Our Holiday Season is being smashed apart this year. Record-breaking number of new COVID-19 infections are being reported. Large numbers of airline flights are cancelled. There are vacant seats at our Christmas dinner table. What is going on? Is all this due to the Omicron variant?
It looks as if the Church School’s Christmas pageant this year will be videotaped. Will we be able to sing Christmas carols in church this year without our masks on? What about next year?
October is Deborah and David’s favorite month, and we are looking forward to dinner with good friends. An unexpected COVID-related isolation of one of our grandchildren makes us rethink our plans.
Recently, it seems like everyone has been changing their minds about whether or not we have to wear masks indoors. Even the CDC recently flip-flopped on the guidance that it is giving. This has been causing some issues within David’s church. What is going on here?
This is the 50th “Diary During (or After) the Lockdown” story to come from New Fadum Farm since the first story in April of 2020. Two recent sermons at David’s church, both pertaining to minor prophets in the Old Testament, provide a jumping off point for this “golden anniversary” story.
The CDC is now recommending that even fully vaccinated persons should once again start to wear masks indoors because of the emerging highly-infectious Delta variant. David goes on a rant, reasoning, “I got the vaccine, why should I wear a mask to protect people who refuse to get vaccinated?”
Deborah and David are very sad to learn that their very good friend, Nancy, has been diagnosed with a serious illness and is facing a poor prognosis. They consider making a road trip down to North Carolina to visit her. David runs some mental simulations of the risks posed by such a trip.
Deborah and David intend to host a family dinner. They are now more than two weeks past their second vaccination, as are many of their friends and family members. Why is this all still so confusing?
In a moment of whimsy, David starts to think about what would happen if we had the ability to clearly specify how everyone must behave? Would it be possible to then behave in a way that would end the pandemic? Could human agency overpower this pandemic? Or is the pandemic stronger than we are collectively?
Deborah and David both get a message from the University informing them that weekly saliva-based tests are necessary for all faculty and staff who may be on campus. Driving to campus to pick up their test kits, they are impressed by the science and resources being used to combat the COVID-19 virus in our area.
Deborah is scheduled for her first vaccine shot in nine days on January 25 and David is next on February 15. If the second shots come 2 weeks later, does that mean that the pandemic will be over for them by March 1, that is, 44 days from when I am writing this note? Surely not! It’s more complicated than that.
Several new vaccines are being rolled out and will soon be widely available. David is thinking that it might be OK to start downhill skiing again. Does Ali’s model have anything to say about this decision?
Deborah and David are ready to set plans for 2021 now that the vaccines have been approved. But are the vaccines ready for them?
Deborah and David are anxious to see their youngest daughter who has moved out of Brooklyn, is now pregnant, and has recently moved a second time. Maybe her new home in Northampton, a short and very pleasant drive across the Berkshires, can finally make a visit possible?
Understanding what drives surges and turnarounds in the COVID-19 infection rate is important for managing our day-to-day plans. Ali’s model has some answers.
