covid diary: day 63

Today I read a two tweets describing events from 40 years ago that seem particularly relevant now.

The first is from the Washington (state) Emergency Management Division:

40 years ago today, people pushed the state to reopen areas around Mt. St. Helens citing tourism & the economy against advice of scientists. Five days later, the volcano erupted.

The second is from the U.S. Geological Survey Volcanoes account:

#40YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: Officials meet. Scientists think it's to close areas, but discussion turns to opening access. Blind-sided, they point to hazard map & say red/blue zones don’t acknowledge miles of real hazards. But plan moves forward to reconsider boundaries.

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens is one of the first big events I can remember happening. I was five years old, and my great-grandparents (Grandma Margaret and Grandpa Walt, Gram's parents) lived in Tacoma, Washington. They were big letter writers (as I suppose I am, in my way). They wrote about dark skies, of being stuck in the house and trying to seal the doors and windows, of the yard being completely covered in ash. They sent us little vials of ash as mementos.

I didn't realize until today what the context was. That scientists had been warning and warning of the danger to come, and those in power prioritized tourism and the economy over the safety of citizens. There really is nothing new under the sun, is there?

At the federal level, insults to our democracy continue at a dizzying yet not at all surprising pace. Trump is really trying to blame President Obama for ... something. I think (?) he's trying to make the case that the Obama administration made up (!!!) the story of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Meanwhile, late tonight, the FBI got a search warrant for the smartphone and other documentation of Senator Richard Burr, one of the senators who sold off stock at great personal profit after getting a classified briefing on the coronavirus but before the market crashed. None of the other senators who also did this have been raided by the FBI, just Sen. Burr. I wonder why that is? Surely it's not because Sen. Burr is the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is just about to release the final volume of its report on the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Surely it has nothing to do with the previous volumes having agreed with every single intelligence agency that yes, Russia did interfere, and they're still interfering, and this administration is doing nothing to stop them and everything to help them. Nah, couldn't be. That must just be a coincidence.

On the home front, we carry on. Tensions are  high as I struggle through each work day, never knowing if it's going to be a long day or a short day, a good day or a bad day. Mike has one more week of work after this before his company shuts down, and there's still no word about whether he will be unemployed or not, no idea of how long the shutdown will last, no information about anything. The uncertainty is wearing us down.

In good news, the part came in for the mower, and Mike was able to fix it (he's so handy!) and finish mowing the yard. It's uneven now in the other direction (the parts that were too long are now shorter than the parts he mowed before), so he's looking forward to the weekend, when he will have time to mow everything and bring it all to the same level.

Liam finished his mandated hours of instructor time for driver's ed this morning, so we can cross that off our list. This afternoon, Mike took Liam and Max for their first orthodontist appointment since this all started. Liam's was just a follow-up to make sure his teeth still look good a year later, and they do, because he's great about using his retainer. Max got great news too: they did the scan for his retainer today, and at the next appointment (which isn't for a month, but still) he finally gets his braces off for good! It will be such a relief to him, but also to me, because I've been low-level worried about him having to go to appointments and having someone messing around in his mouth after messing around in many other mouths every day.

Finally, my mom's been making masks! She started with a special order from me and my friend Jill. We got the idea from this post we saw online of a woman wearing a mask with tiny penises printed on it. The woman in the post basically said that was her way of weeding out who was standing too close to her. So funny! Anyway, Jill and I decided to go in a slightly different yet equally offensive direction, and we got the first batch of masks today. Thanks, Mom! You make us the best things.

Can you read my mask?
Then you're too close. Back off.

Nationwide cases: 1,390,764. Deaths: 84,136.