we used to do a lot as a family); he complains about walking anywhere instead of driving; his favorite activities can be done while sitting indoors (watching TV, playing video games, reading); and he often says things on the weekend like, "I'm not going to put a foot outside all day."
He does like some physical activities. He loves swimming/goofing off in the pool, and he will play outside if there are other kids around. Also, we got him in a camp program where everyday the kids go somewhere off-campus and do something active. It sounds pretty cool actually. You do stuff like inner-tubing, going to a farm, going to a museum, etc. It's a lot of walking, and he seems to be enjoying it so far.
It's kinda funny, actually. We have Lil' S1 in this super fun program, and then his little brother is a program literally called "Summer School." Sorry, kid, that's just the way the cookie crumbles. They weren't offering summer school for fourth-graders, and you need the work. You didn't get a whole lot academically out of virtual kindergarten (i.e. sitting upside down in a sofa-cushion fort, ignoring your teacher on Zoom).
I'm glad the kids are in camp full-time this summer, like the before-times, but this new Delta variant of Covid has me a wee bit worried. The good news -- nay, the great news -- is that the vaccines seem to basically be 100% effective against it. Even if a vaccinated person contracts the virus they won't get very sick (they might not even realize it), and they are unlikely to pass it on. The bad news is that there is no vaccine yet for children under 12. Well, there probably is, the same vaccine that is available for adults, but it needs to be tested and approved for kids, and from what I'm reading that won't be until fall at the earliest. In the meantime, we will continue to mask them up before they leave the house, fill out bullshit wellness questionnaires, and hope for the best.
Personally, I've scrapped the mask almost entirely. I'm trusting the vaccination science. I think that's important. There is harm in being overly cautious. This article does a pretty good job laying out this case. It should be noted that the author is perhaps unrealistically bullish on our vaccination efforts (he predicted we would have herd immunity months ago), but he still makes some good points. The one that resonates the most with me is that you lose credibility and capital if you impose rules that aren't really necessary. I mean, what if, god forbid, we actually do need masking mandates and social distancing rules again, even for vaccinated folks. People will be much more receptive if they believe the threat is real, and they won't feel so burnt out and defeated if now they get a "break" from having to worry about it. The mental health effects of stressing over Covid are real and are often given short shrift by epidemiologist (because epidemiologists are experts in epidemiology, not psychology).
The rub, of course, is that unvaccinated people should wear masks still in public indoor spaces. But the people who are unlikely to get vaccinated (despite it being free and super easy now) are the very people who are least likely to wear a mask in the first place. If you're a hardcore right-winger who thinks Covid is a media conspiracy to hurt Trump's election chances (mission accomplished!), you're not getting vaccinated or wearing a mask. But, if you're not one of those people, I think you just have to hope that there are not enough of them around where you live to mess it up for everybody else.
Now I'm wondering what the typical profile is of the person who won't get vaccinated, but still wears a mask and follows social distancing guidelines. Obviously there are some people who can't get vaccinated for health reasons, but I'm not talking about that (presumably very small) segment of the population. I'm talking about people who don't want to do it, but are still willing to follow the proper safety protocols. I'm thinking they are probably the left-wing anti-vaxxers. The people who are really into naturopathy and who dismiss vaccines because they are the product of the Westernized capitalistic healthcare industry. They believe in Covid, but don't trust Big Pharma. They are out there, I'm sure.
I must admit, though, I do get self-conscious if I go into the supermarket and almost everybody is wearing a mask but me. I would say it's about 70-30 most places near where I live in favor of a mask. (It was more like 90-10 a few weeks.) And I get really self-conscious if the only other non-mask-wearers are white dudes. If I walk in somewhere and see, like, a couple of Black chicks who aren't wearing masks, it puts me at ease for some reason. I don't really know what's going on there -- why does somebody's race and gender matter in this scenario that's entirely in my head? Maybe the wokesters are getting to me. I need to sign-off and listen to Joe Rogan or something.*
Until next time...
*I'm not really going to listen to Joe Rogan. But I am going to look at the Baseball-Reference page of the great "Bullet Joe" Rogan. MLB recently designated the Negro Leagues a "major league" and the B-R website just added the stats to their database. It's really cool to look at them. Rogan in particular was a marvel as a pitcher and a hitter. If you look at his value on a per-game-basis, you can make a strong case he was the most valuable player in MLB history.
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