Category: Journal Entry

Torrid temperatures – Meeting with financial advisor – My aunt’s birthday – A considerate bear – Tribulations of a funeral home director – Hi-ho, Silver; Trump, the temper-tantrum kid, rides again – Evening statistics

The heat continues but if all goes well it will go down below 90 tomorrow.  A 6-mile loop on suburban streets that are all but level felt nearly as draining as the 23-mile hike I did on a mountain ridge last week. 

I met with my financial advisor in the morning before I went in.  “Met” in this case has to be interpreted in a figurative sense.  He is not allowed to receive anyone in his office, and our meeting was conducted via Zoom.  He is an astute man and has steered me through many a financial upheaval, including the 2008 recession, and under his guidance my portfolio has been holding steady over the past half-year.  We naturally discussed certain factors that will affect the economy for the long term.  I asked about the upcoming election.  I have no wish for Trump to be re-elected, and it is highly unlikely that he will be whether I want it or not; but I have no illusions about the consequences.  Any economic climate Biden creates will be less favorable to investors than Trump’s administration would have been.  My advisor told me that the main factor that affects investors is uncertainty, which is why October, the month just preceding elections, tends to be the most jittery in the stock market.  Once it is known for certain who is to be president, investors can devise their strategies accordingly.  I also asked whether our mountain of debt (at this point greater than the GNP) was at all likely to cause a crash along the lines of the Great Depression.  He said that it was unlikely; a more probable outcome, regrettably, is that the generations after ours in thirty or forty years are the most likely to suffer the consequences of our national improvidence when the bills are called in.

I spoke with my aunt today to wish her a happy birthday – how frustrating it is that I could not get up to New York in person to be with her!  Her children in Florida, Georgia, and Chile are likewise cut off from her on account of travel restrictions.  But one of my cousins set up a link to enable us to upload videos sending her good wishes, and she was delighted with it.  I also sent a little present last week that reached her in good time, and she was pleased with that as well.  If we were still using the convention of the four humors, her temperament would undoubtedly be classified as sanguine.  (I’m not sure how I would rate – either choleric or melancholic, I suppose.)  But I am determined to get to New York to be with her whenever it becomes possible.

There is a rather amusing story from Mary Esther, FL, about a bear that raided a wheeled trash can, rolling it out, spilling the trash onto the lawn, and picking out the food that appealed to him – he apparently was rather finicky and passed over some home-made lasagna in favor of a beef-and-cheddar sandwich from Arby’s.  Afterwards, however, the bear afterwards was polite enough to wheel the trash can back to the side of the driveway.  It reminds me a bit of a Stooges episode in which a bear, after harassing the Stooges on a camping trip, drives off with their car and even makes a hand-turn signal when going down the road.

And then there are stories that are much less amusing, quite grim in fact.  In Hidalgo County, TX, one funeral home director is finding it impossible to keep up with the rate of deaths.  Of the 150,000+ Americans who have died from the virus, over 6,000 of them are from Texas and over 300 in Hidalgo County alone.  Aaron Rivera has had to take in 100 bodies in the course of three weeks and his facility is so overloaded that 45 of these bodies had to be stored in a refrigerated 18-wheeler that he was forced to buy specifically for this purpose.  Hidalgo County is on the border with Mexico; and for a short time, the Mexican Consulate offered burial help to anyone who originally came to Texas from Mexico.  Now they have stopped making such offers; they too are overwhelmed. 

Donald Trump never ceases to astonish me – perhaps “astonish” isn’t quite the right word, for it is impossible to feel surprise for any display of effrontery from him; but the sheer number of ways in which he defies all conventions of integrity, patriotism, legality, and common sense is simply bewildering.  He has today made rumblings about delaying the November election on the grounds that the number of mail-in votes would make the results more susceptible to fraud.  As many were swift to point out (including Nancy Pelosi, who issued a particularly stinging rebuke to him, and, perhaps more surprisingly, a large number of Republicans as well), the date of the election is a matter for Congress to decide, and he has no authority whatever to alter it.  Not that that will stop him from attempting it, if he believes that such a step is necessary for him to win.  I do not believe that we have ever before had a President in our history who is so ignorant of the laws of his own country.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 17,452,708; # of deaths worldwide: 675,543; # of cases U.S.: 4,634,077; # of deaths U.S.: 155,067.  The news from Africa is becoming more troubling.  I commented yesterday on the under-reporting that could be – indeed, almost certainly is – going on in Iran.  The relatively low number of reported cases in several African nations may be due to the same cause.  In Somalia, for instance, 32% of those tested came out positive for the virus – suggesting that there are many cases of COVID-19 going undetected, since the number of those tested is a relatively small portion of the population.  Nationwide deaths in South Africa are 60% higher than they were at the same time last year, according to government data.  At this point they have a shortage of testkits and as a result are testing only medical care personnel and persons in need of hospitalization. 

States in the red zone – Congressman Louie Gohmert – The Facebook founder interrogated about Twitter – Deaths in California and Florida – The scope of the virus in Iran – Evening statistics

An uneventful day for me, but far from uneventful for the nation at large.

At this point 21 states are in the “red zone,” meaning that more than 10% of test cases in each have come back positive:  Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, who has repeatedly denied the need to wear masks, tested positive for the virus at a pre-screening for a planned trip to West Texas with the President.  He has a theory about how he contracted it:  he has bowed in to peer pressure on certain occasions and, to use his own words, “in the last week or two I have worn a mask more than I have in the last four months.  I can’t help but wonder if by keeping a mask on and keeping it in place, if I might have put some germs, some of the virus onto the mask and breathed it in.”  There is the other possibility that having attended numerous crowded meetings on Capitol Hill without a face covering of any kind before that period and only sporadically within these past two weeks might have something to do with it; but he never mentioned it. 

I am not the only person to express disbelief about Stella Immanuel having become Trump’s medical expert of choice.  Joe Biden said that Trump should “stop tweeting and start doing something about it, damn it” and “stop talking about this crazy woman he talked about last night, who’s an absolute disgrace.”  The episode had further ramifications when a House Judiciary subcommittee interrogated Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.  It would appear that many of Trump’s allies are as confused about social media as he is about medical matters.  Jim Sensenbrenner, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, asked Zuckerberg to explain why the tweet on Donald Trump Jr.’s account was deleted and why the account was placed on hold for 12 hours.  Zuckerberg was understandably surprised as he replied “I think what you might be referring to happened on Twitter so it’s hard for me to speak to that.”  He was more restrained than I would have been under the circumstances; I don’t think I could have managed a response without the use of terms such as “bonehead” and “high-priced ignoramus” and other polite expressions of that kind. 

Both Florida and California have had a record number of deaths today.  If California were to be categorized as a separate country, its case count would be surpassed only by the U.S. (the other 49 states), Brazil, Russia, and India.  Florida’s position is further complicated by being forced to suspend virus tests temporarily as it prepares for oncoming tropical storm Isaias, which is supposed to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iran is officially just short of 300,000; but President Hassan Rouhani cited a study by Iran’s Health Ministry a few days ago claiming that the actual case count could be as high as 25,000,000, or nearly 30% of the country’s population.  Whether such a figure is valid remains uncertain, but there is little doubt that both cases and deaths are under-reported.  Iran has a recognized shortage of reliable testing, which means numerous persons infected with the virus are currently undetected.  The death toll is calculated from the people who have succumbed in the coronavirus wards in hospitals.  But it seems probable that many more died at home.  Some families have asked doctors not to report such deaths as due to the virus, on account of the stigma associated with COVID-19.  It seems likely that several countries under-report their figures for similar reasons, but the Iranian government has been unusually forthcoming in acknowledging the deficiencies in their data collection.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 17,162,549; # of deaths worldwide: 669,096; # of cases U.S.: 4,560,071; # of deaths U.S.: 153,581.  Another five-day period with a global case count increase of over 1,000,000.  Another day in the U.S. with a case count increase of over 60,000 and a death toll of over 1,000. 

Hiking in Shenandoah National Park – Members of a hiking group – The Republican Party, then and now – Twitter vs. Donald Trump Jr. – The medical expertise of Dr. Stella Immanuel – Evening statistics

I went with the Vigorous Hikers today, thereby escaping the intense heat that still plagues the DC metro area.  As in other instances, temperatures along a mountain ridge were much less oppressive.  We started from Panorama, going the opposite direction used by the hike I did yesterday, stopping by briefly at Mary’s Rock (where the breeze was especially strong, very refreshing after an ascent of over 1100 feet in 1.7 miles) and continuing along the Appalachian Trail to the Little Stony Man overlook, and then returning:  about 8½ miles each way and 4000 feet of elevation gain in all.  The overlook from Mary’s Rock remains as impressive as ever:  a 180-degree view of the Shenandoah Valley below, as well as a birds-eye view of the city of Luray.  I could not help being reminded, however, of a certain Wanderbirds hike some years ago on the return from Mary’s Rock to Panorama:  no less than three people were injured on the final descent, one of these injuries being a broken wrist.  It actually is not an especially difficult descent, but one must maintain care and attentiveness going down at all times on account of its grade and the amount of rocks and scree.  I can assure hikers who may disbelieve this claim that there are many portions of the AT that are far more hazardous.  There are several other splendid views along this section of the AT – the top of Pinnacles, the descent into Jewell Hollow, and of course Little Stony Man itself.

MB has returned to the group, having successfully been operated on his knee.  He made good time in completing the hike, although he admitted afterward that he may have overdone it for a first significant hike after such an operation.  He mentioned that his daughter recently contracted the virus, but that happily it had little effect on her and that she is now completely recovered.  Still, she was forced to self-quarantine for 14 days.  The group also included CC, who has been recently widowed (I have spoken about her husband’s final days in earlier entries) but is showing a resilient spirit in the face of her loss and is gradually resuming former activities, at least to the extent that that is possible under the circumstances.  She spoke of her plans of going to Saratoga later in the summer.  She would have to self-quarantine, of course; but since she has a summer house of her own in the area, that would not be an issue for her. 

It was a full day, even if not quite up to the standards of what I enjoyed yesterday – and indeed that could scarcely be surpassed.  It is to be hoped that others are managing to obtain pleasures of their own and not skulking in fear all day long; for, as usual, the reports from the headlines form a vivid contrast to the tenor of life on a personal level.

“Remember, we have no enemies, only opponents.”  These are the words of Ronald Reagan talking to his staff in the Republican Party during his administration.  The spirit that inspired such words has been banished completely; the Republican Party has been cast in a very different mold by our current President, and by no means a better one.  It will take a long time before the cheerfulness, confidence, and graciousness embodied by Reagan can be restored, if indeed any such restoration is possible.  I suppose it is idle to wonder at this point how the Republicans allowed their party to be hijacked by this crude, imperceptive, small-minded vulgarian; the fact remains, that it has been hijacked and is now completely off-course.  The men and women who have been discarded like broken toys mishandled and spoiled by an ill-disposed child must be ruing the day they stretched out on the ground and allowed him to place his feet on their necks; they are rightly despised by the majority of their countrymen for their cravenness and will almost certainly be roundly rejected in the upcoming election.

Donald Trump has claimed (and repeated that claim numerous times) in a recent interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News that he has been “unfairly treated” by his political enemies; and it is possible that his once-beloved Twitter has become an honorary member of this extensive list.  Donald Trump Jr., his eldest son, posted a video on Twitter that was a rehash of all of the old claims – that masks were unnecessary, that hydroxychloroquine is a cure for the virus, etc.  Twitter reacted by taking the video down, stating that it was a violation of their policy against posting misinformation about COVID-19, and putting his account on hold for 12 hours in addition.  One hopes that it is only a matter of time before they take similar action towards his father. 

Both father and son have lauded the pronouncements of a new expert, one Stella Immanuel, a Houston physician who makes similar claims.  I must say that they have chosen a most appropriate spokesman to represent their views.  Dr. Immanuel has made public a few other facts little-known to science, such as that DNA from aliens is routinely used in medicines, that scientists are working on a vaccine to make people irreligious, that the government is run in part by “reptilians,” and that gynecological problems such as cysts and endometriosis are caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches.  Oh, yes, and also that Jesus Christ will destroy Facebook for removing her videos from public dissemination; apparently she and the Savior are on excellent terms with each other, and even went on double dates at one point.  I’m exaggerating a little in that last clause, but only a little; the remainder is taken verbatim from reports about her videos before they were shut down.  Indeed, I couldn’t possibly make such things up.  The life of the satirist must be difficult indeed in times such as these; no matter how wild his exaggerations may be, they inevitably fail to be more bizarre than reality.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 16,881,309; # of deaths worldwide: 662,399; # of cases U.S.: 4,496,645; # of deaths U.S.: 152,265.  With over 1.3% of its population affected by the virus, the U.S. is officially tenth on the list of nations with the highest case counts per capita.  However, when one considers that two of the others on the list are San Marino and Vatican City (populations of 34,000 and 800 respectively), it should really be considered eighth highest, being exceeded only by Qatar, French Guiana, Bahrain, Chile, Kuwait, Oman, and Panama.  It will be noted that the majority of these are on the Arabian peninsula, the remainder being claimed by Latin America. 

A cheerful outing – The winery – Lack of variety in headlines – Plans for the Presidential debates – Evening statistics

The most ordinary of pleasures can gain a strange intensity when they are long deferred. 

It did not appear that most promising of days to start with.  The forecast was for temperatures well over 90 degrees with high humidity.  I had agreed, all the same, to meet with three friends to do a relatively short and easy hike followed by a visit to a winery.  The three were LM, LH, and MM, none of whom I have seen since early March.  LM is the organizer of the trips I mentioned earlier, that were planned for traveling to Kings Canyon/Sequoia and to Rocky Mountain National Park – both of which had to be canceled on account of the complications imposed by the pandemic.  Before we started, LH had expressed to me her surprise at one of the hikes I mentioned in an earlier entry, on the AT from Swatara Gap going northwards.  She was curious as to how I managed it in the extreme heat.  I explained that I would not have been able to accomplish it if the temperatures were as high as they have been on the plains; on top of the mountain ridges they are considerably cooler, and I predicted that we would have a similar experience today.

And so it proved.  It was well-shaded throughout, very breezy in spots, and at all times considerably less hot than it had been on the lower elevations.  None of us felt especially over-heated by the end of the hike.  We set out on the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park from Panorama to an overlook just south of Beahm’s Gap, backtracked to the Pass Mountain Trail, took a brief detour to the Pass Mountain shelter, and then returned along the AT to the parking area.  We encountered great quantities of butterflies on this route, including several black swallowtails.  Many different songbirds made their distinctive calls as we passed along the trail.  The hike was less than six miles but well over 1000 feet elevation gain, which was, as LM justly observed, quite sufficient for a winery hike.  From there we drove to the Rappahannock Cellars, a winery along Rte. 522 between Front Royal and Washington, VA. 

I cannot sufficiently praise the graciousness of the people running the place.  They took us in without a reservation and allowed us to bring our own food; and before we selected the wine to purchase they encouraged us to taste a sample first to ensure that we would be satisfied with our choice.  I am not, ordinarily, an advocate for Virginia wines – red wines in particular.  The climate in this area (and indeed in the eastern part of the U.S. generally) is somewhat too moist for optimal vineyard growth and is not favorable for the retarded ripening period that is needed for the grapes.  But the wines at this vineyard were admirable, not too sweet, not too acid, and without bitterness or sour after-taste.  The red wine we had was called “Eighteen,” and was a blend from eighteen different lots of grapes.  It was slightly fruity (but not sweet) – which some connoisseurs might object to, but which suited my taste perfectly.  After we made our selection the managers told us that while their outside tables were available, we might prefer to sit together in the covered terrace on their top floor.  We gratefully acceded to this suggestion and went upstairs to a spacious room where we had a table to ourselves at which we could sit comfortably at a safe distance from one another, while at the same time we were close enough together to converse with ease.

It was the first meal with others that I had since March under a covered roof at a genuine table surrounded with comfortable chairs (or sofas in this case) instead of benches to sit on.  We all provided some food, and LH in particular supplied a simple, modest repast sufficient to feed the entire state at a sitting, as is her habit on such occasions.  All jesting aside, she is incredibly generous, and her contributions included some delicious baked salmon seasoned with pepper, and gazpacho, and home-made peach cobbler with blackberries.  And there were various types of cheeses and crackers and smoked meats and oranges as well, all accompanied by the splendid wines we had purchased – wine, queen of the beverages, which among its other virtues is an antidote to anxiety. 

How delightful it was sit at sheltered ease, conversing with companions with common interests and similar outlooks, with whom I had spent time together on many different excursions and whom I had not seen for months!  And we ate and drank to satiety and chatted together, in a leisurely fashion, without hurrying – indeed I think we spent nearly two hours together at the table.  It sounds like a very ordinary occasion in the telling, but after a deprivation lasting nearly five months, the pleasure it provided was almost euphoric. 

We spoke upon many topics, reminiscing about past trips we had taken together and discussing the possibility of setting up an excursion within a month or so – somewhere in the Northeast, at a location where people can drive to, or, failing that, in the Great Smokies.  And we spoke of other matters, such as the Farmer’s Market in Alexandria where LH purchased many of the articles that were featured in our current banquet, and of how markets like these have been affected by the pandemic, and how it appeared likely that LH (who works for the Census) would be tele-commuting for several months to come, and how it seemed advisable to avoid beaches in general this season on account of the density of the crowds and the recklessness they displayed in disregarding the recommendations both for face masks and for social distancing.  And I cannot swear that there was not some abuse of Donald Trump as well, which is becoming something of a favored activity among most of my acquaintance.  In short, it was an afternoon of perfect harmony and concord.  The wine flowed freely and we helped one another to the various viands on the table, and it was such a welcome contrast to the solitary meals I have had at home for the past several weeks.

After such an experience I was in no great hurry to go over the news headlines of the day, and it appears, in fact, that there is little among them that does not repeat what has been said earlier.  Protests continue to rage in Portland and other cities, greatly exacerbated by the presence of national police forces; details of the new stimulus package are still being worked out; pundits are indulging in speculations about the upcoming Presidential election; some experts are expressing cautious optimism on the progress made with the development of vaccines, but warn us that it will require several months of testing before one is ready to be marketed; professional football teams continue to be astonished that several of their players are getting infected with the virus and, just like W. S. Gilbert’s King Gama pondering over how everyone says he is such a disagreeable man, they can’t think why. 

The only new item of interest is that our nation may be at a loss as to where to hold the Presidential debates.  Notre Dame has withdrawn from hosting the first of these, citing public health risks.  It is the second institution to do so, after the University of Michigan withdrew last month from hosting the second debate.  Currently the first and second debates are scheduled to be held, respectively, at Case Western Reserve University, a private university in Cleveland, and the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.  This assumes, of course, that people will be willing to attend an event in Florida, whose case rate continues to spiral and now comprises more than 2% of the entire state’s population. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 16,628,024; # of deaths worldwide: 655,845; # of cases U.S.: 4,431,367; # of deaths U.S.: 150,404.  Over 200,000 new cases globally today.  Colombia’s case count now surpasses Italy’s.  The increases in South Africa are greater, proportionately, than our own, both with regard to new cases and new deaths.  The other African nations, thankfully, are still managing to contain the virus up to this point. 

Coronavirus predictions, then and now – The obliviousness of school administrators towards teachers – The hazards of being in groups, even out of doors – Hiking in Arlington – A limited degree of socializing – A virus-denier becomes infected – Evening statistics

In looking over my notes I find that Dr. Fauci stated at the end of March that our case count would run well over a million and that the death toll would be between 100,000 and 200,000.  At the time such a prediction was considered alarmist.  Now we would be thankful to settle for such comparatively modest figures.  Our case count will be surpassing five million in a matter of days, and as for our death toll – we will be fortunate indeed if it does not exceed 200,000 by the time the pandemic is over; it is close to 150,000 already.

I spoke with RK last night.  She is a teacher in a private school, and she was telling me the plans of the administration concerning how to conduct classrooms during the coming semester.  They do not appear to have thought the matter through very thoroughly.  They were proposing a system in which students would be staggered in groups who alternate between attending classes in person and logging in from their homes.  They do not seem to realize what a burden such a policy would place on the teachers, who in effect would have to teach their lessons twice over.  Nor have they taken into account that many teachers are at risk from the virus on account of underlying factors and that several are apprehensive about teaching in crowded classrooms.  Unfortunately many schools, following the lead of our national administration, are assuming that the virus will have minimal effects on children and adolescents (which is not true – the median age of COVID-19 patients has lessened considerably over the past two months) and have totally forgotten that the teachers may be at risk. 

A cautionary tale for those who, like me, have been spending a large part of their time out of doors during the pandemic:  Kanakuk Kamps, a network of Christian camps in Missouri, took the warnings about the virus very seriously and put into place every imaginable safeguard.  They ensured that every cabin was equipped with state-of-the-art filtration systems.  Other precautions included documented health screenings; daily temperature checks; highly qualified doctors and nurses; hand sanitizer in all buildings; limited access to camp grounds for outsiders; elaborate quarantine protocols; rigorous cleaning; and stringent limits on touching – even a ban on campers exchanging high-fives and holding hands while saying grace.  Before camp started, campers and employees also had been urged to self-isolate for two weeks.  In short, they were not in the least careless or complacent; one would have said that they did everything right.  Nonetheless over 80 campers at the camp near Branson tested positive for the virus within a few days of the beginning of the season, and in the end everyone had to be sent back home.  As is typical of such stories, the speed and thoroughness with which the virus infected people is startling.  Probably the main factor was the large number of people sharing sleeping and eating areas, but all the same it shows that associating with others in the open air is by no means risk-free.

Nonetheless I went out today in the company of seven other Wanderbirds members on a 6-mile loop led by GS from Glebe Park down to the Pimmit Run and Potomac Heritage Trails.  It was good to see GS again after several months; I have known him for a long time and we have led many hikes together.  Several other friends as well I have not seen since March at the latest.  We wore face masks on the first part of the hike, which went along various streets through several of the older, more well-established neighborhoods in Arlington.  People have been settled in this area for a long time (I should say relatively long – perhaps two hundred years or so; but that is a long time by American standards); trees have been allowed to grow in lands that were previously devoted to farming before they became more densely populated.  As a result our route had a good deal of shade even before we reached the Pimmit Run Trail.  Upon reaching the Potomac Heritage Trail we turned east, towards Roosevelt Island, but turning aside at the Gulf Branch.  It was a fairly gentle hike, although not devoid of certain challenges (including a sharp, rocky descent past the Chain Bridge), and we stopped at one point for a brief dip in a water hole of Pimmit Run close to its confluence with the Potomac.  The constant shade and continual breezes in the river valley ensured that we were comfortable throughout the hike, despite the high temperatures that prevailed in the less sheltered regions of the metro area. 

We had what might be called a modified version of a Wanderbirds hike in the days before the pandemic began:  the society of friends during the hike, followed by eating and conversing together when the loop was completed.  I spoke with CB while we hiked together; he is a real estate attorney and he was telling me about some possible long-term consequences that the impact of the virus is likely to have, even after the restrictions are completely lifted.  Tele-commuting will undoubtedly become much more prevalent, which is both good and bad:  less traffic on the roads, but also less office camaraderie and socializing among office workers.  Some administrative jobs will disappear, since there will be fewer offices to manage and many of the tasks an administrative assistant performs in an office can be done by the people working from their homes.  The skies continue to be unusually clear for the season, with very little haze, and at the end of the hike we relaxed and ate lunch and chatted in the cool shade of the tall trees with their profuse foliage and shafts of brilliant sunlight streaming through the chinks between the leaves. 

Yet another politician who denounced the virus as a hoax has learned of its harsh realities the hard way.  Jason Rapert, a state senator from Arkansas, has characterized his fellow-legislators imposing restrictions as scare-mongers and has objected in particular to the attempts of enforcing the use of face masks, which he describes as “draconian”.  He has tested positive for the virus and is now hospitalized with pneumonia.  His attitude appears to have modified somewhat as a result of his experience.  On his Twitter account he has posted expressions of gratitude towards well-wishers and, as a token of appreciation, included a photo of himself and his family – all of them wearing face masks. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 16,397,306; # of deaths worldwide: 651,580; # of cases U.S.: 4,366,681; # of deaths U.S.: 149,783.  We actually have had a case increase of well under 60,000 today.  And the daily death toll is 385 – which would have seemed a large amount some weeks ago, but comes as a welcome relief after several days of losses of over 1,000 per day. 

More temperate weather – The Farmer’s Market – A surprising omission – Local restaurants – The upcoming election – Angela Merkel on Donald Trump – Evening statistics

Although the weather continues to be hot and steamy, the nights have cooled down as a result of the recent storms.  It is inexpressibly comforting to be able to sleep with the windows open after being forced to rely on air conditioning for weeks on end.  In the coming week it will still be very warm, but temperatures should become slightly less tropical by Wednesday.  It was cool enough in the early morning to work outside without discomfort, so I weeded the garden before setting out to the Farmer’s Market.  There actually was not a great amount to pull up; the drought in July has lasted so long that even weeds have failed to flourish.

I have been going to the Farmer’s Market more frequently than before.  This is a direct consequence of the restrictions imposed by the virus.  Formerly on Saturdays I’ve been away from the metro area hiking with various clubs (generally the Capital Hiking Club, but one or two others on occasion).  Now most of these have placed their hiking schedules in abeyance, so I have been hiking on a somewhat irregular schedule.  I have managed to hike continually with the Vigorous Hikers (a relatively small group that can arrange to have all hikers drive to a trailhead without too much inconvenience) on Tuesday and, latterly, with small subsets of Wanderbirds hikers on Sundays.  Most of the other hiking trips that I’ve done have been solitary. 

Most people by now are using face masks and one vendor actually uses a Plexiglas shield, which must be rather uncomfortable in this weather.  We try to observe social distancing, but it remains difficult to stay six feet from one another within such close quarters.  Presumably there is less danger of infection out of doors but one cannot rely entirely on that.  Part of the reason for the upsurge of COVID-19 in Latin American nations is the number of open-air markets, where many people are in close proximity.  There is, of course, an abundance of fresh squash, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, peaches, berries, plums, etc., but there is one curious omission:  no one appears to be selling apples.  Perhaps it is not yet the time to harvest them on the local farms; but in previous years apples were available in such markets from May onwards. 

The streets of Fairfax were quiet this evening.  Some people were dining out of doors, but not many.  A few restaurants are open for indoor dining as well, but almost no one is taking advantage of it.  I myself would be reluctant to dine in a room full of strangers at this point.  It surprises me that the restaurants are operative at all.  I don’t see how they can make money under these circumstances.  I can only hope that more customers are relying on them for delivery and takeout orders.

It is just 100 days before the election.  It will be one of the strangest ones I can remember.  Usually many of the debates about the respective merits of the candidates focus to some extent on the national economy, whereas in this one that issue will undoubtedly take a back seat to the problem of how to handle the virus.  Trump’s approval rating is one of the lowest for any incumbent, although it is to be hoped that the Democrats will not become too complacent about this and take victory for granted.  It does appear that we will not be troubled about the manner in which electoral college votes are split.  Biden has a clear lead in every single poll taken up to this point.  It is quite possible that he can obtain as many as 400 electoral college votes out of a total of 538.  A debacle like the one that happened with respect to Hillary Clinton four years ago is much less likely this time.

Angela Merkel has gone on record as saying that she has conceived a great aversion for Donald Trump (in which she is not singular) and is uncomfortable even with being in the same room with him.  Since I myself find him thoroughly offensive both in manners and appearance, I cannot wonder at such remarks; what is surprising to me is the number of people who are able to endure him for more than five minutes on end.  Larry Hogan, in that account to which I alluded to some days ago about his struggles to obtain testkits, had little to say in the way of praise of the President; but he did say, rather surprisingly, that Trump could be amusing and good-humored in company.  I never would have expected it.  In public, at any rate, he has invariably shown himself to be sullen, petulant, boorish, and foul-tongued.  I am not here evaluating him as a politician – exposure of the egregiousness of his blunders and his unabashed self-interest I will leave to abler hands than mine – but simply on a personal level.  Donald Trump has complained more than once that he is not loved.  It never occurs to him to ask whether he has ever said or done anything, since the first day that he took office, that could inspire the slightest amount of affection. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 16,185,316; # of deaths worldwide: 647,515; # of cases U.S.: 4,312,588; # of deaths U.S.: 149,340. Today, as expected, the global case count has shot up over 16 million:  another instance of an increase of one million within five days – and an increase of about six million over the past month.  In very rough terms, the global population is slightly under 8 billion, which means that over one in 500 people worldwide have been affected by the virus.  Of course, matters are significantly below the global rate here; in our country the ratio is closer to one in 75 per capita.

I’ve been in the habit of saying things like “a bad day” or “we’ve passed another milestone” after reports like these, but I suppose I should forego such expressions.  They imply that such matters are exceptional, whereas it is quite apparent that daily case increases over sixty or seventy thousand and new deaths totaling to more than a thousand are to be the normal state of affairs for some time to come.  As the old saying goes, may Heaven protect us from what we can get used to.

Using drive-in at the bank – Other errands – A new business venture – Beneficial effects of the rain – A pastor praises slavery – Effects of slavery on slave-owners – A mega-church to rival Apple – A startling admission from President Trump – Evening statistics

Errands have piled up, and today, with its uncertain weather, seemed like a good time to perform them. 

Ordering new checks from the bank has become more complicated.  Formerly I simply walked in (the bank is less than ten minutes from my house on foot), sat down with one of the marketing representatives, made the order, and saw the representative log the request into his or her workstation.  Now the bank office is closed to walk-in customers, so I had to use the drive-in instead.  It is less efficient, since my bank office has only a single line for cars.  I also had to supply a voided check to enable the drive-in operator to find my account, and I was glad that I learned about this requirement beforehand; if I had not, I would have driven and waited in line to no purpose. 

The REI outlets are now open again, so I was able to pick up some supplies at the Fairfax store and thus was spared the drive to the one at Woodbridge.  Other errands involved shopping for food and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals such as insect repellent and sunscreen.  I am glad to see that all of the stores now are requiring face masks on anyone who wishes to enter.  Some stores also have an employee keeping count of the number of people who enter so as to enforce the maximum occupancy limit. 

In the course of my errands I noticed that a new food market store will be opening this coming Wednesday.  It is encouraging to see that people are embarking on new businesses under the current circumstances.  Although this particular venture seems a bit strange to my mind; the location is less than a mile from Wegman’s and less than half-a-mile from Aldi.  And it is right next to a Walmart as well.  One has to admire the management’s self-confidence.  This store is one of a chain called Lidl, which is opening several other new locations this and next week in New York and New Jersey as well.

The recent rain has lowered the temperature to the extent that I was able to mow the lawn without ending in a state of exhaustion, as would have been the case if I had attempted it earlier in the week when the thermometer was nearing 100 degrees.  (As I noted yesterday, the temperature in the area where I was hiking was considerably lower.)  Also, there now was a sufficient amount of grass to mow.  Over the past week the grass grew so little on account of the long drought that it was not worth the cutting. 

If anyone doubts that one cannot serve both God and Mammon, the doctrines of our megachurches should convince even the most disbelieving.  Louie Giglio, the pastor for the Passion City Church in Atlanta, has publicly described slavery as a “white blessing.”  He is not only wicked but foolish.  As Frederick Douglass repeatedly pointed out, the influence of slavery was every bit as disastrous for the slave-owners as for the slaves.  One of the most chilling passages in his autobiography is his description of Sophia Auld before and after she became a slave owner:

“She had never had a slave under her control previously to myself, and prior to her marriage she had been dependent upon her own industry for a living. She was by trade a weaver; and by constant application to her business, she had been in a good degree preserved from the blighting and dehumanizing effects of slavery. I was utterly astonished at her goodness. I scarcely knew how to behave towards her. She was entirely unlike any other white woman I had ever seen. I could not approach her as I was accustomed to approach other white ladies. My early instruction was all out of place. The crouching servility, usually so acceptable a quality in a slave, did not answer when manifested toward her. Her favor was not gained by it; she seemed to be disturbed by it. She did not deem it impudent or unmannerly for a slave to look her in the face. The meanest slave was put fully at ease in her presence, and none left without feeling better for having seen her. Her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music.

“But, alas! this kind heart had but a short time to remain such. The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.”

We like to think that if we had been transported back into the ante-bellum South and reared there we would have had no difficulty in perceiving the evils of slavery and would have revolted against it.  But suppose you are presented with a set of several human beings over whom you have absolute power and who are regarded as chattel in the eyes of the law, over whom you have the authority to assign any labor that you find personally inconvenient and to punish them with the utmost rigor if they do not perform these tasks to your satisfaction – and suppose, likewise, that all of your childhood mentors assure you that it is your right, even your obligation to behave in such a manner and that encouraging any kind of independence among these possessions of yours is a sign of perversity.  How many would be able to withstand such pressures? 

The results of such an upbringing were what might be expected.  The majority of slave-owners were honestly bewildered to learn that there was any controversy about slavery at all; some few grew up to be troubled by the idea of slavery and strove to make the best of existing circumstances by treating their slaves as indulgently as they could, disheartened by a lifetime of perpetual compromise; others become enthusiast partisans and fiercely opposed anyone who questioned the institution; but people who, like the Grimké sisters, voluntarily gave up their slave-owning status were very rare indeed.  It would be pleasant to think that I would have had the strength of mind to flee from the society of slave-owners, settle in a Northern state or Canada, and live on my own without depending on domestics; but I fear, I very much fear, that in all likelihood I would have ended up rather like Mrs. Shelby in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” living the indolent, luxurious life of a plantation-owner and salvaging my conscience by striving to treat dependents with all possible decency, supplying them with comforts, encouraging them to read (on the sly, of course, because that was illegal), treating their marriages as if they were valid sacramental contracts (which also would have been in defiance of the law), wearing myself out in a continual struggle to make the state of affairs tolerable, and in the end realizing that such an attempt was hopeless.

Returning to the Passion City Church, it seems that its congregation size is about 6,500, that it engages in video productions and music CDs that are marketed at huge profits, and that, according to one reviewer – a very enthusiastic one, who writes without a hint of irony – “Even the back office space is of a quality that would not look out of place in Google or Apple’s global headquarters.” I suppose one should not be surprised.  Religion is a business.  It has always been a business.

Our President has actually shown a tiny bit of self-awareness by stating that he often regrets some of his tweets and notes that, before the days of instant publication on social media such as Twitter, you had the opportunity to reflect on what you had written before deciding whether or not to release it. That actually is quite a reasonable observation.  One would think that this realization would prompt him to hesitate a little before issuing his numerous pronouncements and perhaps tweeting rather less often; but so far, up to this point, that has never happened.  I suppose I am condemning myself out of my own mouth, since I am now posting my journal entries to Facebook on a daily basis; but I do go over my entries before posting them and I like to believe that I’m a bit less impulsive than our august Commander-in-Chief. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 15,930,021; # of deaths worldwide: 641,842; # of cases U.S.: 4,247,553 # of deaths U.S.: 148,452.  Another undesirable record has been reached:  we had well over 75,000 new cases today.  Also we’ve had another day with more than 1,000 deaths.  Russia, similarly, has achieved a milestone it would rather have avoided:  its case count has just surpassed 800,000.  South Africa’s case increase today is nearly 14,000, its largest to date. 

Swatara Gap on the Appalachian Trail – Some relief from the heat – Change of plans for the Republican Convention – Health of Americans generally – Evening statistics

I went along the Appalachian Trail, starting from Swatara Gap and going to the intersection with Rte. 501 and back.  It is nearly 11.5 miles each way, or 23 miles total.  Outside of the climb from Swatara Gap (about 900 feet) the trail is relatively level; I doubt if I did more than 1500 feet total of elevation gain.  But it felt like more, on account of the numerous rocky areas.  It actually was a rather frustrating hike.  To be sure, I was not seeing the area under optimal conditions.  The gnats were very troublesome, seemingly not affected at all by the insect repellent I applied.  The recent rain made the rocks extremely slippery and it is evident that the restrictions imposed by the virus have adversely affected trail maintenance.  Parts of it were very overgrown, in some places to such an extent that it was not easy to discern the path of the trail.  There were some views but the cloud conditions obscured most of them, and of the ones that I did see – they were very well, but nothing more.  Still, the hike got me out; it provided a change of scene; one can say that it fulfilled its function.

The temperature, incidentally, was relatively pleasant during the hike (even a bit cool during the early morning), most of which went along a ridgeline.  It was pleasant the preceding night as well, enabling me to sleep with the windows open for the first time in weeks.  It seems, however, that in the metro area the effects of the rain were only temporary and that the day was nearly as torrid as it has been earlier in the week.  It is supposed to drop to below 90 degrees during the coming week, according to the latest forecast; let’s hope that the meteorologists don’t change their minds. 

Since I was on the trail for about 7 hours, there has not been a great deal of time to review the news.  I note, however, that President Trump has canceled the portion of the Republican Convention that was supposed to take place in Jacksonville, FL.  And thus the whirligig of Time brings in his revenges!  If the President had been willing to hold the convention in Charlotte with the restrictions specified by Roy Cooper, the North Carolina governor, he could have pursued his election strategy more or less as planned.  But instead he insisted on moving the main part of it to a state that was less restrictive in its lockdown policy; and now he has belatedly discovered that that state has become an epicenter for the virus and that most people, including delegates, are unwilling to attend it.  All is not lost, however.  Delegates will still gather in North Carolina for the business portion of the event, and there they will carry out his coronation, complete with orb and scepter  – no, no (begging his pardon) – I should say, formally nominate him for re-election. 

The pandemic has uncovered, or I should more strictly say, highlighted the fact that we are not an especially healthy nation to begin with.  The CDC has estimated that 40% of adult Americans have at least one underlying factor that could increase their risk for complications if they become infected.  These factors include kidney conditions, cardiovascular disease, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure.  Obviously in some cases these are outside of the control of the people affected; but many others have incurred these problems as a result of an ill-judged diet and an inactive lifestyle.  One is reminded of the reflections of Thomas Mann’s Dr. Grabow in Buddenbrooks when he is examining a young boy complaining of a stomach-ache:

“He would soon eat again, this young man.  He would do as the rest of the world did – his father, and all their relatives and friends:  he would lead a sedentary life and eat four good, rich, satisfying meals a day.  Well, God bless us all!  He, Friedrich Grabow, was not the man to upset the habits of these prosperous, comfortable tradesmen and their families.  He would come when he was sent for, prescribe a few day’s diet – a little pigeon, a slice of French bread – yes, yes, and assure the family, that it was nothing serious this time.  Young as he was, he had held the head of many an honest burgher who had eaten his last joint of smoked meat, his last stuffed turkey, and, whether overtaken unaware in his counting-house or after a brief illness in his solid old four-poster, had commended his soul to God.  Then it was called paralysis, a ‘stroke,’ a sudden death.  And he, Friedrich Grabow, could have predicted it, on all of these occasions when it was ‘nothing serious this time’ – or perhaps at the times when he had not even been summoned, when there had only been a slight  giddiness after luncheon.”

The eating habits and sedentary lifestyle that Mann describes as being typical of the more prosperous German merchant class in the 19^th century has infiltrated virtually every stratum of American society; and consequently we are even more vulnerable to the inroads of the coronavirus than we need have been.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 15,639,709; # of deaths worldwide: 635,597; # of cases U.S.: 4,169,153 # of deaths U.S.: 147,297.  The number of new cases worldwide today has been nearly 275,000.  The U.S. accounts for nearly 70,000 of these.  We have had another day with over 1,000 deaths.  Brazil has had an increase today of nearly 60,000; India, nearly 50,000; South Africa, more than 13,000; Colombia, nearly 8,000.

Fleeing to an obscure and little-visited portion of the Appalachian Trail where one can hike in seclusion for hours on end is sounding more and more pragmatic with every daily report I read.

Moderating weather patterns – Travel restrictions – Report from Portland – Donald Trump’s disqualifications as chess-player – Possible vaccine – Racial discrimination among several past Presidents – California resumes lockdown restrictions – Evening statistics

Some much-needed rain has come, a little last night and a good deal more today, at times with great violence but welcome nonetheless.  I have been not very active during the day, especially as a weather advisory was posted during the afternoon on account of the rainstorm.  But when I got out in the evening the temperature was quite bearable.  The storm appears to have cleared the air a little, for temperatures are supposed to be less extreme over the next few days,

Many friends have echoed my tale of canceled travel plans.  International travel has been off-limits for many weeks now.  Travel between states remains problematic even for those that, unlike New York, have no quarantine restrictions for out-of-state visitors.  I had initially planned to stay overnight at Wind Gap on the way back from my New York trip and use that time to explore the Appalachian Trail in northern Pennsylvania.  I have the option of canceling the reservation, but I’m weighing the possibility of carrying it through.  The risk of staying on one’s own at a hotel room without meeting anyone else should be containable.  But of course I will be wearing masks during that time and keeping at a distance from others.  Nor will I be dining out; I will get takeout food from the local restaurants or stores, and eat either out of doors or inside my room.  It will not be the most exciting of vacations, but at any rate it will provide a brief change of scene.

I have received a most lamentable account from friends in Portland.  According to them, the “chaos” reported in the news articles was greatly exaggerated.  The protests were going peacefully, no one was getting hurt, and the entire affair was shaping up to be a teapot tempest that would have petered out sooner or later – until the National Guard came in.  Now the city is like a beleaguered garrison in enemy territory.  My friends are equally angry at the media that spread about such false reports and the administration that over-reacted to them. 

The great chess-master Siegbert Tarrasch had an important piece of advice for novices responding to opportunities that seem too good to be true:  “Sit on your hands!”  That is to say, if you appear to come across a moment to snatch a sudden advantage on account of an apparent blunder on the part of your opponent, examine the position carefully and consider all possible responses before deciding that it really is a mistake and that you’re on the verge of winning.  Otherwise you will fall victim to traps and swindles.  Donald Trump, I suspect, has little interest in the game – and I would not quarrel with him about that, except that he seems to be just as inept at political chess as well.  He handles his pieces so badly!  I have no doubt that he looked upon the unrest in Portland as an opportunity to obtain some political capital as the time of re-election is approaching, but it has backfired on him in a big way.  I grant that he has a rudimentary grasp of tactics and can occasionally hit upon a decisive combination, but he is a very poor strategist:  setting up and pursuing coherent, long-term goals is beyond him. 

He does appear to be making an effort at last to promote vaccines.  He has just completed a deal with Pfizer, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and BioNTech to produce a major vaccine, promising them $1.95 billion if that can produce 100 million doses with proven effectivity.  And 100 million doses may be exactly what we need; the daily increases in cases continue to register in the 60,000-70,000 range, which means an increase of one million within every period of two weeks or even less.  Already more than one in 80 per capita in our country have been affected by the virus.

Joe Biden has called Trump “the first racist President.”  I sympathize with Biden’s efforts to get Trump defeated, but I regret to say that this claim is simply not true.   A few presidents before Lincoln made concessions to the Confederacy not merely out of political expediency but from a sincere attachment to the institution of slavery; and several others from Rutherford B. Hayes onward cramped and eventually defeated the Reconstruction in the South, and consciously did their best to stifle the efforts of black Americans to obtain anything like equality.  The greatest offender is Woodrow Wilson, an ardent champion of segregation, under whose administration many departments ended up having separate work spaces, restrooms, and cafeterias for their white and black employees.  It took many decades to rid our Government offices of this disgrace.

California has surpassed New York in its number of cases, and Governor Newsom has rolled back the greater portion of the re-opening plan, ordering all bars, dine-in restaurants, movie theaters, museums and other indoor businesses to close.  In his own words:  “People are tired of the virus, but the virus is not tired of us.”

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 15,361,622; # of deaths worldwide: 625,361; # of cases U.S.: 4,098,478 # of deaths U.S.: 146,107.  We have had more than 1,000 deaths today.  Brazil has moved into the ranks of those countries who have over 1% of their population (i.e., more than one in 100) affected by the virus.  And according to more than one Brazilian health official, the number of cases is greatly under-estimated.  South Africa’s case increase today was more than 13,000,  and it has endured, along with Columbia and Argentina, more than a 3% increase over yesterday’s. 

Overall Run Falls and Elkwallow – The heat continues – More travel plans canceled – More young people affected – President Trump’s volte face – Evening statistics

The ascent to Overall Run Falls is one of the more strenuous climbs in Shenandoah National Park, and today was perhaps not the best day to attempt it.  The weather, though less hot than in the DC metro area, was humid and steamy, and the waterfall itself was all but dry.  Once we came to the ridge the temperature was lower on account of the elevation we had gained, and the route to Elkwallow via the Tuscacora and Appalachian Trails was reasonably comfortable.  The store at Elkwallow is open again and they are serving food for takeout as they did earlier, before the virus shut the park down.  Even though we altered the route from the initial one (which would have taken us down via Beecher Ridge), we still ended up doing 17 miles, with over 3750 feet of elevation gain.  The last couple of miles were difficult on account of the heat, which increased continually as we descended into lower elevations.  As we say among ourselves jokingly, hikes like these are good for us, they build our characters.  I will be glad, all the same, when the weather becomes cooler.  Summer undoubtedly is the most difficult of hiking seasons. 

We are getting a little relief from the unrelenting heat.  It rained this evening and temperatures will be lower for the rest of the week, going to less than 90 on Friday.  There was a great cloud of steam earlier when the rain first hit the pavement of the sidewalks and the asphalt roads.

The planned trip to New York to celebrate my aunt’s birthday had to be called off, or at the very least postponed.  Virginia has now been added to the list of states for whose travelers New York is requiring a 14-day quarantine.  I regret such a decision, but I can understand it.  Today the U.S. saw more than 1,000 new deaths from the virus.  Over half of these are in five states:  Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and California.  But the mid-Atlantic states are still seeing significant increases of new cases.  Both Maryland and Virginia have nearly 1,000 new cases apiece.  It is not surprising that New York wishes to discourage visitors from states that have not yet succeeded in flattening their curves.  My dear aunt has been quite selfless in her response; she says that under the circumstances it is best that I do not travel to New York and that the most important concern at the moment is to maintain our health. 

Indeed travel must not be undertaken lightly.  Stories continue to be reported about the virus affecting people of all ages in increasing numbers.  One mother in Florida, Moneta Hicks, lost her son and daughter, aged 20 and 23 respectively, within the space of 11 days.  They had been homebound during the pandemic, since they both had underlying factors (asthma and obesity), but one day they decided to take a brief trip to Orlando, and that venture sealed their fate.  As so often happens in reports of this nature, a salient feature is the speed with which the virus can wreak its havoc.  The son, Byron, woke up a few days after his return struggling for air, was rushed to the hospital, and died on the same day.  Mychaela, his sister, developed a fever and headache four days later, was also taken to the hospital, but died within a week of being admitted.  They had spent weeks in virtual quarantine, but that single indulgence in travel proved to be fatal.

“They say she has become a saint, though it’s rather late in the day.”  One aspect of Dostoyevsky that tends to be overlooked is his humor, even in his darkest novels.  This remark is made by Mme. Hohlakov about Grushenka, the kept mistress of an old merchant who inspires Fyodor Karamazov and his son Dmitri to quarrel over who should possess her.  We may be saying something similar about President Trump.  Today he held a briefing in which he urged people to wear masks and to avoid crowding restaurants and bars, while pledging to do his utmost to promote vaccines for the coronavirus.  The sentiments are all impeccable – but, like Grushenka’s aspirations towards virtue, rather late in the day.  Well, we have to take what we can get. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 15,084,320; # of deaths worldwide: 618,477; # of cases U.S.: 4,028,313 # of deaths U.S.: 144,944.  Two dismal milestones surpassed today:  the global case count is now over 15 million and the U.S. case count is over 4 million.  Again the global case count has increased by one million in a bare five days.  The U.S. case count increased by one million in two weeks.  It will continue to increase at this rate until the number of new cases per day is reduced.

A four-month retrospective – Evening statistics

Today marks four months since I first began this journal.  It would appear a good time to take stock.  There are plenty of experts to talk about the effects of the virus on a national and global scale; as always, my focus is on the individual life in the midst of this crisis.  One does not always realize the extent to which social and historical trends shape a person’s life; we tend to believe that we have more control over the circumstances of our individual lives than we have in reality.  During an experience such as this one, however, it is difficult to overlook the magnitude of the impact from external factors.  In my own case, the pandemic has changed my life in many ways.

Personal health, thankfully, has not been affected at all – to date, at least.  I have been reasonably prudent with respect to physical contact with other people and I have remained active in my habits.  Thus far I have been fortunate and have not contracted the virus.  In other respects, my health has been untroubled by the usual ailments that befall people in my age group:   no bouts of rheumatism, no heart palpitations, no dental problems, no significant injuries, no shortness of breath, no digestive issues, not even any colds.  And in this context I am reminded of a conversation some years ago I had with one of my cousins who works as a nurse in a hospital.  When our discussion turned on the quality of the national health care system in general she gave me the following advice:  “Don’t get sick.”  It sounds like excellent counsel and I have done my best to comply with it.

I have grown slightly leaner over the past couple of months.  I have been eating less and exercising more.  With no parties to go to and no dining out, my diet has become somewhat simpler; on the other hand, my days have been filled up with hiking to a greater extent than in the past, for there is little else to do by way of diversion.  Even on days when I have not been hiking on trails I have been getting out and going on foot a good deal locally.  I have also been eating more vegetarian meals than before, especially in the earlier part of the spring when the supply of meat and fish was a bit more sporadic than it is now.

Certain habits that seemed strange and unusual initially have now become a matter of routine.  Whenever I step out of the house I put on a mask first as a matter of course.  When driving I always have a mask in the car, even if my destination is a lonely trail on which I plan to hike without companions.  One never knows if one might have to stop for an emergency or if the need to purchase one or more items in a store may become urgent.  This sort of behavior has become, to use a phrase that is currently in wide use, “the new normal.”

Walking out of doors along the streets has changed.  Many people are now donning face masks as a matter of course.  Even those who do not will, when they encounter one another by chance in the streets, veer to one side or the other of the sidewalk or path in order to avoid physical proximity.  Handshakes as a greeting are much less frequent.  These trends are not absolute – there are many holdouts, especially in this country.  But in general people are holding one another at a distance and in consequence their lives are becoming more isolated and introspective.

Social life has naturally been very much restricted.  I have not seen any of my relatives for nine months – always excepting the brief visits to the assisted living facility where my mother resides; and she is too sunk into dementia to recognize me at this point.  If all goes well, I will be able to visit my aunt in New York this month for her 90^th birthday and we will be able to have a celebration of sorts.  But one of her children lives in Chile and two others live in states that are on New York’s travel advisory list for mandatory quarantine, so it will be less elaborate than our family had originally hoped.  Casual visits to friends have ceased almost entirely – not quite entirely, for there have been occasions when I have gotten together with a couple of friends to sit outside together.  But they are infrequent and require careful planning.  Any kind of party that involves several people coming together is, of course, out of the question.  The activities associated with the majority of my hiking clubs have been placed on hiatus as well.  The only group with which I have consistently associated over the past several weeks is the Vigorous Hikers, and even that has significantly altered.  Formerly we met at commuter parking lots and carpooled to the trailhead together; now we drive there individually, nor do we socialize much after the hike is over.  All of the social events planned by the Wanderbirds for the year have had to be canceled.  The Capital Hiking Club has also canceled its activities.  There are several friends in the area whom I have not seen since March.  It will take some effort to restore former relations once the pandemic has passed.  “Friendships must be kept in constant repair,” as Samuel Johnson says; and the lack of physical contact with so many means that there will be a good deal of catch-up to do once normal conditions are restored.

Another aspect of my life that has changed is entertainment:  no concerts, no movie-going, no visits to the theatre.  The last time I was in a theatre for performing arts was on March 6^th, when I went with RK to see the King Singers at George Mason University.  It sounds like a trivial matter, and yet it is not after all; for what is merely entertainment for me represents income for singers, musicians, dancers, actors, directors, stage managers, set designers, ticket office personnel, etc.  It is true that I had not intended to renew my subscription with the Shakespeare Theatre in any case.  I have become increasingly dissatisfied with it over the years.  Not with the quality of the acting – our acting schools turn out generation after generation of consistently excellent performers, with seemingly inexhaustible supplies of energy – but with the directors.  More and more they strive to “update” the plays – that is to say, they substitute their own expressions for those of Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov.  Few admirers of the playwrights think that the plays gain by the change.  In the course of a couple of years I have seen a rendition of Macbeth – a play with numerous references to fog, mist, and rain – set in the Saharan portion of North Africa; an adaptation of Aeschylus’ Oresteia that gave great prominence to the role of Iphigenia – who never even appears in the original; and a version of Peter Pan that presents Wendy as a thoughtful, studious, introspective child with aspirations for a scientific career – in other words, the type for child for whom a visit to Never-Neverland would not hold the slightest attraction.  Perhaps after the pandemic is over and the theatre companies are contriving to lure viewers again, the directors will cast aside these clumsy and heavy-handed approaches that do their best to drive audiences away.

Travel has become less frequent.  All of the travel plans I made earlier for this year have been canceled.  Even now, with planes and trains available within the country, it remains too much of a risk for most people to use them.  I certainly feel that way myself.  If I go to New York, I will be driving it all the way.  I have been avoiding even the local public transportation, which means that I have not been to downtown DC for months; ordinarily I use the Metro rather than the car when I go there. 

Initially there were shortages of certain items – toilet paper, flour, yeast, and so on – but these appear to be contained for the most part.  In the early days of the virus many people were hoarding and there were numerous headlines about them in March and April, but such reports have become much less frequent now.  One consequence of the temporary shortages is that I’ve started bread-making again.  I began to make my own bread while I was a graduate student, when my schedule was fairly irregular; once I started working at a job that required commuting to an office every day I practically gave it up.  Occasionally I would make some during a Saturday or a Sunday, but for the most part I bought bread at local bakeries.  But when bread became temporarily unavailable I reverted to making my own, and I will probably continue to do so.

I have not saved any money during the months of the lockdown – which actually is slightly surprising.  One would think that personal expenses have been considerably reduced:  no dining out at restaurants for any reason, no air travel or train travel, no stays at hotels, no guests staying overnight to feed, no theatre excursions, etc.  I even have had to go without haircuts for a period of more than two months.  There have been unexpected expenses, of course – issues with the house circuit-breaker, replacing the desktop’s monitor, repair of the air conditioning system, and so on; but there are almost always unexpected expenses during every season, and these have not been especially onerous.  I have not been pressed for funds and I have never been in danger of being overdrawn, but I had expected the balance in my checking account to be larger than it currently is.

There are two causes that, as I believe, have driven my expenses up.  The first is that I’ve been driving a good deal more on my own to various trailheads.  Formerly I would carpool with others, so that, for example, if I hiked four times in a month with the Vigorous Hikers I might be a driver for only one of these four.  There is no carpooling now, and everyone must drive himself to any trailhead, whether he is hiking alone or with a group.  Although the gasoline prices are lower than they have been for many years, the mileage adds up; driving to even the closest points in Shenandoah National Park, for instance, is well over 100 miles round trip.  The other is that it seems to me that the prices of food have increased.  I have not been tracking them very carefully, so I cannot be certain on this point; but I have noticed when reviewing the charges on my credit card that the amounts expended on food are higher than they were earlier in the year.  It would not be surprising if so; I have no doubt that expenses associated with harvesting, transportation, packaging, etc., are higher now than they were before the pandemic began and of course these are passed on to the consumer.

I need hardly say that these observations are made for the purposes of providing a record of the current state of affairs, and should in no way be interpreted as grievances.  I know very well that as matters go I have been quite fortunate in comparison with the great majority of my countrymen during the pandemic.  There is a certain type of humor among Americans, and among American Jews in particular, that is sometimes referred to as “kvetching” – which is frequently translated as “complaining” but that doesn’t really do it justice:  “complaining developed to an art form” would be more like it.  It is the basis for much of the humor of the Borsht Belt comedians and indeed of a good deal of standup comedy in general.  But it can be overdone and, if indulged in to excess, its effects can be corrosive.  In this statement I am influenced, doubtless, by my habits of pacing the trails and clambering over the heights.  Plaints and laments will make little impression on the boulders, stream crossings, marshes, tree roots, and other obstacles that occur from time to time during one’s progress; and the most mordant of witticisms will be thrown away on a bear making a bluff charge.  For those I need other weapons.

Lastly, the process of keeping a journal has been quite a change in itself.  I have become more alert to the daily news in the attempt to track various changes over the world at large and this country in particular as people respond to the pandemic.  Whatever else may come of these developments, it is not often that one is conscious of being directly involved in a significant global event.  I can document only a tiny fraction of the ramifications of the pandemic, but there is a sense of accomplishment in assembling a record that can be used as a reminder of what we have endured once the pandemic comes to an end.

Of course, how and when the pandemic will pass remains an open question.  The global case count was slightly over one-quarter of a million on March 20^th.  It is now almost 15 million – close to a 60-fold increase.  That means that if the virus case number continues to increase in this manner, the case count four months from now will be between 800 and 900 million, or rather more than 10% of the world’s population.  One must, of course, not be too alarmist.  Therapeutic treatments are rapidly being developed, and they will be available well before any vaccine is approved.  These will greatly mitigate the effects of the virus and reduce the mortality rate.  There seems reason to believe that vaccines will be developed with more speed than usual, possibly within the next twelve months.  There seems little doubt, however, that the U.S. will be fortunate if the number of deaths from the virus does not exceed 250,000 by the end of the year. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 14,844,353; # of deaths worldwide: 612,585; # of cases U.S.: 3,960,583 # of deaths U.S.: 143,792. 

Hopes for restoration of the Wanderbirds – Hiking with friends from the group – Trump’s strange interview with Fox News – Evening statistics

The Wanderbirds website has been updated some time ago, taking note of the fact that the last time the Wanderbirds had to cancel the club hikes was during World War II, when gas was rationed and bus trips for leisure activities were out of the question.  This message actually is encouraging, in my view. The club activities were interrupted once before, for a considerable period.  But after the emergency that caused the interruption ended, the club returned to its former status.  If the club was able to do this once, it can do so again; so I’m in hopes that the club will return to what it used to be once the coronavirus crisis is over.  In the meantime the club is setting up an Email notification system that will provide announcements of various hikes organized for small parties by club members. 

I was at one such hike today.  I was feeling the after-effects of going up Maryland Heights and Stone Fort yesterday, very weary upon awakening, with a slight headache in addition.  I had planned to meet AD and RH to hike, but I was not at all certain whether I would be able to complete it, especially since the heat is continuing without a break.  But it all worked out well.  Initially I felt rather stiff and easily tired going up hills, but eventually that wore off and I was revived by the exercise.  As the hike continued I felt fit and energetic again, and I ended up by covering 10 miles without strain.  That is not especially unusual.  They have been occasions in the past – not numerous but sufficient to form a recognizable pattern – when I have awoken in the morning just before a hike feeling, if not exactly ill, at any rate “seedy,” and after the first mile or so into the hike all symptoms of malaise have vanished.  It would appear that meeting one’s supposed ailments head-on is a preferable course to coddling them and indulging them by taking to one’s bed.  The hike was not uncomfortable once I adjusted to it, despite the heat.  There were not many breezes, but at least most of the hike was well-shaded.  Some blackberries were ripe on the bushes, although one had to choose carefully when picking them; many were still not quite ready and a bit on the sour side. 

Afterwards we gathered together in the parking lot, and snacked and chatted together, just as in former days when the group congregated alongside the bus while waiting for all of the hikers to return and assemble.  AD provided fruit and cold drinks, and I contributed some cookies I had baked the previous evening.  They contain three types of chocolate – unsweetened, semi-sweet, and chocolate chips – and they went over well. Since the cookies were stored in the car during a hot summer day, the chips they contained were on the verge of melting, and that actually enhanced their flavor.

As happens so frequently, the tranquility of the day I spent seems strangely out of tune with the headlines on the national news.  However, there were no events that were especially startling.  There were several articles that focused on President Trump’s interview today with Chris Wallace of Fox News.  He complained that his request for a “big rally” in Michigan was turned down, just as similar requests were turned down in Nevada and Minnesota.  The administration in all three states is Democratic, and he attributes their refusal of his requests to political antagonism.  The thought that some state governors are not willing to host an event that could pose a significant health risk does not seem to have occurred to him.  I admit, however, that it is possible that there is a personal animus against him as well.  He has treated the state governors in general very badly, and few of them at this point regard him with favor.  The Democratic ones in particular have received no support whatever from him during the coronavirus crisis; so in all likelihood they are not especially anxious to host any kind of event that is designed to get him re-elected.  Curiously, however, Governor Whitmer’s spokesman has said that no one has contacted the state administration at all about such a rally and that they have had no opportunity either to prohibit it or sanction it.  Can it be that Trump simply imagined the entire episode?  It wouldn’t surprise me if he did.  At times he seems to dwell in an alternate universe, with only the most tenuous connections to the one that exists in reality.  Perhaps for the sake of accuracy I should say “almost all of the time” instead of “at times,” but I am feeling in a charitable mood today.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 14,633,027; # of deaths worldwide: 608,539; # of cases U.S.: 3,896,855 # of deaths U.S.: 143,269.  Another day with a case count increase of more than 60,000 for the U.S.  One encouraging statistic is our mortality rate. which continues to decrease, albeit slightly; it is now down to 3.6%.  Mexico is having difficulties.  Its case count is now greater than Chile’s and will surpass Peru’s within a week. 

Test results – Maryland Heights/Stone Fort/Harpers Ferry – Death of a health care worker – An American hero – Biden’s strategy of “enough rope” reaps rich returns – Evening statistics

The test results came back late last evening, and I am happy to say that they came out negative.  The message in which I received this news cautions me that the test is not perfect and that I should not consider myself virus-free until I’ve undergone at least 72 hours after the test without fever (a condition that has already been reached by now) and no other symptoms for 10 days after the test.  I took the test on the 13^th and have had no symptoms since that time; so that means five days more to go.  In any case, I believe that I can start making arrangements for traveling to New York. 

The weather continues to be very hot.  I went on the Maryland Heights/Stone Fort route today, and when I was ascending the Stone Fort Trail I had difficulties and was definitely slower than usual.  But there were compensations:  plenty of wineberries (their season is a bit later in this area than it is further east and at lower altitudes), lovely vistas, and a relaxing lunch at Maryland Heights itself.  The sky remains much less hazy than it usually is at this time of year; it was intensely blue, as opposed to the bleached-out appearance it generally has in mid-summer.  I selected this hike because, among other things, I wanted to walk along the new pedestrian bridge that has replaced the old one that was damaged by a train accident and also to go along the Appalachian Trail past Jefferson Rock.  Not many people were on the AT – which is a large claim, considering that it runs directly through Harpers Ferry itself, but it is so nonetheless.  The town had some visitors, but most of these remained on the Shenandoah St., Market St., and Potomac St., which are fairly level with the confluence of the two rivers; only a minority ascended along High St. and Church St. Probably the heat discouraged most of the visitors.  On the other hand, numerous people were using rafts and inner tubes to float on the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, which were flowing very gently today.

Isabelle Papadimitriou, a respiratory therapist in Dallas, TX, died from the virus at the age of 64.  She had no underlying conditions, but of course health care workers are continually exposed to people who are potential carriers of the virus, and she is one of 531 health-care workers who have died from it.  The official estimate is that 99,000 health care workers have been infected nation-wide, and the CDC adds that the actual total may be considerably higher.

John Lewis, the civil rights leader, is dead at 80.  Among his other deeds, he was one of the leaders of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in 1965 (“Bloody Sunday”), until he and his followers were brutally beaten by state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which certainly lived up to its name on that occasion.  After the encounter, Lewis lay unconscious with a broken skull.  He could easily have lost his life.  But he persevered, and the march was not in vain:  the Voting Rights Act came into being as a direct result of the national outrage that it generated on behalf of the marchers.  I don’t suppose it would be possible to rename the bridge after Lewis instead?  The one was a traitor and a terrorist (Pettus was named Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, a fitting achievement in his old age after a lifetime of cruelty, sadism, and chicanery); the other is a national hero.

“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: ‘O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it.”  I don’t know if Joe Biden is in the habit of making prayers any more frequently than Voltaire was, but that one certainly has been granted to him.  In a recent news conference, President Trump accused Biden of trying to abolish the suburbs and making office buildings too cold.  It is not merely that there is no evidence for such claims; they are so bizarre, indeed pointless, that it is not worth the trouble of refuting them – and Biden, accordingly, has simply shrugged them off without comment.  Biden has been very low-key during his campaign so far, and this strategy apparently is paying golden dividends; deprived of the daily back-and-forth insults that Trump craves, he flails about more wildly by the day.  Even Trump’s disparaging epithet of “sleepy” for his opponent is backfiring; “sleepy” at any rate has implications of calm and composure, and Trump increasingly demonstrates that he is devoid of those qualities. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 14,407,643; # of deaths worldwide: 604,103; # of cases U.S.: 3,831,680 # of deaths U.S.: 142,861.  The U.S. had a case increase of over 61,000 today, which actually is an improvement over the past few days.  South Africa’s case count has now surpassed Peru’s, and it is fifth on the list of nations with the highest number of case counts, as predicted.  Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh all have rapidly increasing case counts, although it will be several days before they overtake Spain and the U.K.  

The heat intensifies – Previously made travel plans – A new phishing scam – Chuck Woolery learns about the virus’ reality the hard way – Bolsonaro tests positive again – Evening statistics

The tropical temperatures and humidity have returned with a vengeance.  It was over 95 degrees outside today – at times the thermometer hovered close to 100.  Even when breezes blew across the paths they felt like oven blasts.  I was on the Potomac Heritage Trail in the Algonkian area, but I had to cut the hike short at 8 miles total.  I risked getting seriously dehydrated if I continued much longer.  Interestingly, wildlife was quite active:  many butterflies were fluttering among the trees and bushes, and I even saw a pair of goldfinches, the first ones that I have seen all year.  And the skies continue to remain less hazy than they normally are at this time of year.  But it was oppressive outside all the same, and the forecast indicates that it will remain so until Thursday at the earliest, when we will get a small amount of rain and some modification of the heat. 

The trip planned earlier to go to Estes and to spend about a week hiking Rocky Mountain National Park has been canceled.  It is not a surprise, of course.  Travel remains too uncertain in view of the ever-spiraling number of cases.  So this means all of the travel plans that I had made earlier in the year have come to nothing.  I had anticipated as much even as early as March 21^st (where I list the trips in my entry for that day). 

There is a curious scam going around.  I get repeated messages like the following in my Inbox:  “Just reaching out to say hello. Hope you are doing well and surviving the scourge, Please I have a request to ask you.”  They emanate, of course, from people whose names are completely unfamiliar to me, but they do seem to have valid comcast.net Email addresses.  It was only a matter of time before the scammers would start using the coronavirus as the basis for their frauds.  The Email is obviously some sort of phishing scheme, but since it does not have a link to click on I have no idea of how it works.  Nor am I going to respond in order to find out.

Chuck Woolery – that very same game show host whose tweets President Trump touted as a counter to the warnings from Dr. Fauci – has deleted the Twitter account in which he claims everyone is lying about the virus after he received the news that one of his sons contracted it.  In the meantime President Bolsonaro of Brazil has tested positive for the virus for the second time this past Wednesday.  One is tempted to conclude that the coronavirus has a sense of irony, but after all such results may be merely cause-and-effect:  those who deny the existence or the severity of the virus are likely to be more careless in their efforts to avoid contracting it.  Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 14,174,332; # of deaths worldwide: 598,419; # of cases U.S.: 3,764,961 # of deaths U.S.: 141,949.  The case count has taken only five days to increase by one million.  Today’s increase alone exceeded 230,000 and the daily increase will probably reach a quarter of a million soon.  The U.S. case count increase today was nearly 70,000.  More than 11,000 of these were in Florida alone – and, sadly, that is an improvement.  The U.S. accounts for well over a third% of the cases still active worldwide.  One slightly encouraging figure is that the mortality rate has gone down a little – a very little; it is now about 3.7%.  The virus is becoming more intense in South Africa, whose total has shot up past Chile’s.  In the next day or so it will exceed Peru’s as well and be exceeded only by the case counts of U.S., Brazil, India, and Russia.  Saudi Arabia’s case count is also expanding rapidly; it has now overtaken Italy’s

A day less than 90 degrees – Larry Hogan lambasts Donald Trump – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on New York crime – Discontent among New York police – The upcoming Republican Convention – Donald Trump’s campaign staff – Evening statistics

We reached only 87 degrees today and we thus failed to break our previous record of 21 consecutive days in excess of 90 degrees, which comes as a disappointment to no one.  It definitely was less hot today than it has been previously and fairly breezy as well, but it was also a bit more humid and hazy – typical July weather, in short.  Not many people were out on the streets today, probably discouraged by the continual heat.  Mask-wearing is sporadic; some pedestrians use them and others do not.  However, nearly everyone gives one another a wide berth when approaching from opposite directions. 

Larry Hogan has written an account of the difficulties he has had in obtaining test kits for Maryland residents and he is scathing about the lack of cooperation he received from the President:  “instead of listening to his own public health experts, the president was talking and tweeting like a man more concerned about boosting the stock market or his reelection plans.”  It was only because Hogan’s wife is South Korean and something of a celebrity in her country of origin that he was able to broker a deal with Seoul that procured the kits that he needed.

The moral is clear:  if you happen to be governor of an American state during a health crisis, make sure that your domestic partner comes from a country with a history, unlike ours, of handling epidemics with competence and ability.

My recent comments about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got some reaction from a few readers.  I rather expected that they would.  I look upon her as one of the great disappointments of American politics.  Unlike the overwhelming majority of our legislators, she did not grow up in especially affluent circumstances and she was not at all well-off at the time of her election.  Instead of being a high-priced lawyer, like so many other senators and representatives, she earned her living by waiting tables and tending bar.  She thus has much better credentials than most of her colleagues for providing truly representative government, from her first-hand experience with living on a limited income with precarious job security, as is the case for a large number of our countrymen.  But she seems to have learned nothing from it.  From the first she has subordinated the interests of those who work for a living to those who don’t.  She has striven to make the burden on the tax-paying portion of New Yorkers as great as possible; while her advocacy of the so-called “Green New Deal” places her firmly in the interests of a small, privileged elite – as in, for example, the manner in which this policy would make air travel all but inaccessible for anyone except the very wealthy. 

Her remarks on the surge of crime in New York City are heartless in the extreme:  “Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren’t paying their rent and are scared to pay their rent. And so they go out and they need to feed their child and they don’t have money. So, you maybe have to — they’re put in a position where they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry that night.”  As if petty shoplifting were the main issue at hand!  Murders have gone up 23% this year in New York and the number of shooting victims has increased by over 70%.  Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks make the perpetrators appear to be latter-day versions of Victor Hugo’s Jean Valjean.  She cannot be ignorant of the fact that breaking a pane of glass to steal a loaf of bread is a very different matter from hopping out of an SUV and firing at random into a crowd at a barbecue, killing a one-year old infant in the process (to take one incident out of many as an example).  So I see no need to modify the disobliging adjectives I used to describe her yesterday.

As to what I said about the police being muzzled – I don’t believe people fully realize what they are doing when they revile those who risk their lives on a daily basis to protect us.  It is, of course, not a particularly new phenomenon.  Rudyard Kipling wrote of “making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep” in 1890.  The recent policy changes and budget cuts have alienated many of the New York police.  The number of resignations from the NYPD from June 29 to July 6 is 179, as opposed to 35 during the same time last year – an increase of over 400%.  Just one day ago Bill De Blasio signed the so-called “diaphragm law,” which prohibits police officers from “sitting, kneeling, or standing on the chest or back” of a subject.  Unfortunately, some subjects are extremely difficult to subdue by any other means.  The results of such policies are not difficult to predict.  The truly able and responsible people will be alienated from even entering law enforcement as a career, and we will end up with municipal police forces staffed with the equivalent of dozens of Derek Chauvins.  I would be delighted to be proved wrong.

President Trump’s transferal of the Republican Convention from Charlotte, NC, to Jacksonville, FL, has already been noted.  The idea was that when Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina, absolutely refused to allow a convention with no requirements either for face masks or social distancing to be held within the state, Trump decided to move the convention to a location that would place no restrictions on the crowded assemblages so dear to his heart.  But the recent flood of new virus cases in Florida has inspired a measure of prudence even within the Republican Party.  Only the 2,500 designated delegates will be allowed to attend the first three nights of the four-day event.  On the final evening, when Trump is scheduled to accept the nomination and address the convention, delegates will be allowed to bring one guest, and alternate delegates will also be invited, bringing the crowd to about 6,000-7,000 people.  Obviously, the expected attendance under normal conditions would be much, much larger.  At this point more than one person in 70 per capita within the state has been affected by the virus.  Florida has been getting daily case increases in the 10,000-15,000 range for several days.  In North Carolina, where the daily case count is considerably less and the mortality rate appears to be flattening, the convention might have had more leeway. 

The dramatic irony of this outcome is thrown away on Donald Trump, whose motto for every crisis that comes his way is “whenever anything goes wrong, fire someone.”  In this case that someone is Brad Parscale, who admittedly has not exactly been fired but merely demoted; he now handles digital and data strategies while the remainder of the campaign is now assigned to the deputy manager, Bill Stepien.  Shaking up one’s campaign staff less than four months away from the election doesn’t sound like a winning strategy; one can only hope that Biden will not neglect to capitalize on it.  For the present Biden has been content to allow Trump to flounder on his own on the principle of “give a man enough rope,” and it must be said that to date the results have justified this approach.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 13,924,308; # of deaths worldwide: 591,835; # of cases U.S.: 3,683,324 # of deaths U.S.: 141,016.  Our increase is less than 67,000 today, which falls short of the amount of increase yesterday.  It is still, however, a daily increase of nearly 2% of the total number.  Brazil’s case count is now over two million and India’s case count is over one million.  Brazil hit the one-million mark during the last week of June, which means that its case count has doubled in less than a month.

Obtaining service from Verizon – Scott Lively’s views on women and face masks – Mary Trump’s new book – Jeff Sessions’ defeat – The inhumanity of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – Cruz’s transition from Trump’s opponent to supporter – The spinelessness of Trump’s associates – Evening statistics

My router, which is several years old, gave out today and had to be replaced.  In order to obtain the new router I had to undergo the barrage of voice menus and automated systems that Verizon insists upon interposing before one can speak with a living person.  Why they continue to do this, when they must know how much customers detest it, is something of a mystery.  I do not object to being placed on hold when attempting to speak to a representative.  It is quite natural that the company cannot attend to every telephone call at once; and especially now, when the constraints imposed by the virus must translate into a reduced staff online.  In any case, one always has the option of leaving one’s number in the call record so that they will call back whenever an agent becomes available.  But these preliminaries of going through menu after menu full of options, with continual urgings to log into their automated system, serve no useful purpose.  Once I was able to connect with someone, the service was excellent; the new router was ordered within a few minutes and I was able to pick it up at a store in Woodbridge less than two hours after I had ordered it.  But the delays I experienced in getting connected to a non-automated voice was, to say the least, extremely vexatious.

Scott Lively, the Conservative Christian spokesman who allegedly was one of the architects of the anti-gay legislation in Uganda (it sounds odd that anyone in Uganda would take advice from a foreigner, and from an American at that, about their own legislation , but the Lord moves in mysterious ways, etc., etc.) – Scott Lively, I say, has recently made some contributions to our national debate that have been . . . lively, for want of a better word.  In a radio interview this past Sunday he stated that “this is going to be very controversial, but the women’s right to vote—the 19th Amendment—was actually a product of the Soviet Bolshevik revolution that was transported here to the United States in the 1920s”; which is actually rather amusing, if unhistorical. In 1869, long before Bolsheviks were even heard of, women received the right to vote in Wyoming, and several other states followed suit well before 1917. Lively has also said that he would rather be beheaded than forced to wear a face mask; one can only hope that someone will act on the suggestion and  accord him that martyrdom to the faith that he so evidently desires.

Mary Trump’s book about her uncle has been officially published, but it cannot be said that any of her revelations are particularly surprising.  Indeed, many of them are insignificant:  accounts of petty quarrels among Trump and his brothers when they were children that are the natural result of sibling rivalry and that would be of little consequence to anyone except a speaker of fluent psycho-babble.  It would appear that triviality is something of a family trait.  More to the point is the question of why so many people fall into the nets of such an obvious charlatan. 

Jeff Sessions, for instance, typifies the career arc of many who pin their fortunes to Donald Trump’s.  He was the first Senator to endorse Trump in the 2016 election, long before anyone else took him seriously as a presidential candidate, and consistently endorsed him throughout the campaign, which eventually resulted in the appointment of Sessions as Attorney General.  But his association with Trump did him little good in the long run.  After he recused himself from an investigation about foreign influences on Trump’s campaign – which he was obligated to do, since he himself had been personally involved in the campaign and could not undertake to review it impartially – Trump did not rest until Sessions was deprived of his position and assailed him with numerous verbal assaults in the process.  Trump retains grudges for a long time and appears to regard acting ethically, as Sessions did on this occasion, as a personal affront.  During the recent primary for the Alabama Senate seat, Sessions lost out to his opponent, and Trump played a significant role in his defeat, taking every opportunity he found to excoriate his former ally.  He expects unquestioning loyalty from all of his associates, but he gives them nothing in return.  Why do they all submit so tamely?

Part of the reason, no doubt, is that they wish to present a united front against Trump’s opponents, several of whom are every bit as unsavory as he is.  I have already commented on the rigidity and dogmatism of many of our so-called liberals.  One example is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, hardened, callous, and bloodthirsty, who has sought to whitewash the perpetrators responsible for the numerous spate of crimes in New York that occurred after the police there were muzzled – pretending that these were confined to abstracting goods from stores on account of hunger, and by implication deliberately excusing the shootings and stabbings that have resulted in the deaths of many, including several young children. 

But that is not the entire story. The Republicans should have realized long before now that Trump is an extremely poor representative of the values they profess to espouse.  Yet they cave in to him without question.  Sessions is far from unique.  Ted Cruz, for instance, was a rival candidate during the 2016 primary, and during that event he and Trump attacked each other’s wives, citizenship, and integrity with unabashed ferocity. They even threatened to sue one another, accusing each of lying and financial skullduggery.  Trump abused Cruz’s wife for her appearance and spread the rumor that Cruz’s father participated in the assassination of President Kennedy.  When Trump was finally nominated, Cruz refused to endorse him.  But he gave in eventually, and now is one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters.  For a while he showed a bit of backbone, but once Trump’s presidency was an accomplished fact Cruz has striven his utmost to bolster the regime.  And for what?  What does he gain from it? 

So it is with Michael Flynn; so it is with James Comey; so it is with Reince Priebus; so it is with Sean Spicer; so it is with Rex Tillotson – the history of Trump’s administration is littered with stories of men and women who have displayed whole-hearted support for Trump and have come belatedly to rue their Faustian bargain.  In his first year of office, 34% of his original staff were fired, forced to resign, or reassigned.  By July, 2018 – a bare 17 months into his administration – over 61% of his senior aides had left office, many of them against their will.  But it is useless to continue in this vein; most of what I have related is familiar to nearly everyone and must appear sadly commonplace by now.

And so I move on, by a natural segue, to the daily statistics, since our President is a major factor in the scale that they have assumed.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 13,671,188; # of deaths worldwide: 585,929; # of cases U.S.: 3,615,344 # of deaths U.S.: 140,091.  The increases are similar to yesterday, except that our country’s case increase is over 70,000.  Of these, over 10,000 have occurred in Florida and over 11,000 in Texas.  Florida’s case count is over 300,000 – about 1.4% of the state population or about 1 in every 70 per capita.  Americans now account for over 36% of the cases still active.  South Africa has become a new epicenter; it has overtaken Spain’s case count and is poised to overtake Mexico’s by tomorrow.  Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia are all increasing at the rate of over 2,000 a day; but it will be a while before their absolute case counts move into the top ten nations.  There is a very slight decrease in mortality rate; ours is currently at about 3.8%. 

A record-breaking heat wave – Unseasonably clear air – Big Meadows Lodge and Dark Hollow Falls – An expert to challenge Dr. Fauci – Evening statistics

My impression that this summer has been warmer than usual is not merely my imagination.  I heard on the radio that we have had 19 days in succession with temperatures over 90 degrees, the second-longest period of consecutive days over 90 degrees in history.  If this trend continues past Thursday we will break the record for the longest period.  According to the weather forecasts, we have a good chance of doing that.  The indications are that the temperatures over 90 degrees will continue throughout the month. 

However, the humidity was low today; and on the mountains in Shenandoah National Park, the temperatures were considerably cooler.  The air was very clear, which is most unusual for this time of year; it is almost invariably hazy in mid-summer.  In all probability the large reduction in traffic over the past several months is the explanation.  At any rate, one part of the hike that I took today involved going along a fire road through a meadow that was completely exposed to sunlight, which ordinarily would be like a furnace in July; today, in the low humidity and with a continual breeze blowing, it was a delight. 

I was with the Vigorous Hikers, and we went from the Rose River Fire Road to Camp Rapidan and from there to the Big Meadows lodge, where we had lunch.  We did not, as we usually do on this route, have lunch within the lodge itself.  Its service is very limited now; no one was seated inside, and there was a long line for the takeout orders.  Even getting ice cream, as some of us did, took a considerable amount of time.  We returned by way of the Dark Hollow Falls, which was fairly crowded up to the point where we came to the fire road for descending.  Although it was nearly 18 miles and 2900 feet of elevation gain, it did not feel as arduous as it might have been on account of the comfortable levels of both temperature and humidity, such a contrast to the usual types of hikes in mid-July.  SB joined us for the first time in many months; he had broken his leg late last year and it has taken a long time to heal.  We heard news of BL; his illness turns out to be lymphoma (and not the virus as was originally diagnosed), and he is currently undergoing treatment for it.

Donald Trump is claiming that his opponents are exaggerating the damage done by the virus in order to undermine his chances of re-election.  In the process he is attempt to throw discredit on Anthony Fauci, who has been fairly outspoken about his disagreements with the President on re-opening policies.  As part of this effort, he has used these remarks from a well-established expert:  “Everyone is lying. The CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it.”

The author is Chuck Woolery, original host of Wheel of Fortune, and renowned for numerous other game shows.  Who cannot fail to be dazzled by such a display of expertise?  After all, let’s get our priorities straight.  Sure, Anthony Fauci may be an internationally known expert on the regulation of the immune response who has served as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and infectious Diseases for over 35 years. But can he host a game show based on Scrabble?

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 13,446,062; # of deaths worldwide: 580,246; # of cases U.S.: 3,544,673 # of deaths U.S.: 139,136.  I type out the figures of increases with a kind of stunned disbelief:  more than 200,000 new cases worldwide; more than 5,000 deaths worldwide; more than 65,000 new cases today in the U.S.  Mexico has overtaken Spain and South Africa has overtaken the U.K. in national case counts. 

Maintenance tasks go on, independent of pandemic – Bread-making considerations – Testing for the virus – New name for Washington’s team – Florida and California – Evening statistics

As I’ve noted in other entries, the tasks of daily life do not become any the less pressing during a pandemic.  Today was devoted almost entirely to what might be categorized as maintenance activities.  Hauling out the garbage, recyclables, and lawn clippings to the curb for the municipal refuse collection to pick up.  Trimming a few bushes that have become slightly overgrown.  Picking up a couple of extenders for the downspouts in order to improve the drainage from the gutters.  Taking the car in for the annual state inspection.  Laundry.  Balancing accounts.  Bread-making. 

Strictly speaking, this last activity is no longer necessary; the bakeries are well-stocked again.  But since flour and yeast are now readily obtainable again, why give it up?  Today’s batch incorporated some millet flour and barley flour left over from trying out other recipes.  This is not such an affectation as it may sound.  There is a reason that many bakers at home incorporate additions such as wheat germ, flax seed, etc., in their bread-making.  The sad truth is that when the bran and the germ are removed from the flour, most of the nutrients are gone as well.  Whole wheat flour, which does not have the germ removed, is a good deal more nutritious; but it doesn’t keep as well (if it isn’t used up in time the germ content can make it go rancid) and it doesn’t perform as well for recipes that were specifically designed with white flour in mind – using whole wheat flour for challah or brioche, for instance, generally yields disastrous results.  So one has to fall back on other expedients.

But one of today’s activities falls outside of the category of routine maintenance.  My cousin told me that if I come up to New York, I should undergo a COVID-19 test first.  Since he, his wife, and his son have all undergone several weeks of illness as a result of the virus, they have no desire to repeat the experience.  (They do not place any stock in the theory that undergoing the disease confers immunity – and indeed, such evidence that has been submitted on the subject appears to be more wish-fulfillment than anything else.)  It was a bit of a search to find a place where I could get one.  Many of the places that offer the test do so only for people who have symptoms or who are in the company with others who have had the virus.  But eventually I found one place in Fairfax that not only had no restrictions but which took people in on a walk-on basis, to my great surprise.  The test itself is simple – one swabs a Q-tip in the nasal passages and then deposits the swab into a sterilized tube.  The entire experience was surprisingly pleasant.  We are fortunate in this area; all of the health care professionals in the facilities I have attended have been splendid people.  I have never had a bad experience with a single one of them.  This period in particular must be a stressful time for all of them; but the ones I encountered today were not only efficient but smiling and courteous and affable – one felt in a good humor merely from talking with them. I had a further reason for gratification:  when the nurse took some initial measurements she looked up at me and said, “You exercise a lot, don’t you?”; and when I admitted that I try to stay active she continued, “Yes, I thought so – your heart rate is quite low” – which certainly was agreeable to hear.

It is now official:  the Washington Redskins are the Redskins no longer.  Various new names are currently undergoing consideration.  I have never had any great attachment to that name myself.  My objection to it was not so much on political grounds as it was to its inapplicability to the nation’s capital:  one is about as likely to encounter an Amerindian in Cameroon as in downtown DC.  Something that is more characteristic of the city at large is in order, I think.  For example – the Washington Mugwumps? the Washington Syringes? the Washington Peculators?

Does anyone remember when Italy was the object of pity from the other nations in the world on account of the effects of the virus there?  It no longer is in the top ten countries ranked according to absolute case counts; it is now thirteenth on the list.  Florida, which has a little over a third of Italy’s population, has more cases than that country now.  California has closed its bars and has ordered the state’s restaurants, movie theaters, zoos, and museums to cease indoor operations.  Certain selected counties (including all of those in Southern California) must also shut down gyms, places of worship, personal care services, hair salons, and indoor shopping malls. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 13,228,323; # of deaths worldwide: 574,962; # of cases U.S.: 3,478,415 # of deaths U.S.: 138,234.  More than 60,000 new cases today in the U.S.  One slightly encouraging sign is that the mortality rate does appear to be decreasing, albeit very slowly.  But today it has fallen just under 4%, for the first time in weeks.  It is possible, also, that some of the increase is accounted for by the greater numbers of people being tested. 

Another hike with friends – The Wanderbirds, past and present —  Florida as the new nation’s epicenter – Evening statistics

Normally the air is rather hazy at this time of year, especially when the temperature goes over 90 degrees; but it was beautifully clear today.  I suppose that there are fewer pollutants in the air than usual on account of the lessened amount of traffic during the past several months.  I met with AD again at the American Chestnut Land Trust along with two others (RH and JK).  The wineberries are nearly gone by now, but the blackberries are ripening.  It was quite comfortable in the shade, despite the heat.  And it was less humid than yesterday.  We went along the North-South Trail via the raft across Parker Creek.  JK commented on how healthy the forest appears in this area; unlike the forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, it does not contain many ash trees, which are currently being decimated by the emerald ash borer.  After we finished we ate lunch together and chatted about the Wanderbirds, both of its past and its future.  AD is the current Director of Trails and thus a member of the Board.  It will, of course, be some time before we can resume chartering a busload of hikers to a trailhead – not until next spring at the earliest.  It is also not certain whether the bus company we used in the past will still be available.  It is an open question how bus companies are surviving during a period when people are reluctant to travel together in close proximity with one another.  Our usual Christmas festivity has been canceled.  For the moment the best we can do is to hike together in small groups, driving separately to assemble at trailheads. 

I earnestly hope that the club can be restored to its former footing (if that word can be allowed in conjunction with a hiking club) once the virus recedes.  There are many hiking clubs in the DC metro area, but the Wanderbirds has enjoyed, as I think, a more significant social component than the majority of the others.  In many of the other clubs, for instance, I could not be at all certain of meeting people I knew from one week to the next and I certainly had fewer opportunities of joining members of other clubs in extra-curricular activities – such as the trips I already mentioned, which subsets of us would take to rent cabins in the proximity of the Appalachian Trail, or to travel together to other parts of the country or to other countries, or to congregate in groups to events such as the Appalachian Trail Conference.  And every year we would have special events for the members:  a group picnic in the summer, a Christmas party in winter, and so on.  In short it was a club in the true sense of the word – not merely a convenience for performing a leisure activity but a focal point that provided the foundation for many firm and lasting friendships.  The meetings with AD and the others in the Calvert County area have given a few of us some degree of renewed social activity, very welcome indeed after weeks of solitude, but it will be a great loss if we cannot restore the club to its old format within the next several months.

Florida has had over 15,000 new cases of coronavirus, more than a quarter of all of the new cases reported today in the country.  More than 18,000 people are currently requiring treatment, placing no little strain on its hospitals.  These results don’t appear to make any impression on the state government.  Masks in public are not mandated; Disney World re-opened yesterday; public schools are scheduled to re-open in the autumn.  Bars are closed for the moment, but numerous bar owners have initiated lawsuits to fight for their right to keep the public intoxicated.  I may be misquoting slightly.  New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – once the area in which the virus had concentrated – have all undergone significant downturns in their numbers of active cases.  They have all exercised great caution in their re-opening schedules; but Florida seems unable or unwilling to profit by their example.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 13,022,988; # of deaths worldwide: 571,000; # of cases U.S.: 3,411,982 # of deaths U.S.: 137,733.  The worldwide case count has taken a mere five days to increase by more than a million.  The U.S. increase today was less than 60,000, for the first time in several days, but it still accounts for nearly 30% of the global daily increase. 

Wild blackberries – Enjoying sensual pleasures – Burke Lake – Floridian optimism – COVID-19 not confined to the elderly – Cases that do not require hospitalization but are not mild – Donald Trump’s astounding gesture – Evening statistics

The blackberries are ripening!  At Burke Lake they are still hard, but on the path that connects it with Lake Mercer the first ripe berries are appearing – minus those that I have already consumed while strolling through, of course.  A few of the passersby stared at me in surprise while I was in the midst of the thorny bushes as I plucked the berries and ate them – poor things! they have no idea of how delicious blackberries fresh from the bush can be.  The store-bought ones are not even comparable.  I will admit, however, that the best wild blackberries I ever had were in Vancouver, on the occasion that I was walking from downtown to the Museum of Anthropology.  The bushes grew alongside the roads, and their berries were large, plump, and very sweet; I’ve never had any like them, before or since.

“I cherish the consolations of the flesh.  I have no patience with cowards who call them weaknesses.  I say there is a certain achievement in enjoying things,” says Brecht’s Galileo; and I am thoroughly in agreement with him.  I have several friends who are in obvious accord with this outlook.  When a group of us rents out a cabin for hiking excursions in out-of-the-way areas that have few restaurants available, we take care to select a place that has kitchen facilities so that we can prepare meals on our own – and we eat together very well indeed.  And then there are the camping trips I have taken under the auspices of MP, who possesses the most magnificent set of outdoor kitchen equipment that I have ever seen, enabling us to feast royally on the meals we prepare together.  Nor must I omit to mention, in this context, the wines that CB, who is an internationally known connoisseur, has provided on several such occasions.  Never, perhaps, is such an attitude more needed than in the current circumstances.  To savor the pleasures that are available at hand, to relish the experiences that are still obtainable – that is the only way to preserve one’s equilibrium during what otherwise might appear to be a perpetual state of siege.

Many people were out today.  The main parking lot was full by 10:00 AM, but there were several spaces available on the auxiliary parking area close to the amphitheater.  It was very warm, but not overpoweringly so – quite pleasant in the shade.  Not all of the visitors to Burke Lake were on the trails; some were picnicking, some were rowing or fishing on the lake, some were playing frisbee golf.  Many were on bicycles.  The majority were not wearing masks.  The current wisdom appears to be that outdoor activity that involves continual movement is much less likely to transmit the virus than congregating together inside.  Let us hope that is so.

I don’t know whether it is reassuring or the reverse to see so many people outside without any apparent fear of risking the virus.  In Florida Disney World has re-opened, even though the state has recently been getting over 10,000 new cases per day.  No longer can we claim that the coronavirus is a disease of the elderly; the median age for the new patients in the state is 33.  That doesn’t appear to have deterred visitors, who have come to the park in throngs. 

Youth, indeed, is no guarantee against the ravages of the virus.  The immunologists and virologists have always known this, but the message has been slow in penetrating public consciousness; most people (including you-know-who) still appear to believe that all or nearly all of its victims are elderly.  There is one case in Texas of a 30-year old man who deliberately attended a COVID party in San Antonio, believing that the virus was a hoax and intending to prove it by attending the party. He contracted the disease and in his case it proved to be fatal.  Some of his last words, reportedly, were “I made a mistake.” 

And even though the mortality rate is decreasing, it must not be forgotten that the effects of the virus among people who survive it can be long-ranging.  About 80% of the people who contract the virus have few or no symptoms and recover in an average of two weeks.  But because of the great numbers of people that have contracted the virus by this time, the other 20% are now numbered in the thousands.  Not all of them are hospitalized or put on ventilators.  Many who have been able to cope with the virus in their homes are nonetheless wrestling with symptoms that have lasted for months and may continue for years.  “It is mild relative to dying in a hospital, but this virus has ruined my life,” one COVID-19 survivor has said. “Even reading a book is challenging and exhausting. What small joys other people are experiencing in lockdown—yoga, bread baking—are beyond the realms of possibility for me.”

A news flash occurred as I was writing these last words:  Donald Trump has actually appeared in public wearing a face mask!  It is the first time that he has done so since the pandemic began.  In paying a visit to wounded service members at Walter Reed National Military Center, he consented to drape a mask over his raw-beef-colored cheeks and his wide, lipless, shark-like mouth, to the great improvement of his appearance.  Whether his visit had any cheering effect upon the patients is perhaps a matter of opinion, but at any rate they did not have to worry as much about getting infected from him.  I approve of this trend; if he continues by covering up his brazen forehead and his icy, malevolent eyes in future public appearances, I might actually be able to look upon him without recoiling.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 12,832,733; # of deaths worldwide: 567,024; # of cases U.S.: 3,354,925 # of deaths U.S.: 137,392.  Today our case increase was just short of 61,000, which, I regret to say, is actually an improvement over the past few days.  Our case rate now exceeds that of every country in Europe, including Sweden.  Mexico’s case count has overshot that of the U.K.  South Africa will probably do the same within the next two or three days. 

Food stores in Fairfax – Hogan Gidley, Trump’s press secretary – A cognitive test for Trump – An attempt to muzzle Robert Unanue – The decay of American liberalism – Hagia Sophia – Evening statistics

It was somewhat more moderate in temperature today, quite pleasant in the shadier areas; so I wandered about more freely in the area than on previous days, noticing developments here and there.  Two large new supermarkets are scheduled to open soon within a couple of miles from where I live.  It seems surprising to me that there is a demand for more stores of this kind when there are already well over half-a-dozen food stores in the Fairfax area:  Safeway, Aldi, Walmart, H-Mart, Wegmans, Patel Brothers, Americana Grocery, Shopper Food Warehouse, Trader Joe’s – and that is just within the city itself or immediately outside of it; and the city is a bare six square miles in area. 

A curious television interview occurred yesterday between Fox News’ Sandra Smith and Hogan Gidley, the new national press secretary for Donald Trump’s campaign.  Smith had asked Gidley about the challenges running against Biden presented to the Trump campaign; and in particular she mentioned, as an example of Biden’s abilities, the manner in which Biden managed to reverse the trend against him during the Democratic primary in February and eventually transform it in his favor.  Gidley replied with an odd tangential rant that referred to Biden’s remarks in 2017 about his stint as a lifeguard when he was a teenager and to his more recent response to the lockdown restrictions:  “You’re going to hear interesting comments from Joe Biden about how children love his leg hair and how he used to coax children up onto the porch with ice cream during quarantines.”  Smith hastily intervened, telling him that the intellectual level of his response was too trivial even for Fox News.  She didn’t put it precisely in those terms, but she did manage eventually to steer him back to the topic at hand.  It remains unclear whether Trump’s predilection for petty and irrelevant personal remarks is contagious or whether he simply surrounds himself with people whose tastes in such matters resemble his own.

Meanwhile Trump himself has claimed that physicians administered a cognitive test to him recently:  “I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors and they were very surprised. They said, ‘That’s an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anyone do what you just did.’”  I certainly have no quarrel with this assessment of his acing a cognitive test as “unbelievable.”  I at any rate do not believe it.  I suspect that many others have the same opinion.

Some of Trump’s opponents, however, manage to rival him in offensiveness.  Recently Robert Unanue, the president of Goya Foods, said that the nation is “truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump.”  Now while I may judge this opinion to be thoroughly misguided, he certainly has committed no crime in expressing it.  But various Latino leaders, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former presidential candidate Julian Castro, have publicized their outrage at these remarks and called for a national boycott of his company’s products.  It appears that they have no difficulty with anyone expressing his views, provided that these are in complete accordance with everything they approve of.

What has become of the spirit of Voltaire, that led one of his biographers to summarize it in the phrase “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”?  If voices such as Ocasio-Cortez’s and Castro’s represent the current state of liberalism in our nation and our century, I do not envy the generations who are to come after ours.

In a display of arrogance that should come as a surprise to no one, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch (R-Idaho) and ranking member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) officially condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s decision to turn Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque.  I’m sorry, but that’s not their decision to make.  Hagia Sophia, to be sure, has had a somewhat complicated history.  It was originally built as a church in the Byzantine Empire during the 6^th century.  When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, they converted it into a mosque.  In 1934, the Cabinet under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the man who modernized Turkey, decreed that it be made a museum.  As such, it has been a major tourist attraction and has been widely used as a symbol for peaceful co-existence among religions.  No doubt the recent decision must be very disappointing to outsiders.  However, the fact remains that it is a Turkish edifice and its fate lies in the hands of the government of Turkey.  We Americans have no more say in the matter than the Turks do about the function of the National Cathedral in Washington.

Of course, my attitude in the matter may be influenced by the accounts of some who were not overly impressed by it to begin with:

“I do not think much of the Mosque of St. Sophia. I suppose I lack appreciation. We will let it go at that. It is the rustiest old barn in heathendom. . .  . St. Sophia is a colossal church, thirteen or fourteen hundred years old, and unsightly enough to be very, very much older. Its immense dome is said to be more wonderful than St. Peter’s, but its dirt is much more wonderful than its dome, though they never mention it.”  (Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad)

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 12,614,186; # of deaths worldwide: 561,980; # of cases U.S.: 3,292,270 # of deaths U.S.: 136,645.  In recent days I have been anxiously scanning the figures in hopes of a deceleration, and I am always disappointed.  Today there has been a worldwide case increase of over 230,000, of which the U.S. case increase accounts for more than 70,000.  Nearly one in a hundred of the national population has contracted the virus by now.  Our country accounts for over a third of the cases still active worldwide. India’s case increase is nearly 28,000, although that is less troubling than it may appear in proportion to its population, which is more than four times the size or ours.  But South Africa has had a case increase of more than 12,000 and Argentina, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Chile have each have more than 3,000 new cases, quite high in proportion to their populations. 

Sultry weather continues – The question of reparations – Non-American slavery – Rising crime rates – Donald Trump’s complaint – Donald Trump predicted – Evening statistics

It is said that one should take at least 10,000 steps a day to remain healthy and fit.  That sounds suspiciously coincidental – can it really be that a numerical constant derived from a counting system based on a physiological quirk is so readily applicable to our internal biology?  At any rate, I fell short of that number yesterday by about six hundred.  It was not due to laziness, exactly.  We have been having a series of days well over 90 degrees and it is much less inviting to spend a long time out of doors than it has been a few weeks ago.  It has been hotter summer than average so far.  Normally at this time of year we have days in the low-to-high 80s and the occasional day in the 90s, with some brief periods of 90-degree days in succession; but it has been over 90 degrees this month for several days running and the forecast is for more of the same for the next ten days at least.   Today was an exception; it was below 90 degrees most of the time and there was a sufficient amount of cloud cover for several hours to mitigate the glare of the sun.  In the shade it could be quite pleasant, especially when (as would happen from time to time) breezes were blowing. 

There is considerable talk about the need to provide black Americans with reparations for what their ancestors have endured as slaves.  We would not use this argument in any other connection.  If a motion were made to tax Americans of Japanese descent in order to compensate for the damage done to several Pacific islands held by our country during World War II, it would be denounced as being both racist and absurd.  A substantial portion of white Americans descend from ancestors who were not living in the United States at all when the institution of slavery existed.  Three of my own grandparents, for example, were born in Europe.  Moreover, about 15% of all marriages in our country today are inter-racial and some of the progeny of such marriages have the blood of both slaves and slave-owners running through their veins.  I greatly fear that the Black Lives Matter movement, originally designed to place black Americans on a more equal footing with the rest of their countrymen, has fallen into the hands of extremists intent on driving as great a wedge as possible between black Americans and everyone else.

In this context it may be mentioned that many dissidents in Islamic countries are by no means pleased with how the amount of attention focused on a country where slavery was abolished over 150 years ago is interfering with awareness of countries where slavery is currently alive and well.  Niger is the most prominent example; but there are several sub-Saharan countries in which the institution is quietly practiced and tolerated, even if it is not officially sanctioned.

 The Associated Press has been widely derided for its tweet claiming that “experts” are puzzled at the surge in bloodshed in several cities after the police were defunded or severely hampered in their attempts to arrest violent felons.  The best reaction perhaps was the one who responded “It’s not hard to explain. We need new experts.” 

I have not focused on Donald Trump for more than an entire week, an omission that doubtless would greatly trouble him if he were to become aware of this journal.  It is not that he has been inactive during this time, but there was a certain lack of novelty in his most recent frolics.  He seemed content merely with repeating old shortcomings and not displaying any new ones.  Perhaps he has been undergoing some fatigue as a result of the summer heat.  I am happy to relate, however, that today he has provided new evidence that he looks upon himself as an uncrowned king.  The Supreme Court handed down a decision that announced that New York prosecutors could access his financial records, including his tax returns, in their investigation of potential fraud in his corporate dealings.  Trump has expressed amazement at this decision, complaining that it is “political persecution”; and I do believe that he is genuinely astounded to discover that our judicial system expects him to observe the law just like everyone else. 

“There was one man who thoroughly believed that the thing at the present moment most essentially necessary to England’s glory was the return of Mr. Melmotte for Westminster. This man was undoubtedly a very ignorant man. He knew nothing of any one political question which had vexed England for the last half century – nothing whatever of the political history which had made England what it was at the beginning of that half century. Of such names as Hampden, Somers, and Pitt he had hardly ever heard. He had probably never read a book in his life. He knew nothing of the working of parliament, nothing of nationality – had no preference whatever for one form of government over another, never having given his mind a moment’s trouble on the subject. He had not even reflected how a despotic monarch or a federal republic might affect himself, and possibly did not comprehend the meaning of those terms. But yet he was fully confident that England did demand and ought to demand that Mr. Melmotte should be returned for Westminster. This man was Mr. Melmotte himself.”  Trollope’s description of the fraudulent financial wizard Melmotte in The Way We Live Now shows astonishing prescience.  Substitute the references to British political history and institutions with their American equivalents in the passage just quoted, and you have a perfect description of Donald Trump.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 12,377,546; # of deaths worldwide: 556,559; # of cases U.S.: 3,219,780 # of deaths U.S.: 135,805.  The figures are enough to make one’s mind reel.  The worldwide case count increase today was over 220,000; of these the U.S. increase accounts for over 60,000.  Over 5,000 people died today from the virus.  More than 2,000 of these occurred in the U.S. and Brazil.  It was predicted earlier that Brazil would eventually displace the U.S. in its position of the nation with the largest number of coronavirus cases.  While this event may yet occur, it will be a slower process than originally anticipated; the case count in the U.S. continues to spike at a pace very little lower than that of Brazil’s. 

Well-intentioned but injudicious medical treatment – President Bolsonaro and hydroxychloroquine – Dependency on appliances – Ivy League postpones autumn sports – Evening statistics

“The child was puny, white, and sickly, so they sent continually for the doctor who dosed him with calomel and James’s powder.  All was done in love, anxiety, timidity, stupidity, and impatience.  They were stupid in little things; and he that is stupid in little will be stupid in much.”  (Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh)

And at that, Butler’s Ernest Pontifex was a great deal more fortunate than Carsyn Leigh Davis, aged 17, of Fort Myers, FL.  She had had health issues since childhood, including cancer and an auto-immune disorder; so it is not surprising that her parents were alarmed when she, along with at least 100 other young men and women contracted that virus after attending a crowded church event, where masks were not worn and social distancing was not encouraged or even attempted.  Her parents are medical professionals, but they acted like the most thoroughly ignorant of laymen.  They gave her azithromycin in the days following the service as a preventative measure and when she started developing symptoms they dosed her with hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug that Trump claimed would be beneficial for treating COVID-19.  Azithromycin is an anti-biotic, and thus of little value in combating a viral infection; and the claims on behalf of hydroxychloroquine have been debunked for many weeks now.  Their ministrations did little good.  On June 13^th, three days after the church event, Davis developed symptoms that at first appeared like a sinus infection; her symptoms worsened, causing her parents to take her to a hospital on June 19^th, where she was diagnosed with the virus; she began plasma therapy on June 20^th, was intubated on June 22^nd, and died on June 23^rd. 

I suppose I should not speak so slightingly of hydroxychloroquine, for who am I to decry the medicine of choice not only of Donald Trump but of Jair Bolsonaro as well?  The Brazilian President claims that he is feeling well and that his fever has subsided as a result of taking his dose; and if he is willing to risk its well-documented side effects (heart rhythm problems and safety issues such as blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries, and liver problems and failure) I have no objection to his contracting any of these to prove his experimental zeal – in which sentiment, probably, I have the heartiest concurrence among the overwhelming majority of Brazilians.  To do the man justice, he appears to be in robust health even now and there is no reason to fear that his countrymen will be deprived of the benefits of his supervision for some time to come.

I have undergone what might be described as an adventure, and not a very agreeable one of its kind.  Yesterday evening my server lost connectivity, and at the same time the monitor for my desktop failed.  It was strange to feel how isolated I felt as a result of the combination of these two circumstances.  I could not respond to any Email, since my cell phone kept issuing messages that the server was not active whenever I tried to access Safari or Outlook, and I could not access any of my files, since I was unable to see anything of their contents onscreen.  In the end all came out well; the server connectivity restored itself, as mysteriously as it had failed earlier, and I was able without difficulty to purchase and install a new monitor, which actually is better than the old one.  Nonetheless it is a sobering experience to be reminded of the degree we have become dependent on our household appliances, and our electronic ones in particular.  If I were a screenplay writer tasked with originating a new Twilight Zone episode, I would write one with the theme of how readily a man’s identity could be altered or even erased altogether by a skillful meddling of his personal desktop or laptop, or else how a non-existent person could be accepted as a reality through manipulation of the social media.  Indeed, the latter has been done fairly frequently in real life; the slang term for it is “catfishing.”

The Ivy League has postponed all autumn sports – not merely football, but soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and cross country.  The coalition of these colleges does not grant athletic scholarships, nor does it compete for the NCAA football championship.  However, it could create a ripple effect among other colleges, particularly as several of them are weighing the option of conducting some or all of their classes virtually. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 12,154,983; # of deaths worldwide: 551,173; # of cases U.S.: 3,158,417 # of deaths U.S.: 134,848.  Today the worldwide case count surpassed twelve million – an increase of over a million in six days.  The increase in the U.S. is over 60,000 – the worst day to date. 

President Bolsonaro – Shifts in list of nations with highest case counts – At Cacapon State Park – Troubles of some fellow-hikers – Restrictions on visiting New York – Evening statistics

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil is always desirous of being the center of public interest, and he has found an infallible way to secure it:  today he has tested positive for the virus.  Bolsonaro has repeatedly declared that if he were to contract COVID-19 its effects would be similar to that of “a little flu,” so no doubt he welcomes the opportunity to test out this ingenious theory.  Brazil at this stage has a case count that is 54% of that of the U.S., and just under half of our death toll; it has thus been steadily gaining on us, despite the recent spikes in our own country. 

There have been other adjustments in the relative positions of various countries with respect to the case count of the virus.  Italy is no longer among the top ten; both Mexico and Iran have recently surpassed it.  In Mexico the mortality rate is almost as high as Italy’s.  Chile’s case count is now is excess of Spain’s.  Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Colombia, and Argentina are all showing large amounts of new daily cases.  South Africa at this point is getting about 10,000 new cases per day. 

Hot weather is said to be an inhibiting factor for the virus.  I hope that is so, because it certainly is inhibiting a few other things.  The Vigorous Hikers today went to Cacapon State Park in West Virginia, completing a loop that involved going to an overlook where one can see mountains in a range that spreads over four states.  The hike was 17 miles and 3350 feet of elevation gain; most of the ascent consisted of three long climbs, and I was practically wilting on the last of these, even though it was the least strenuous of the three.  I had hoped to take advantage of the swimming area in the park after the hike, but it was very crowded and I did not want to chance it.  There were some compensating factors:  the lookout at Cacapon Mountain is at the highest point in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, and it is interesting to trace the various peaks in the distance to the states in which they are located (Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia), while both the wineberries and the blueberries were plentiful on the trails.  Butterflies flew in great numbers on the plateau at the summit; it is in fact part of a migration route for monarchs. 

There was some troubling news concerning a couple of members in the group.  BL continues to recover slowly.  Originally he was thought to have had the virus; this diagnosis apparently was incorrect and his ailment appears to have been some form of pneumonia – but whatever it is, both his heart and his kidneys have been adversely affected.  He will not be able to hike for some time, but he is going to try to join us for lunch during the hike a week from today, during which we plan to have lunch at the Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park.  (We may be forced to bring our own food – it’s unclear to what extent dining services have resumed there – but we still plan to have our lunch break at that location.)  MC tore his meniscus some weeks earlier and was forced to undergo an operation on it today.  It typically takes 4-6 weeks to resume strenuous activity, so it will be while before we see him back on the trails.

Visitors to New York from the following states are expected to self-quarantine for 14 days:  Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.  Virginia is not on this list, so It appears that I can attempt travel to Manhattan later this month, but I will have to wait until I can be reasonably certain that Virginia won’t be added to this list in the near future.

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 11,940,198; # of deaths worldwide: 545,600; # of cases U.S.: 3,096,469 # of deaths U.S.: 133,949.  Another day with a case count increase of more than 50,000.

Uneventfulness is in the eye of the beholder – Tentative plans for travel to New York – The virus continues to spiral – Evening statistics

One day Louis XVI returned to Versailles from his hunting and wrote the following entry in his journal – “July 14:  Nothing.”  Shortly afterwards one of his courtiers arrived from Paris to inform him that the Bastille had fallen.  So even though it was an uneventful day for me I mustn’t assume that that is the case for the nation at large.  Still, today’s entry will be relatively brief.

Currently I’m investigating whether I can try to get to New York for a visit to my aunt at the end of the month.  She will have a significant birthday at the end of the month, with no one to celebrate it; my cousins either live in areas from where they would not be allowed to travel to New York without quarantining, or have recently been afflicted with the virus and are still wary of social interactions.  It would not be necessary for me to quarantine since I would be coming from Virginia; the question is how to travel there.  Train, airplane, and car all have their respective disadvantages; driving is probably the safest in terms of avoiding infection but there is the question of where to store the car once I get there.  I will try to come to some sort of arrangement this week.

It has been a significant day in one respect; our national case count has passed the three-million mark.  It is true that the rate of new cases has declined slightly in the last few days – less than 50,000 both today and yesterday, but it is not a very steep decline nor one that has as yet lasted very long.  California, Texas, and Florida account for over 40% of the new cases.  It does appear that our mortality rate is declining.  At this point it is about 4.3%.  The global average is about 4.6%, so we are doing slightly better than average – but not breathtakingly so.  At this point 40 states are seeing increases in the rate of new cases.  Our President, of course, continues to brush aside the virus as being insignificant; but this persistent ostrich-like behavior is so familiar to us by now that it no longer counts as news. 

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM — # of cases worldwide: 11,731,582; # of deaths worldwide: 540,031; # of cases U.S.: 3,039,647; # of deaths U.S.: 132,952.