525,600

I heard Dr. Fauci say there were 525,000 COVID-19 deaths (in the US) the other day.  Obviously this wasn't an exact figure and with the rate of death still as high as it is, the number is now several thousand higher than that.  But the Broadway-lover in me couldn't hear the number 525,000 and not immediately go to Seasons of Love from Rent. And almost immediately my mind started rewriting the lyrics. I'm not a song writer or a poet, obviously. My apologies to Jonathan Larson!

525,600 loses. 525,000 loved ones so dear. 525,600 memories. How do you measure, measure a year?

In lockdowns, in face masks, in clapping for essential workers.

In nurses, in zoom calls, in hugs we couldn't give.

525,600 families, how do you measure the year this past year in our live?

How about love and loss. How about love and loss. How about love and loss. Measure in tears. Seasons of P...P...E.... Seasons of vaccine.

525,600 loved ones. 525,000 no longer here.  525,600 memories. How do you measure how much we've lost this year? 

In truths that We learned, or in times that We cried.

In bridges that we had to build to reach out when people died.

It's time now to be strong, cuz the pandemic isn't done, let's commemorate remember a year we lost family and friends. 

Remember the love. 

Remember the loss. 

Remember the pain. 

Measure in tears. 

Seasons of love and loss. Seasons of love and loss. 

None of us knows what the final tally will be. Too many, that is certain.

  

How are you measuring this past year?

Oh, The Places I Didn't Go

To quote a fortune cookie (or, supposedly Confucius according to the interwebs), 

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop." 

This was the year we all stopped going (at least those of us who did not wish to further exacerbate a global pandemic). So one of my favorite books,

Copyright, of course, Dr. Suess

should be rewritten as Oh, the Places I Didn't Go :(

I didn't go on a train.

I didn't go on a plane.

I didn't go to London Town.

I just sat home and watched The Crown.

I can't compete with the great Dr. Seuss so I'll stop embarrassing myself! But I didn't take any theater trips to London and I certainly didn't take the first direct train from Amsterdam to London thus cutting out the hassle of airports. It ran empty because non-essential travel was (still is) not allowed. In fact, I only saw one show here locally back in February. It was called We Will Rock You and it was based on the music of Queen.  It wasn't spectacular but if I had known it would be the only show I'd see this year I probably would have enjoyed it more.

I also didn't take a train trip to Berlin and Poland this year either.  I've been to Berlin once in the early 90s and I haven't been to Poland at all yet.  I didn't go to Georgia (the country, not the US state). I didn't go to any sunny warm or extreme northern location for my birthday. 

I did make one trip to Amsterdam to see the World Press Photo Exhibit for I think the 9th or 10th year now. It didn't open in April as scheduled and I thought I might not get to see it this year. I'm glad I did but even though they limited the number of people who could be inside at a time and even though they marked off spaces in front of each section to keep people distanced and even though maybe about half the people were wearing masks (they weren't required) it still caused me anxiety and I didn't stay long.

Public transportation was the only place face masks were required until 1 December when they became mandatory in all indoor public places (FINALLY).

To see Dam Square so empty was very strange. This was August. I've been there on a crappy weather day in January and not seen it this empty!

So what are my plans for next year?  I don't know yet. It seems too soon to start making plans.  Hamilton in London announced that performances will start again in May 2021 and tickets will go on sale on Monday (2 days from now).  I would love to be traveling in May and would love to be sitting in a packed theater (although now I'm not sure what that's going to do to the anxiety I already had in crowds before this all started) cheering as the curtain goes up and the music starts. But I'm not booking anything just yet.  Certainly not anything non-refundable! I definitely hope to see a bunch of shows. I hope to make that Berlin-Poland trip. I'm assuming a half-year max realistically for travel; if we're lucky.  

This year has been such a whirlwind of scientific achievement and science denying that makes my brain want to curl up in a corner and rock like RainMan.  I think we all need to hang tight, give the science a little time to work its science magic, and then ease back into travel. The planet enjoyed us all staying home this year and I don't think we should carbon-assult her too hard too fast (although I'm sure we will) once we're set free.

Where didn't you go this year? Where are you hoping to go next year? 

Work From Home

 I've been working from home, like millions of people, since March. Like most people, I didn't expect it to last very long and so I didn't set up a very permanent work space for myself.  But after many months of working from a temporary setup in the main living area of my house I couldn't take the disruption any more and I took steps to make a more comfortable, less invasive work space for myself. This space just so happens to have a better view than when I had my back to the front window.

How's your work from home going?

The World Suddenly Got Really Big

I've been to a few places, done some stuff, seen a sight or two...met some folks along the way. I have had a a couple of small-world encounters that made my head spin.  I have two degrees in engineering but I think statistics is (are?) a form of torture that violates the Geneva convention (and my English skills, apparently).

I would like someone to crunch the odds of me leaving Ghana and traveling to northern Thailand where I would meet a random traveler who had come from Europe where he had had met someone (at the running of the bulls in Pamplona) who I knew in Ghana (it's difficult to convey that story in a single sentence).

I previously wrote about one of the more difficult parts of expat life. This is my fifth time living abroad.  I can't say that I really thought about needing to go home for an emergency when I was 16 years old but most 16 year-olds wouldn't.  I did think about it during my time in Ghana and while it was possible the logistics were a bit trickier.  The most frightening thing was a Peace Corps SUV pulling up to your site unscheduled.  This was before the time of cell phones (at least in Ghana) so if there was a real emergency the Peace Corps would send someone to you.  I only got an unexpected visit once and it was not an emergency (it was a program director visiting volunteers (not from my program) who stopped by to drop off a package). I was in the classroom teaching but I saw the vehicle pull onto the school compound and went running out of the class in a panic.  Logistics were also difficult when I was in Afghanistan because there just weren't flights in and out every day.  But  normally you can hand over a credit card and be on a plane from western Europe to the US in less than a day.

This is the first time that's not an option.  It's terrifying. It's nerve wracking. It's heart breaking. I have never wanted to hug someone more in my life (and I am not someone who generally wants to hug people). 

[Source]

I have never felt further away and that includes being in Ghana on September 11, 2001 when I might as well have been on a different planet.

In an age where we can fly to any corner of the world at almost a moment's notice (okay, maybe you need to plan ahead to get a visa for a particular country but the flight options are there), the COVID-19 pandemic has made the world suddenly feel as big as it must have felt to the early explorers when it took them years to make the same journey that we can now do in a matter of hours. 

Whether you're in a lockdown situation or a place that's doing a less-than-stellar job at handling this pandemic, I hope you are safe and healthy and staying home as much as humanly possible. If you're a front-line worker, THANK YOU!  Check on your neighbors. Don't hoard toilet paper (I really don't understand this one and it's thankfully not a thing where I am). Wash your hands (why weren't you doing this already?!?!).

What's the situation where you are? How are  you coping?