Return to a unique area – Decline in use of face masks – The delay in autumn colors – A coup d’état in Sudan – Is the pandemic undermining democracy? – Evening statistics
Approximately a year ago I vacationed with AD, RH, and others in Burke’s Garden for the purpose of hiking along segments of the Appalachian Trail. The locality is close to several trailheads, and as we had a gap of nearly 40 miles nearby that we had not yet covered, we stayed in the same area and, in fact, in the same house. The Parsonage, as it is called, was as inviting as ever, with its spacious rooms, well-appointed kitchen, and vistas of the crater-like valley ringed by mountains and of the main road where the Amish children periodically pass by on bicycles and sliders on their way to school. There were fewer of us this time – six as opposed to eight – and, as before, we each had a separate room. As before, also, we ate our dinners in the house rather than going to Tazewell, the nearest town with any restaurants. But the atmosphere was more relaxed than the last time. We did not wear masks in the house or in the cars when we were riding together, as we had done in 2020; and instead of every person sitting apart from one another at meals, we sat together at the dining table.
This relaxation was not confined to ourselves. Even in northern Virginia the policy with regard to face masks varies considerably. Some places request customer to wear masks (banks and post offices in particular); others allow each customer to decide for himself; and still others do not require the employees to wear masks, let alone customers. In the southwest of Virginia, where Burke’s Garden is located, masks have been abandoned altogether; no cashier or assistant in any store I entered was wearing one.
I did not join AD and RH directly in Burke’s Garden, however. I broke up the journey to Burke’s Garden by staying overnight in Bedford in order to do some hiking on my own along segments of the AT further north of where we were staying. I hiked on the AT during the late morning and early afternoon of the 17th before checking in the hotel for the night, hiked again on the 18th before driving to Burke’s Garden, and then hiked with the others each day up to the 25th, the day of our departure. Thus I hiked for 9 consecutive days (including the hike I did on the 16th, the day before the trip) for a total of over 100 miles.
We had some difficulty obtaining cable news on the television downstairs, and I cannot say that the lack of it troubled us overmuch. In general, we spoke very little about current events and our conversations consisted mainly about our impressions on the hikes we took together, along with various gastronomic matters – several members of the party being extremely talented chefs. Indeed we ate very well, with a pleasant consciousness, on account of each day’s exertions and of the calories they consumed, of it not being necessary to constrain our appetites. In particular, CB, the member of our group who is a connoisseur of wines, supplied us with vintages that would have gratified crowned heads.
Some of the hikes were key swaps and some involved shuttling to establish cars at either end of the hike. We also took two hikes at state parks, which started and ended at the same parking area and consequently involved less complicated driving arrangements. Details of the hikes must be postponed for a later entry, when I have more leisure to describe them at length. But there is one feature that was common to all of them. Ordinarily at this time of year the autumn colors are beginning to move past their peak. On these hikes the burst of leaf color was just beginning, and it did not reach the peak color even on the final day, although we are past the middle of October. When I drove back today to areas that are at lower elevations and less further inland, the autumnal colors were just beginning. This is perhaps the latest time of the year I have ever observed the process of the change in leaf color.
The news item that primarily occupied my attention while listening on the radio during the drive to return home was the one concerning the military takeover in Sudan. The military government had grudgingly agreed to share its power with a civilian faction in 2019, following the ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir, and for a time it did appear that the nation had a chance of transitioning into a democracy of sorts and even of being able to conduct the first free vote that it has known for decades. But that is over now; the military has put Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok under house arrest, along with his wife, and it shows every sign of restoring the harsh autocracy of previous years.
Democracy has not fared well during the time of the pandemic. Sudan has succumbed to military rule, as has Myanmar earlier this year, while Afghanistan is now firmly under the iron hand of the Taliban. And then there was the assault upon our own democratic institutions on January 6th – “but that way madness lies; no more of that!” It is unclear whether the pandemic has played a role in the decline of democratic institutions or whether this decline is what philosophers call an epiphenomenon: a secondary directly observable event (or “phenomenon”) that occurs alongside or in parallel to a primary phenomenon, in which the primary phenomenon appears to be a cause of the secondary one without in fact being so. Historians must eventually decide the nature of the effect that the pandemic has had upon the underpinnings of democratic government.
I did not get statistics every day that I was away, but I did collect a few of them:
Statistics for 10/17 as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 241,457,249; # of deaths worldwide: 4,913,786; # of cases U.S.: 45,792,111; # of deaths; U.S.: 744,542.
Statistics for 10/18 as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 241,838,063; # of deaths worldwide: 4,919,377; # of cases U.S.: 45,881,767; # of deaths; U.S.: 745,740.
Statistics for 10/23 as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 244,087,379; # of deaths worldwide: 4,958,942; # of cases U.S.: 46,294,210; # of deaths; U.S.: 756,205.
Statistics for 10/24 as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 244,409,806; # of deaths worldwide: 4,963,509; # of cases U.S.: 46,312,782; # of deaths; U.S.: 756,362.
Statistics for 10/25 (today) as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 244,785,410; # of deaths worldwide: 4,969,662; # of cases U.S.: 46,400,879; # of deaths; U.S.: 757,660.
The mortality rate is decelerating. Today’s death toll was slightly over 400. But the U.S. now ranks 16th in the mortality rate for its national population, whereas formerly it was the 21st. The rate is now nearly 0.25%, or one in every 400 people.