Quarantine Diary # 648

Happy Solstice Quotes!

"This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year's threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath." Margaret Atwood.

“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968

“A person reading should be a person intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand.” Ezra Pound

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.” William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

“People often believed they were safer in the light, thinking monsters only came out at night.” C.J. Roberts, Captive in the Dark

“The brighter the light, the deeper the shadow.” Jay Kristoff, Nevernight

..

We are inundated by Covid news which is not a bad thing because this is a bad disease and we should be awake and aware. But in the middle of the ongoing reporting about the wildly infectious Omicron variant, I am picking up a subtheme that is also important.

On the news last night, a NYC hospital person said that a year ago they had 600 incredibly ill people crammed into the hospital. Today they have 30 incredibly ill patients in their ICU, almost all (maybe all, I can’t remember) unvaccinated people.

What is it like to get Covid when one IS vaccinated and boosted, when one has a home and access to medicines, soup, and time to rest?

Fall 2020 my daughter had Covid. I asked her this morning what it was like. Caveat: she is in her 30’s, exercises daily, and is a healthy eater!

She replied she felt pretty sick, although mostly just really tired. She didn’t have much of a sore throat or other symptoms. She felt a little nauseated the first few days, but she never threw-up. She was very fatigued for 4-5 weeks.

Did any of you have “lite” Covid? What are we looking at here? I do not want to get it. I have grandkids too young to be vaccinated; I don’t want to pass it to them. I don’t want to spread it to anyone. I wear a mask in public. At the same time, I want to have a realistic idea of what this sickness might be like for people who have taken all the precautions. 

…

I wrote to the Third Graders this morning:

Dear Kids,

I will write a short letter this morning because this is a short school week for you.

When I was a teenager, I often went for walks with my dog Sheba. I lived in the country, so our walks were through woods and fields. One of the places I liked best was a hill that overlooked a small river. It was peaceful on that hill; Sheba and I would sit and watch the river. 

One day we hiked there. Sat down. It was late fall and the world was beautiful and quiet.

Then there was a soft rustling noise.

I turned to look, and I am not lying! Out of the woods waddled a fat raccoon. That raccoon saw us and slowly walked TOWARDS us! It came to about three feet away from me, sat down, and watched the river with Sheba and me. Sheba growled deep in her throat but she didn’t bark or jump. 

All three of us sat there. Me, my dog, and a raccoon.

After a few minutes the raccoon got back up and waddled back into the woods.

I hope your winter break is wonderful with a few unexpected surprises in it.