Visit to New York and meeting relatives – Resurgence in NYC – The long-deferred 90th birthday celebration – My relatives post-COVID – Another attack on the Capitol – Virginia begins Phase 1C – Evening statistics
I have been to New York, seeing relatives for the first time in well over a year. Actually, there were many “firsts” associated with this trip. On Friday my aunt and I had dinner together in her apartment, the first time I’ve sat down to dinner with someone indoors since the trip to Burke Gardens in October (and even then we took care to sit far apart from one another). On Saturday she and I had lunch together at an excellent Indian restaurant, the first time I’ve sat inside a restaurant since the trip to Jim Thorpe in August, and the first time I’ve dined indoors at a restaurant with another person since the pandemic started. Afterwards we went to the Frick, the first time I’ve been to a museum since January of 2020. My aunt is still being cautious, which is understandable: the CDC has backpedaled on its previous statement about vaccinated people being unable to transmit the disease. But my younger relatives are less worried, and I was able to embrace them when I saw them on Sunday – the first time I’ve had physical contact of this nature since the beginning of the pandemic.
In New York City people are more rigorous about wearing facemasks while walking on the streets than people in the DC suburbs. Even joggers for the most part wore masks. Outside of that the city has been rallying with all of the vitality for which it is famous. Restaurants are limited as to the number of customers they may serve at a time; but they are filled to the limits imposed by the prescribed capacity and are doing a thriving trade in takeout as well. Greengrocers are stocked with flowers and fruits of all varieties, including several from abroad. It is true that there are still signs of the toll that the pandemic has taken. Traffic is much less congested and even the sidewalks are less crowded than before. Dog-owners, who previously for the most part had been oblivious to the amount of space they and their dogs on leashes took up on the walkways, now step aside much more readily for oncoming pedestrians. But things are beginning to move again, though perhaps not as rapidly or noisily as one might expect.
Outside of the fact that several relatives reside in the city, New York would not be my first choice for a travel destination. I have the right to criticize the city, for I was born there. The skyscrapers that form the chief feature of the cityscape are impressive rather than agreeable to look at, and the much-vaunted Central Park is not a patch on Rock Creek, in my opinion at least. The proportion of pavement to park there is disproportionately high and there is little opportunity for elevation gain, whereas in Rock Creek Park one can go for miles on end without one’s feet touching either road or sidewalk, and there are numerous hills – some of them quite steep – to provide a bit of contrast to the flatter areas. Riverdale, where my younger relatives live, is somewhat better, being in proximity to the Hudson as the river bank forms various little acclivities and glades in between them, but I would not make a special trip to see it. Still, no one can deny the city’s impressive variety of restaurants, museums, theatres, and venues for amusement; and as the city is beginning to open up again, there is an undercurrent of excitement, and hints of future enjoyment to come.
My cousin, who had been a professional chef at a restaurant and who still teaches cooking classes, prepared a splendid meal on Sunday (including a succulent dish of lamb flavored with fresh rosemary and thyme that defies description), while I prepared a Queen Mother cake (a torte made with chocolate and almond flour, with beaten egg whites to provide the leavening); and we were thus able to celebrate my aunt’s 90th birthday at last – long deferred after the actual event, which took place last July. My aunt has had to celebrate this milestone piecemeal, so to speak. Before the pandemic started we were in the stages of setting up a family gathering, so that my other cousins (who live in Chile, Florida, and Georgia) could converge in New York at a mutually convenient date. Now my aunt must wait until quarantine restrictions in her children’s localities are lifted for them to visit her. Thus in May my cousin in Santiago plans to arrive with a couple of her children to see her mother; assuming, of course, that such travel is feasible. Until recently such a project seemed to present no difficulties, but in recent days the rate of infection has increased in Chile as it has elsewhere, and new bans on international travel are now a distinct possibility. At all events I can get away now to visit her periodically; the quarantine regulations for those who are vaccinated have been greatly modified in most of the states. For New York, quarantine is no longer required for domestic travel.
My cousin and his family all came down with the coronavirus the preceding year, as I have related in earlier entries, but I was happy to see that it has had no effect on their overall health. “We were lucky,” as my cousin’s wife told me. My cousin had the most severe case of the three, but he is quite recovered now. He is even looking somewhat more fit than before, having taken to exercise more regularly after his health was restored; and the distressing loss of energy that came immediately upon his infection has now completely disappeared.
During this past weekend I was pre-occupied, as can been seen, with family matters; and news items had to take a back seat as far as I was concerned. I am aware that the Capitol was attacked yet again during my absence from the DC area, this time by a delusional young man who was acting on his own initiative and who was in not a Trump supporter in any way – which is actually somewhat surprising. But there is no pupil without his teacher: now that Trump has instructed Americans at large that besieging the Capitol and killing those who guard it is a pleasant and diverting occupation for those who have too much time on their hands, we can expect to see many more demonstrations of this nature in the months to come.
Virginia is now vaccinating people in Phase 1C. Unquestionably it is time. Phase 1C includes all of the essential workers not covered in previous phases, which means those working in professions such as energy, water and wastewater removal (including plumbers), construction, food service, transportation, college and university faculty, finance, information technology, legal services, and hair stylists. Anyone over 16 who does not fall into these categories can qualify for the vaccine, we are assured, by May 1st, when Phase 2 begins.
I have fallen down rather on tracking statistics during my weekend in New York. I did record the cases and fatalities for Friday, April 2, but not those for Saturday and Sunday.
The statistics on April 2nd as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 130,802,165; # of deaths worldwide: 2,850,152; # of cases U.S.: 31,314,625; # of deaths; U.S.: 567,600.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 130,150,894; # of deaths worldwide: 2,839,510; # of cases U.S.: 31,244,639; # of deaths; U.S.: 566,611.