Dear Diary,
Lately, and by lately I mean the last few days, it feels like America is a dumpster fire. The federal response to protesters in Portland and potentially other cities, the skyrocketing number of cases, and the increase in the number of deaths from Covid in numerous states (1000/day!), the vibrancy of the misinformation campaign (masks don’t work, there’s already a vaccine), the stark reality that America is rudderless, or worse, led by a madman intent on stepping on the gas as we careen toward the high rocks in the harbor have all combined to create an apocalyptic feel.
I am trying to stick to medical news outlets, but even those sources of information can’t ignore the whirlwind pushing against science and reason. I heard an interview today on NEJM in which the scientists debated about what to do when a too large share of the population refuses to get vaccinated when we are lucky enough to have a vaccine.
Plan C, when real news and medical news are a lodestone is to turn it all off, hang out in the backyard with the dogs, turn up the music (Getz/Gilberto is the go to) and find some good fiction to read. Right now it’s The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel, the third in the trilogy about Thomas Cromwell’s relationship with Henry VIII. That’s some perspective building…no trips to the Tower in my imminent future, no beheadings, no dealings with the court–which are a few things to appreciate in the now…
Until Tomorrow