The states’ highest peaks – Strange silence in the White House – Evening statistics
I noticed an article today describing the highest peaks in each state, and it occurred to me to tally which ones I’ve summited to date. These are, listed from lowest to highest, Mount Katahdin (Maine), Mount Rogers (Virginia), Mount Washington (New Hampshire), Clingman’s Dome (Tennessee), Mount Mitchell (North Carolina), and Wheeler Peak (New Mexico). However, it occurred to me that I will have the leisure in the following weeks to visit a few more: Point Reno (District of Columbia), Ebright Azimuth (Delaware), Mount Davis (Pennsylvania), Backbone Mountain (Maryland), Mount Davis (Pennsylvania), and Spruce Knob (West Virginia) – all of which are in driving distance from my residence for a day trip. Also, as it becomes easier to stay in hotels I will be resuming my attempts to complete segments of the Appalachian Trail, and in the course of covering the portion that runs through New Jersey I will be able to summit High Point. Some friends of mine and I have tentative plans to visit Sequoia National Park as well, which would give me the opportunity to summit Mount Whitney. If all of these are realized, I will have a total of 14 state high points to my credit. Again. lf I travel to the Midwest to visit friends in 2021, as I probably will once the virus is brought under control, I may perhaps visit the high points in some of those states as well. It is, I admit, not a particularly pressing goal: many of the “high points” are little more than hills. The peaks I have already covered were done for the sake of the hikes they provided; the fact that they are the high points in the state in which they are located was merely a bonus. But it is just as well to have a project of some kind during the months when the possibility of long-term visits to anywhere out of state will be limited.
There is not much news from the White House. I don’t know whether or not this is a good thing. There seems little probability that Trump, after futilely initiating lawsuit after lawsuit to keep him in office, has suddenly become amenable to reason. Perhaps the defection of Mitch McConnell hit him harder than anticipated. At any rate, he has said little for the past few days. Nor has he responded to suggestions that he lay the groundwork for running again in 2024. He has been spending a considerable amount of time in the Oval Office, sometimes not retiring to the residential portion of the White House until after 8:00 PM, and conferring with a coterie of various advisors, including Mike Pence and Mark Meadows. But these discussions appear to be focusing on vaccine distribution and the proposed second stimulus check more than anything else. Perhaps he realizes at last that he will have to make arrangements for himself and his family after January 20th. Among other things, his continued residence at the Mar-a-Lago club is disputed by its members because of an agreement he signed specifying that guests could stay at the club no more than three non-consecutive weeks in any given year. If he wishes to reside in Florida he will have to look elsewhere for a long-term stay.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 75,983,592; # of deaths worldwide: 1,680,225; # of cases U.S.: 17,884,427; # of deaths; U.S.: 320,813.