Cooler weather at last – Travel preparations – Death of Robert Trump – Effects of the virus in New Zealand – Evening statistics
The long succession of hot days has finally been broken. It was cool enough to warrant putting on a light jacket this morning and even during the warmest part of the day it never went above the mid-70s. It was also very wet, at least during the morning. There was gradual clearing throughout the day and by the evening the sun was shining through the clouds. The grass has grown rapidly as a result of the recent abundance of rain, and I was glad that it became sufficiently dry during the evening to enable me to mow the lawn.
I was all the more pleased because I will be departing tomorrow for a brief stay in a Pennsylvania mountain resort town to make up for the disrupted trip that I experienced earlier this month. I will be staying at the town of Jim Thorpe (named after the athlete) for a few days, and from there I will continue my project of covering the portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Pennsylvania. Jim Thorpe is conveniently located close to many of the trail’s parking areas. Much of today was spent preparing for the trip – not only packing, but planning how much of the trail to cover each day and obtaining detailed directions to each of the parking areas. It will be a good deal easier to explore the trail without having to worry about the time constraint imposed by driving »3 hours back home after the hike is completed. I plan to keep track of the news and the daily statistics during my travel time, but I won’t be able to post write-ups until my return.
Robert Trump, the brother of the President, died yesterday after a brief stay in a hospital. The President spoke of him with genuine emotion, somewhat to my surprise. He appears to be on distant terms with his sisters and he actively disliked his elder brother, but he evidently was much closer to his younger brother, to the extent that he is capable of any degree of affection. I have spoken much of my dislike of the man, but I sympathize with him in this case. So, incidentally, do Joe Biden and Kamala Harris; rivals to him as they are in the upcoming election, they lost no time in extending their condolences to him. For a brief moment we have been transported to another world, in which good manners and kind-hearted words have not been utterly banished from the scene of American politics. It has been many years indeed since anything like that has happened, so we may as well savor it while we can.
One curious feature is that the cause of death is not mentioned in any of the articles reporting on his passing. The speculation inevitably arises: could the cause of death have been the coronavirus? It would indeed be a cruel irony if the disease that the President has consistently trivialized swept away one of the few people he cares for. One source, however, said that he had been suffering from blood flows to the brain following a severe fall. At this point no one knows for certain.
New Zealand has delayed its elections by two weeks. It went 102 days without any new infections, but then they started to re-appear in Auckland. No one at this point has been able to track down the source. It does not, to be sure, involve a large number of people at this point and there is hope that the majority is within a single cluster that can easily be contained, but it is a letdown for a country that had good reason to believe that they had subdued the virus at last. Jacinda Ardern consulted the leaders of all parties before making this decision. The recent outbreak caused a good deal of disruption, forcing cancelations of debates and community events; and even the opposition parties welcome the delay, so that they have a chance to re-organize. She has added that there will be no further delay, even if the outbreak expands.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 21,816,571; # of deaths worldwide: 772,708; # of cases U.S.: 5,565,931; # of deaths U.S.: 173,096. Less than 40,000 new cases today and a death toll just under 500: bad as it is, it is the best daily result we’ve had for many days.