Hiking among the bluebells, and other wildflowers – Aftermath at a local winery – The effects of the virus on mental health – Debra Hunter’s questionable repentance – Puzzling reluctance of Marines to receive vaccines – Evening statistics
I led a training hike for Capital Hiking Club hike leaders today at Bull Run/Occoquan. Not many showed up and those who did probably had less need of trailing than most of the other leaders. We all kept up a good pace for the entire hike, going from Hemlock Overlook to Ordway Road and back (about 12½ miles round trip, plus a detour of about another mile described below). We stopped periodically, however, to take photos. The region is profuse in wildflowers at this time of year, and bluebells in particular, with their characteristic flowers consisting of five petals fused together into a tube shaped somewhat like a chalice; they are at their peak now. There were great clusters of them on many parts of the trail, chiefly alongside the river bank, and some were to be seen on the opposite bank as well. In addition, we saw many spring beauties, trout lilies, rue anemone, blue violets, white violets, rue anemones, starry chickweed, and a few early specimens of spiderwort.
The weather was cool and overcast in the morning, but that worked to our advantage: people were discouraged by the possibility of rain and consequently the trail was much less crowded than it ordinarily would have been at this time of year. Even so, the parking area filled up by the time we set off. On the way back I made a wrong turn without realizing it – it seemed as if I were continuing straight on the trail – but it actually veered off into another trail called the Johnny Moore Trail that is intended principally for horseback riding. Happily, no one objected to this little detour. It is the first time that I have heard of this trail or had any knowledge that another trail intersected the Bull Run/Occoquan Trail outside of the spur trails to Hemlock Overlook and to the White Trail Loop at Fountainhead. We ate lunch on the return segment at the remains of a Civil War emplacement (a military installation used as a site for deploying weapons).
Afterwards we stopped at the Paradise Springs Winery close to the Hemlock Overlook parking area. Some years ago the Wanderbirds attempted to set up a winery hike ending there, but the project came to nothing when they learned that this particular winery would charge a substantial fee for a group of forty or fifty people That seemed odd to us at the time; after all, bringing in a large number of people to a winery meant bringing in a number of potential customers, so why would they wish to charge a fee for doing them (as we thought) a favor? But today I understood the reason. Paradise Springs has no need of additional crowds. It is little over 20 miles from Washington and is the winery of choice for people in the city who don’t wish to drive a long distance. Their parking lot was filled to overflowing, with many people waiting for a space to open up, and the walls of the interior echoed with the chatter and the clatter of people drinking together. We sat at one of the tables on the grounds instead, along with the great majority of the other customers. It was actually quite pleasant; but I could not like the place as well as the other wineries I’ve attended in recent months, simply because it was crowded to such a degree and because anything like the individualized attention we received from other wineries in somewhat more remote parts of the Virginia wine country was out of the question here. The wines themselves, of which we ordered samplers, were mediocre. Despite these disadvantages, we enjoyed ourselves greatly. Most of us had not seen one another for months, and we spent the time in conversation that flowed from one topic to the next: the pleasure we had taken in the hike, plans for other training hikes in future, various experiences each of us have had in tasting wines both here and abroad, the manner in which various areas in DC have been renovated and upgraded, and so on.
The effects of the virus were not absent from our discussion. RW, who works at a mental health clinic, spoke of how the isolation imposed as a result of the restrictions had aggravated the stress and the loneliness that were afflicting many people, as well as the increase in the use of drugs such as opioids. Those who, like myself, have had the opportunity during the last year to meet people out of doors in various activities such as hiking have been exceptionally fortunate. It is staggering to realize how large a number of people have been virtually without social contact over a period of many months.
Bizarre episodes brought about by the virus continue to occur. Debra Hunter was sentenced on Thursday to serve 30 days in jail, with an additional six months’ probation, pay a $500 fine, and undergo a mental health evaluation along with anger management. She had been creating a disturbance by arguing over-vehemently with an employee of a Pier One store and Heather Sprague, another customer in the store, started to record this confrontation on video – whereupon Hunter, who was not wearing a face mask, turned upon her with rage and deliberately coughed on her in an attempt to infect her. Heather Sprague, who is currently being treated for a brain tumor, immediately tested herself afterwards to assure herself that she had not contracted COVID from this experience; Hunter has been directed to pay for this expense as part of her sentence. Hunter has since apologized profusely, admitting her guilt and imploring various Facebook users not to penalize her children for her conduct; but James Ruth, who presided over the case, was not impressed. “We heard how it changed her life . . . she’s getting nasty grams on Facebook and things of that nature and can’t go to the country club or where ever,” Ruth said. “But I’ve yet to see any significant expression of her regret on the impact it had on the victim in this case,”
About 38.9% of all U.S. Marines are declining to receive COVID vaccines. The official position of the Marine Corps is that vaccines are necessary to control the virus, so it is not clear why so many of them are rejecting it. Some of the explanations offered are: allowing others to receive it first, waiting until it becomes mandatory, getting it through other channels, or being allergic to the vaccine. I don’t understand that last one at all: how can anyone know whether or not he is allergic to it without receiving it first? And what is the point of waiting until it becomes mandatory when it is already so patently advisable? I’m hoping that the third option is the most frequent reason for declining. I, for instance, applied to Safeway for a vaccine and actually received an appointment to get one—but when I received a notice from Fairfax County that I could get vaccinated some three weeks earlier than the date I had originally scheduled, and in a more professional environment, I immediately opted for that alternative. It is possible, then, that many who are declining to receive the vaccine when it is offered by the military are actually receiving it from some other source. Let us hope it is so.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 135,945,439; # of deaths worldwide: 2,938,750; # of cases U.S.: 31,868,478; # of deaths; U.S.: 575,568.