Apparently, things were getting a little loose in bars as the night went on. Imagine that! So here in Ohio, the Governor recently ordered all bars and restaurants to serve their last drinks (alcoholic) at 10pm and close their doors at 11. Bar owners were furious because 10pm to 1am is their most profitable hours. In the campus area, some of the worst offenses were taking place and some bars were issued citations by the health department. In Columbus we have The Ohio State University main campus, one of the largest single campuses in the nation. Some 50,000 students attend classes and live on campus or in the area. They can party, and they do get rowdy!
But who am I to talk?
Last Saturday night my wife and I were sitting around the house, as usual, drinking wine, as usual, and binge-watching some old TV series, as usual. She fell asleep on the couch and I continued to drink and watch and get increasingly board. Well, the feeling must have been mutual because at about 10:30, someone in the neighborhood began shooting off fireworks.
Fireworks in August is a fairly rare thing. I listened for a few moments and then realized, “What the hell!” I hustled up stairs and into the back of my closet, dug around, and found what was left of some “excitement” I had purchased maybe eight years prior. Nothing big or fancy, mostly just “bottle rockets” and a few strings of “lady fingers.” Soon I was in the back yard “enjoying myself,” I guess I can say, filling the air with very modest “pops” and fleeting trails of sparks. Actually, most of the rockets just fluttered to the ground a few feet from the launch and fizzled or popped among the flowers but causing only minimal damage to them, I hoped.
It did not take long until my wife appeared at the door and ‘sparking’ a bit herself demanded to know “What the hell are you doing?” As if it wasn’t obvious. I guess her question had a different sense to it. She stomped back into the house. I shot off a couple more and then returned to my my wine and television. That night she had me sleep alone. Well, as is often said, “it seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Unfortunately, last week Ohio saw some of its worst disease days, in a way. Reported new cases in a day set record highs with 1500 and then 1700 with every day above a thousand. Fortunately, deaths have not increased proportionately, apparently because these cases are now appearing among more young people. In a small city in the east of the state, a nursing home was infected and has so far reported 11 deaths, 59 residents testing positive and 32 employees also! The Columbus Public School District has decided to start the year on-line and so have several others including my old district. The governor has issued a state-wide mask order and in the last several days new cases a day have fallen back below a thousand. Hopefully they will stay there.
Shocking to say, Florida is a state with almost twice the population (22million) of Ohio. They are beset with a horrible Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, who has constantly down played the virus and done little to slow it. While we were hitting 1500 cases a day, last month Florida topped out at 15,000 new cases one day, 10 times our number! Ohio’s Governor, Mike DeWine, is also a Republican but a moderate one and one not overly supportive of Mr. Trump. He has been one of the most active and decisive leaders in the nation in efforts to contain the virus. It just goes to show, not all Republicans are the same and I appreciate the few that are still moderate and decent public servants. Why, 4-5 decades ago, there were actually Liberal Republicans (!), like New York Governor (1959-73) Nelson Rockefeller who sought his party’s nomination of the presidency several times. Well, good luck to Ohio and good luck to Florida, but sometimes you can help make your own good fortune.
In a surprising turn of events, just yesterday Gov. DeWine tested positive for Corona by a “rapid results test” in the morning, announced the results making state and national news, and then by late evening got the results from a more accurate but slower kind of test that he did not have it. A further round of tests confirmed that he and his family and closest co-workers were fine. Apparently, social media lit up with reaction to the first part of the story. Many sited their belief in the ineffectiveness of masks, and on the other side, some declared that no one should return to work or school until rapid tests are available to all! Both those contentions turned out to be problematic. There are a lot of overly rapid (and very fervid) reactions to “virusy” things these days.
Be safe, and don’t let the boredom, jumpiness and wine distort your thinking! I, too, will try my best.
Nature Religion Connection 