Yesterday afternoon I received a permission form to sign for my disabled brother, for whom I am a legal guardian, to receive the Covid vaccine. He has been sequestered in his care home residence since last March, seeing no family except on Zoom (every week) during all that time. Six hours after I'd had the good news about the vaccine, with me opening our weekly call from Perth in Scotland and chatting to my aunt in Virgina, while we waited for my brother to join the call from Philadelphia, the phone rang - it was one of the nurses at his residence telling us that he had just tested positive for coronavirus. NINE MONTHS of heartrending caution, the good news about the vaccine, and then - hours later - the news that he'd tested positive. Honestly, this indifferent impersonal web diary is no medium to convey the level of irony - my brother's terrible head injury in a car accident over forty years ago, his inability to move or communicate except by pointing at letters on a board, his intact sense of humour and his memory of life before the accident, his six-month battle with pneumonia two years ago, our weekly skype and zoom calls over the past five years despite the 3500 miles between us, and now this? He is asymptomatic at the moment. Discouraged and afraid, I went flying with my husband in a Cessna 172 this evening. He and I are both licensed private pilots. The small airport where we hire planes shut down at 5 p.m. this evening for Christmas, and will remain closed for the hard lockdown beginning on 26 December 2020 in the UK, and when it opens again it will be after Brexit, when our European licenses will no longer be valid because there is no plan in place for pilots' licensing. Our flight was the last of the day, of the year, of an era. I nearly didn't want to come - but I am so glad I did. It was SO BEAUTIFUL! The sky was clear but wreathed with wisps of cloud; the sun went down in flaming reds; the lights came on in our own beautiful city as we came home. We flew from Perth to Dundee, crossed the Kingdom of Fife at St. Andrew's, crossed the Firth of Forth and flew over Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, and then back across the Forth where the three beautiful bridges of three centuries come together. And so back to Perth. And it was impossible to feel anything other than lucky, fortunate, blessed, to be able to see this beauty in a time of crisis and sadness, to have the gift of flight at my fingertips. This is what you get, I tell myself. Be glad for what you get. You are so much more fortunate than so many others. My poor brother. I am daring to hope for good news, but waiting for a blow. [The photo is of the Tay, looking west from Dundee, at 3.41 p.m. on 22 December 2020.]
January 12, 2021
This week, I have thought about how Halloween will work out. Since we are living in such a difficult time right now, it is not possible for us to have such big, crowding events. It seems to me that some people want to go out of their way to go to parties and violate safety regulations ... Because of this, I spent time considering how I am going to be celebrate Halloween. Despite the restrictions we are forced to put up with, I still wanted to celebrate in my own special way. Just yesterday, I received a package from my parents. I had told them two weeks prior that I wanted some snacks that I would actually eat before I have to empty out my room. The box was filled with some of my favorite candy and other goodies. I was very excited. It motivated me to think of further plans for Halloweekend. I spent some time today playing a virtual game of "Clue" ... It was a really fun time for all of us; we enjoyed ourselves very much. I plan to spend the next day eating some candy and watching a Halloween themed movie, after I finish some work. I also bought a ticket to watch a movie for the 29th annual Philadelphia Film Festival since one of my friends is their ambassador this year. I will be watching that this coming Sunday. Celebrating Halloween during the pandemic has given me time to think about other events. Although this crisis has been tough for all of us, we must make the most of the good times. When life gives you lemons, you always have to find a way to make lemonade. For me, coming up with revised ways to celebrate Halloweekend has been a good way to work around the effects of this pandemic. It may not be the most ideal celebration, but it works in a time like this. Now that we only have three weeks left of classes, I am more grateful every day for how far we have come.
October 31, 2020