well, that's a damned relief

 Joe Biden has won the election, thank all available gods.

There's still so much work to do, starting with two runoff Senate races in Georgia that will decide control of that body. We also have to undo all the damage Trump has done, not just to our systems of democracy, but to people who have suffered immeasurably under his administration. The kids who are still separated from their parents. The grieving families of the COVID-19 dead. The people who have "recovered" but are still suffering lasting symptoms. Those who have lost their jobs, their homes, their security, their future prospects. 

And we have to work to undo the systemic racism that undergirds our political process. We have to abolish or outsmart the Electoral College, and expand the franchise so more Americans vote in every election, and their voices count equally. We have to fund systems of opportunity for marginalized people. There's so much to do that there's no way it will get done in a single term. But progress can happen. 

And we'll do it all in the face of the racist and sexist attacks against our vice president-elect, Senator Kamala Harris. She is such an inspiration, and I'm so glad she has broken this glass ceiling. One more to go, in time.

This transition period is terrifying. Trump is basically a trapped animal now, and there's no telling what he will slash and burn on his way out. Meanwhile, coronavirus is rampant across the country. We're seeing more than 100,000 new cases EVERY DAY, even with the minimal testing under this administration. Indiana alone is seeing more than 4,000 new cases every day. Our county has wide community spread. Even right this minute, we're waiting on a couple of test results in our house because Henry is close friends with a kid who is a close contact of another kid who tested positive. I'm believe Henry is fine, but we need to make sure.

At the beginning of this, I was blogging every day to try to make sense of it, so that the boys would remember this wild and unprecedented time. But as the months have dragged by, the problems have gotten so big that it's hard to make them make sense, and even harder to put them in context. Honestly, there IS NO CONTEXT for this. All we can do is what we've been doing since March: stay isolated, and try not to get it or spread it. Hope we can keep ourselves safe long enough for a vaccine that works. Hope our loved ones do the same.

That hope is a little easier today than it was yesterday, now that the Biden/Harris administration is going to be a reality. 

isolation vacation

 

We got back a week ago from spending a week on the Outer Banks, which is one of our favorite places in the whole world. This time we didn't stay on Ocracoke, opting instead for a beachfront pad in South Nags Head. We did go to Ocracoke for a day trip though, and we made sure to get Eduardo's tacos while we were there.

For at least the first six months or so of pandemic times, we figured vacation was impossible. But slowly we started to see how it could work, and we decided to make fall break our goal for getting away. At first, I bought tickets to fly to Las Vegas to see some national parks, but we couldn't figure out a way to make that feel safe to us with all the transitions, so we nixed that plan in favor of a driving vacation, and it worked out really well.

We didn't eat in any restaurants (though we did get carryout). We didn't go to crowded places. We went into one souvenir shop, early in the morning, when it wasn't too crowded, and we only bought the things we were looking for and then got the heck out of there. We went into one gift shop, at Bodie Island lighthouse, but that shop had a limit of 8 people, and we were the only ones in there. We went grocery shopping twice. 

Most of the time, we stayed at our house, venturing down to the beach several times a day. I had to do a little work while we were gone, but I had the privilege of doing it with a view of the ocean every time I looked up from my laptop. Since we were there on the off season, there was barely anyone on the beach, and definitely nobody anywhere near us. The water was too chilly for me and Mike, but the boys managed to swim at least four times during the week. 

One day we ventured to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, but once we got there and saw how crowded it was (even though it was outdoors), we turned around and left. It just wasn't worth it to risk our health for something that will be there next time if we still want to see it.

Most afternoons, Mike and one or two of the boys went hiking in different nature areas, none of which were crowded either. He took a ton of bird and animal pictures, which I'll let him share himself. In fact, though I took the pictures in this post, Mike was the primary photographer for this trip. I took a lot of naps and gave myself permission to stop worrying so much and just focus on being happy for the week, whatever that looked like. And it was glorious.

And now we're home, and the election is tomorrow, and the pandemic is out of control. We're still isolating for another week (except for the mandatories, school and work) to make sure we didn't inadvertently get infected, but as of now, all of us are feeling pretty good. Then again, ask me tomorrow.