Morning statistics – Dr. Fair – National parks – Walking on the Cross-County Trail – An enthusiastic hiker – Earthquake in Nevada – The USS Theodore Roosevelt again – Beaches in the northeastern states – Evening statistics
Today’s statistics as of 7:00 AM — # of cases worldwide: 4,546,070; # of deaths worldwide: 303,863; # of cases U.S.: 1,457,649; # of deaths U.S.: 86,912. The U.S. currently accounts for over 41% of the active cases worldwide. The percentage of severe cases is slightly less – a little under 36%; but that is what is known in technical terms as “small consolation.”
Dr. Joseph Fair, a virologist and epidemiologist, was hospitalized with the virus about three days after taking a crowded flight from New Orleans, where he had traveled to give assistance with the concentration of illness there. He had taken what are at this stage considered the usual precautions: wearing a mask, using wipes for his hands, traveling directly to his home once he deplaned, and not venturing out afterwards. He hypothesizes that he contracted the virus through his eyes – droplets can land on the eyes as well as on the nose and mouth, and they are not protected by the masks. Initially his symptoms resembled those of flu, but his breathing became more labored. He asked to be put on oxygen rather than to be intubated and eventually he obtained relief. He is now in fair condition, but he says of the experience: “You don’t want to have it, that’s all I have to tell you. You don’t want to spread it on to anyone that is at any point at a high risk, because, you know, looking at me, healthy and exercising and all of that, I can’t imagine being someone with a high-risk condition.”
National parks are re-opening, despite fears that such moves may be premature. The Everglades, Smoky Mountains, and Glen Canyon are already open, and Zion Canyon is on the verge of opening as well.
Today was a fine day at last, warm and sunny. I decided to take full advantage of it, and I did not wish to drive very far. So I went to a residential neighborhood close to Lake Accotink. From there I took the Lake Accotink Trail to the Cross County Trail, took the Cross County Trail south to the Occoquan River, and then returned – about 29 miles in all. There was not any single very challenging ascent, of course, but there were little climbs here and there, amounting to about 1000 feet in all. The hike was a feast for other senses beside that of sight: birds were continually in chorus and there were many scents of the forest to savor, particularly honeysuckle, which in some places was almost overpowering. The parking area for the lake was, as I expected, closed, so I did well to take the approach that I did. I used my hiking pole, for the CCT has several places where one can be of use, and it also provided a warning to people who otherwise would not obtain social distancing protocol – but whenever I came across a group sprawled across the trail I had only to raise my pole up and down, and they got the message at once, hastening to fall back into single file. The foliage was thick and green, and there was of course a great variety of trees, very different from the forests of the West: beeches, with their pewter-grey trunks; birches with bark pealing like paper; mottled sycamores; wide-girthed oaks; tall maples with their lacy leaves. The Pohick Valley was well-shaded and very refreshing in the heat (the temperature reached the high 80s) and the Occoquan River gleamed and sparkled in the sunlight. The trail is notable for “fair-weather” crossings – that is, stream crossings along concrete pylons that project above the stream’s surface. As the name indicates, they can be slippery when wet and if the rain is heavy enough they can get submerged altogether. On a fine and clear day, as this one was, they provided little difficulty.
I know that I emphasize hiking a good deal in these notes, but I should point out that many have done more than I have. Sarah Hazlitt may provide an example. She was the wife of William Hazlitt, the foremost literary critic of the day, intimate friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge, and great promoter of the English Romantic poets generally. Unfortunately, he was also an incorrigible skirt-chaser. Sarah Hazlitt had resigned herself to his infidelities early on during the marriage, but when he began to spoil their son rotten (Keats called the child “a little Nero”) she decided that she had had enough and readily agreed when Hazlitt, having gotten infatuated with his latest bimbo, proposed a divorce. A divorce, in Great Britain during the early 19th century, was not an easy matter. The only way it could be obtained within England itself was through an Act of Parliament, which meant that it was barred to all except the very wealthy. The alternative was to go into Scotland, where the laws were more lenient and the procedure cost considerably less. Sarah Hazlitt agreed to take up temporary residence in Edinburgh in order to divorce William on the grounds of adultery. Traveling such a distance for women on their own could be quite hazardous and was certain to be very uncomfortable, so Sarah’s friends were puzzled by her enthusiastic attitude as she made preparations for the trip. One friend wrote in bewilderment that it was impossible to make her “look on her journey to Scotland in any other light than a jaunt.” Once she arrived in Edinburgh she did the necessary paperwork and waited for the lawyers’ response. But if the word “waited” conveys the notion of a forlorn woman in dismal hired lodgings, perhaps knitting dozens of stockings to while away the time – you can dismiss that image. First she walked to Roslin Castle and back (17 miles); then she went to Glasgow through the Trossachs, going by boat from Newhaven to Stirling, then the rest of the way on foot – 170 miles in a week; then she walked through the highlands for at least another 100 miles; and, after taking a canal boat to Glasgow, crossed the Irish Sea and walked there for another 10 days; finally, after her return, she walked from Edinburgh to Dalkeith to see the Duke of Buccleuch’s painting collection (another 14 miles round trip). By then the paperwork was completed and she returned to her home in England, a free woman at last, and rid of the encumbrance of her deadbeat husband. So I seem at times to obsess on the subject, I beg the indulgent reader to consider the case of Sarah Hazlitt, the woman who made her divorce the occasion for a grand hiking tour.
An earthquake whose magnitude is 6.5 struck western Nevada, with tremors being felt from California’s Central Valley to Salt Lake City. No deaths were reported, although the main highway between Reno and Las Vegas was damaged.
Five sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the virus and are in quarantine. Will any enterprising lawyer initiate a lawsuit on their behalf against Thomas Modly for so blatantly disregarding his responsibilities and ignoring the warnings of the ship’s commander? I would like to see him well-punished for his squalid behavior, but unfortunately there is little chance of it.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware will open their beaches for Memorial Day weekend. Contact activities such as volleyball or football will not be allowed, but swimming and walking will be permitted. So possibly the businesses that are dependent on the beaches’ visitors during the main season will be in less dire shape than originally expected. But it is difficult to see how restaurants will fare under these circumstances.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 4,621,115; # of deaths worldwide: 308,132; # of cases U.S.: 1,483,994; # of deaths U.S.: 88,485. Brazil’s case count will probably surpass Italy’s by tomorrow and Russia’s may surpass Spain’s within two days, making it second only to the U.S. in the number of cases. China claims to have less than100 active cases at this point.