The Arlington Triangle Loop hike – Plans for the future – The vaccines beginning to make an impact – Mike Pence’s dilemma – Evening statistics
I met with the Vigorous Hikers to hike the Arlington Triangle loop, which we generally do at this time of year. The hike starts from Bluemont Park close to Seven Corners, and takes the Four-Mile Run Trail and the Mount Vernon Trail to Roosevelt Island. After the hikers have lunch the hike continues with a circuit around the island and then goes through Arlington to the Custis Trail, eventually returning to Bluemont. It is about 18½ miles, with not much elevation gain – 600 or 700 feet at the most. It is a good hike to do at this time of year. The trailhead is very conveniently located for most of the club members – less than a 30-minute drive in my case – and traffic between Christmas and New Year’s tends to be relatively light, so that starting a hike whose trailhead is within the Beltway poses fewer issues during this particular week than at other times. It also means that one can return home quite early: we started at 8:30, and I completed the hike and was back at my house before 3:00. It is not what might be called a spectacular hike, but it is very pleasant to go along the Potomac River, and to contemplate the Virginia river bank and the cityscape of DC across the river.
The weather was lovely: beautifully clear and, although the temperature was in the low 40s, it felt comfortably warm in the continual sunlight. During the hike we conversed together, mainly about plans for the future. Travel, of course, was a popular topic. Everyone had plans for trips either abroad or in other parts of the U.S. to make up for lost time. And other events were mentioned as well. “I want to have as many large parties as I can organize once this is over,” one hiker said, and another opined that once the virus recedes the prevailing mood will be something like that of the Roaring Twenties. Already vaccinations have been disseminated among some of them or their near relations. I myself learned that my cousin’s wife, who is a nurse, received her vaccine today. One group member, a surgeon, got his recently, and he advises taking Aleve or Tylenol just before receiving the vaccine, because the arm that receives the injection becomes sore afterwards. Our group has been affected by the virus; one group member was unable to join us because he came down with it. His symptoms are mild, but he is isolating himself to protect others.
An impartial observer might, perhaps, be inclined to think us premature in making plans for the future so optimistically. The national rate of infection is now over 6% of the population. We will probably have over 20,000,000 total cases (along with over 350,000 deaths) by the end of the year, which takes place just two days from now. It will take some time for the COVID virus to recede under those circumstances, even with the assistance of vaccines. But, like my companions, I believe that a hopeful attitude is a better way to cope with the demands of the situation created by the pandemic than a despairing one.
Mike Pence is currently on the receiving end of a bizarre lawsuit by Louie Gohmert, a representative from Texas, which is demanding that he overturn the Electoral College votes next week. Pence, of course, does not have the slightest authority to make such an attempt, even if he wanted to – and he almost certainly doesn’t. Having had to endure being Donald Trump’s associate for the better part of four years and forced to act as an unwilling co-conspirator in many of Trump’s more outlandish maneuvers, he is in all probability as eager to be rid of our current President as the most rabidly left-wing Democrat could wish. The vice-president’s role in the counting of the votes is a purely ceremonial one; he is not even required to be present, as the function he performs during that process could easily be assigned to a number of alternate officials. Pence has striven over the past years to smooth over Trump’s blunders and to provide the administration with at least a patina of normality, all in the hope of becoming a Presidential candidate himself in 2024. He has tried to remain discreetly in the background as long as he can, but now he is becoming the center of attention, and not in the way that he desires. It is difficult to be sorry for him, however. He is a much more reasonable man than his superior; he has never aroused the visceral loathing that Trump inspires, even among those who disagree with his political stances. But the situation in which he now finds himself is largely of his own making. Like the parents of an incurably spoiled child, he has given in to every single one of Trump’s whims in the hopes that such appeasement will make the latter behave more reasonably, and he is now belatedly discovering how very much mistaken such this policy has been.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 82,288,620; # of deaths worldwide: 1,795,111; # of cases U.S.: 19,959,864; # of deaths; U.S.: 346,464.