A winery hike – Prospects for reviving social activity – The lightening of tension as the pandemic begins to recede – Evening statistics
A winery hike is surely one of the most pleasurable ways of enjoying a day of fine weather. One hikes in the early part of the day, with a sufficient amount of exertion to stimulate the senses and sharpen the appetite while avoiding the dullness that comes with too much fatigue; and afterwards one stops by at a local winery to sip the wine, to dine on various contributions of food from the participants, and to converse at leisure. My companions were the same three with whom I enjoyed the winery hike we took together in mid-July, along with PF and ML, long-term hiking companions whom I have not seen for months. We went from Gathland along the Appalachian Trail to the White Rocks overlook and back, about 7 miles in length and about 1000 feet of elevation gain. From there we drove a few miles to the Big Cork winery in Rohrersville, a beautiful place in the valley on the western side of the mountains, with views on one side of the vineyard on one side and on the other of the range adorned with the fire tower atop Lambs Knoll, just a short distance from the overlook that constituted our turning-point earlier. We sat at a table on the outdoor terrace and feasted on wine purchased from the management and on viands provided by each of us: various cheeses, luncheon meats, crackers, vegetable dips, hummus, grapes (of the variety known as “sweet sapphire,” which I had never tasted before, and which are exceptionally sweet and firm-textured), crystallized ginger, chocolate from New Zealand, brownies.
And we chatted animatedly about several matters, especially about the vaccines. ML has participated in administering vaccines and she spoke enthusiastically about the increased amount of doses that Northern Virginia now has as its disposal. At the same time there are certain policies that puzzled us. It appears that smoking and obesity are regarded as underlying conditions, at any rate in Virginia and North Carolina, so that people who smoke or who are overweight get priority for receiving the vaccine. In effect they are being rewarded for practicing unhealthy lifestyles. Quite of a number of people in our circle have obtained one or both doses or are scheduled to receive them, but some have been left out. LH, for instance, is under 65, has no underlying conditions, and is not in a profession that requires continual encounters with the general public (she works for the Census and currently is doing most of her work online), so she does not qualify for Phase 1A or 1B. It is possible that Northern Virginia will be able to move on from these two phases next month, but it is not certain. We spoke also about public matters such as the unresolved issues concerning the AstraZeneca vaccine, the unruly behavior of the college students in the Miami Beach area during spring break, and the crisis of migrants illegally crossing over the border, and also of private matters such as the impending trips to King’s Canyon and to the French Alps (everyone present at the table was scheduled to be on at least one of these) and the possible dates for resuming hikes via a chartered bus for the Capital Hiking and Wanderbirds clubs. It was a lovely day, just as cloudless as the two previous ones, in the mid-60s, with a cooling breeze; and we were in no hurry to disperse. We must have spent two hours eating and sipping wine and chatting together.
Episodes such as these have been very rare indeed over the past year, but it seems likely that they will become more frequent as the vaccine rollout accelerates. Already about one-quarter of the American population has received at least one dose.
An additional feature of this gathering is that we could discuss the topics in question without the indignation or agitation that would have characterized almost any such discourse a few months earlier. The new administration has ushered in a calmer mood nationwide. It’s not that our little group consisted of dedicated Biden partisans by any means: we were critical, for instance, of the manner in which he has been handling the influx of illegal and underage migrants at the border. But the rollout of the vaccines has been proceeding, after some initial glitches, smoothly and efficiently. Without shouting, without posturing, and without elaborate speeches, Biden has been issuing orders with confident authority and with no apparent need to frighten or intimidate anyone, and the work of the reversal of the pandemic is going on quicker and better than it could have done during the chaos of the previous administration. As the numbers of the inoculated increase, people are in general becoming less jittery, less pre-occupied with news headlines, and more disposed to concentrate on personal affairs.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 124,276,570; # of deaths worldwide: 2,734,784; # of cases U.S.: 30,572,024; # of deaths; U.S.: 555,909. Slowly our position relative to the other nations of the world is improving. Today the proportion of national new cases to global ones was 10.4% and the proportion of national deaths to global ones was 8.6% — still on the high side, but much less grossly disproportionate than it has been in earlier months.