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.