The Sound and the Fury

I hope you had a chance to get outside this morning; Seattle served up a beautiful start to the day. I caught the Café Argento crew as they were opening. Breakfast sandwich, please. And a coffee. And a bag of coffee beans.

I haven't mentioned COVID in a while, but it's never all that distant or out of mind, is it? We're in that funny (not funny haha) zone. Most of us know people who've started or completed the vaccination process (good!), numbers are falling, and vaccination totals are increasing daily. But it's not over. There's the uncertainty about the variants or the mutations, people seem to be venturing indoors again, and the number of daily vaxx doses doesn't appear to be increasing very much. That last part is puzzling and disappointing.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the vaccines and responsible behavior will help us stay ahead of the variants and pandemic fatigue.

It's weird to think that we're at about a year of this, give or take. I'd need to check my notes and photos, but I think I was starting to socially distance in late February. I went out, but I remember people being aware of the virus. I still kick myself for traveling in early March 2020. I almost canceled the trip, but I incorrectly thought the numbers suggested we had more time. That was foolish. My guess is that the numbers were wildly inaccurate at the time.

When I go for takeout now, I sometimes get asked if I'm eating there or still eating at home. The way I see it, for those of us who haven't been vaxxed, the calculus today is about the same as it was a year ago. Granted, I like the odds better now. We're smarter about ventilation, masks, and distancing, and every jab in every arm probably makes it harder for the virus to find hosts.

I'm happy that the J&J vaccine is or is about to roll out. However, I assumed months ago that J&J was building its inventory on the assumption that its vaccine would get approved. I don't think that's the case. Don't quote me on that, though.

Thought this Atlantic article on pandemic lessons learned (and not learned) was good.

Just some unscientific musings on the pandemic. Here are a few Seattle photos from September 2017. I haven't got many photos with a clear view of the peninsula. Don't mind the distortion; we're not running a professional photo gallery over here.