Day 214

 October 11, 2020

Unbelievably, seven months into the pandemic the world health organization reported the highest daily cases of coronavirus. According to The NY Times, “The world recorded more than one million new cases of the coronavirus in just the last three days, the highest total ever in such a short span, a reflection of resurgences in Europe and the United States and uninterrupted outbreaks in India, Brazil and other countries.“

It does not seem fathomable that COVID-19 is increasing in number of cases instead of decreasing. It speaks potentially to two ideas, one how little we know about this virus and the lack of precautions people are taking in the world. Last week the POTUS tested positive for coronavirus and this week he is holding an in person rally with hundreds of people, at least masks were required. The situation for Trump is dire as in most polls he is losing to democratic candidate Joe Biden. 

As the situation in the United States becomes increasingly anxious (as cases are on the rise in many states)

the situation in India is even more so as the countries rural areas are being devastated. The number of cases in India is quickly approaching the U.S. total of 7.7 million. 

As many school districts have installed, Aurora Public Schools is moving into a hybrid model. This model allows for a small percentage of students to be in the building while other students join the class remotely.

The planning for this has been daunting and more than ever before this looks like a trial and error approach since there are several variables in motion. Internet connections, the limitations placed on remote learners, the unknown behavior of in person students under restrictions and lack of community with in person student-to-remote student. The reality is this is new territory for most of us. I am resigned to performing the best I can and adjust as necessary. I imagine the students at home will feel left out and disengage. We shall see how it goes. In the meantime if you are looking for reasons to be cheerful. Check out this website https://reasonstobecheerful.world/ it is engineered by former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, an activist for positive change in the world, he is an influencer in not only the music world.

Enjoy the week and stay Safe out there.

Day 172

 Sunday August 30, 2020

A year ago not many people would have imagined the condition we currently find ourselves in. The novel coronavirus which became COVID-19 and officially became a pandemic on March 12, 2020 has infected over 25 million people and has a death total nearing 1 million (it is around 847,000 as of today). India now has the fastest-growing coronavirus caseload of any country in the world, with more than 75,000 new infections per day. In the past week, India has reported nearly half a million cases.

Yet the world and all its inhabitants continue to disagree on very important issues such as mask wearing and social distancing.  The two most important defenses against a virus primarily spread through human transmission. I suppose people are either uninformed of the virus and how it is continually spreading or very opinionated about their rights not to help themselves and fellow Americans. There is hope for the "all saving vaccine" soon, but I imagine even that will be met with both controversy and repudiation. 

The United States is in the middle of a presidential election (November 2020) as both the Republican and Democratic conventions recently wrapped up. The nation is also still protesting and calling for social justice as police officers continue to make grave mistakes when confronting citizens even after the killing of George Floyd in May turned the country on its end. There are struggles in most major cities around both the control of the virus and social issues regarding civil rights and police enforcement. In Denver this week police ransacked homeless encampments and made several arrests.  My friend Peter shot this video of one of the raids.Denver Police raid on homeless encampment

Many major sporting events were cancelled due to the recent shooting of another black male, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer. The shooting led to protests and rioting which eventually resulted in a civilian shooting two protesters. 

In Portland, Oregon the protests against police brutality and racial injustice have gone on for three months and last night a group of protesters clashed with a Trump rally and one person was shot dead.

Our society is desperate for leadership on so may levels beginning with the top, but also at the state and local levels. 

When will this hell on earth end? Will the eradication of COVID-19 (whenever that happens) be enough to regulate the world? The anger and hatred will still fester. Changes in our world societal systems are needed. In a conversation with friends recently, someone mentioned the feeling of solidarity of around the world after 911. For a short time we felt the pain and the human suffering deep inside our hearts and every man, woman and child mourned the loss of life in a tragic event.

The terrorist attacks that September day manifested changes in the airline and travel industries. Are these tragic moments we are witnessing, although not on the same scale but still inhumane, not enough to evoke the changes we need to see social equality and more humane treatment of impacted people.

“The time of a man's life is as a point; the substance of it ever flowing, the sense obscure; and the whole composition of the body tending to corruption. His soul is restless, fortune uncertain, and fame doubtful; to be brief, as a stream so are all things belonging to the body; as a dream, or as a smoke, so are all that belong unto the soul. Our life is a warfare, and a mere pilgrimage." - Marcus Aurelius

 

Day 155

 August 13, 2020 

We are on our fourth day of remote professional development and my head aches, my eyes burn and my brain is fried. 

The district is front loading our cerebral cortex with massive amounts of information. The information is worthwhile and will be immediately applicable to our remote teaching term.

The part of it that is most difficult is staring into a computer screen for hours and having little time to process the data before the next training.  And we begin direct online instruction next week. 

When I was choosing a major for college I knew I did not want to be in a cubicle or desk job. And certainly not chained to a computer. It is utterly depressing. I do not know how people do it.

I chose physical education because I wanted to move and be on my feet. Which I have been joyfully doing for 25 years.  Although last spring the pandemic slowed everything to a grinding halt.  The Cure sing a song called Grinding Halt. You can listen to it here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8el7sMurPYw

The numbers in the pandemic are rising every day and nothing appears to be able to slow its progress (or we are just not trying hard enough) The current number of daily cases in Colorado appears to be on the decline since a mask ordinance was put in place in late July. Here a map and some numbers for Denver County, the largest county, and where we currently reside.

   

We shall see what the numbers look like in October as our school quarter comes to a close and once again the board of education will decide which model to proceed with.  The models are remote, hybrid, cohort and in-person.  I just heard recently that the entire state of New York is going to reopen in September with a unique plan that falls in line with safety considerations as well as district discretion. WKBW in Buffalo reported recently saying, 

"New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced schools in New York State will reopen in September but with some stipulations.

Instead of using a "one size fits all" plan, the Governor said reopening plans are being approved on an individual basis by the NYS Department of Health.

"Remote education, a blend, half-day, quarter-day, a third day . . . that is all up to their discretion," said Cuomo."

This is of interest to me since my sister and two nieces are all in the education field and my nephew is in middle school.  The stress all educators and probably many children and parents are feeling right now is paramount.  Over the last few days, as I have planned for the upcoming remote quarter of teaching, this pandemic-pain-in-the-ass has really hit a nerve.  It is not that I forgot it or was in denial, but being in a pandemic over the summer was just a big fun-sucker.

And yes we were remote in the spring, but it was mostly access based instruction and it was more about helping children and families cope while we ourselves dealt with the sudden reality of online instruction.  This new year comes with rigor and accountability and evaluation and new learning. Tons of new learning.  Of course, all us educators are in this together.  We are all sailing the ship called COVID-19 into uncharted waters, but dang if it sometimes doesn't feel like you were stranded on a deserted island and all you have is computer! 

Day 152

 Monday August 10, 2020

Saturday was National Baseball card day.  When I was young I collected baseball cards.  Mostly from the seventies as those were my elementary school years.  I remember having all the 1973 World Series cards between the NY Mets and the Oakland A's.  The A's were a powerhouse winning three world series in a row from 1972-1974.  The Mets were my favorite team and I wanted to be a catcher like Jerry Grote.  Here is his 1973 baseball card. 

I definitely owned this card. I even caught a few games when I was playing baseball in the Long Island summers of my youth.  Here is an article about that collectible year of 1973 baseball cards.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/vintage-set-of-the-week-1973-topps-baseball/

Now for some national news and of course it revolves around the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus aka COVID-19.

The United States continues to lead countries in case growth, doubling its cases in the past two months. The nation has exceeded five million cases and over 160,000 deaths.  And with that we get news that 250,000 motorcycle enthusiasts are expected to show up in South Dakota for the annual Sturgis rally.  This will be one of the largest public gatherings since the pandemic became official on March 12th.  Only in America?!  That is one reason why we have more cases than any other country.  Yes, we are the most populous, but also the least effective at slowing the spread.

With that being said, the European nations have led the way to a dusty death (leading in COVID-19 deaths per capita). Health officials in some areas did not include nursing homes in the pandemic plans and many were left unattended.   Failing to protect their elderly has led to a gross number of deaths in Europe. 

In other news; a recent explosion, due to many tons of ammonium nitrate (a fertilizer) stored in a port in Beirut, left five thousand injured and killed 145 people. That led to protests and riots against a government accused of corruption and neglect.  The protesters stormed the governing  ministries and several legislators have resigned. You can read more about it here: https://arab.news/6m7sm

Several years ago, after a magical 2007 season I officially became a fan of the Colorado baseball team. The Colorado Rockies are currently in first place and Maren and I are enjoying listening to the games.  And even though it is unlikely we will attend a game this year we are thankful for baseball and hearing our boys do well has given us great joy.  Go Rockies!  

Day 126

Wednesday July 15, 2020

Science fiction is the literature of the human species encountering change, whether it arrives via scientific discoveries, technological innovations, natural events, or societal shifts. In 1949, George Stewart wrote a science fiction novel entitled Earth Abides about civilization collapsing under the effects of a disease which wipes out most humans and they must build anew. On the book was this quote:"If a killing type of virus strain should suddenly arise by mutation...it could, because of the rapid transportation in which we indulge nowadays, be carried to the far corners of the earth and cause the deaths of millions of people." W. M. Stanley


This is not science fiction, but in fact it was published in Chemical and Engineering News, December 22, 1947.
So much of the current pandemic feels like we are trapped inside a science fiction novel or film.


The ludicrous way many humans have dealt with the virus outbreak including government officials, heads of state and general people in charge. The insanity that has ensued in some places like people throwing COVID parties and people panic buying. The extreme levels of isolation and complete denial. The way in which this virus outbreak has become political. The horror stories that have come out of Italy and New York (two epicenters of the disease during the last four months) wherein doctors had to make choices on who was given a ventilator due to the number of cases all coming in at the same time. And of course the number of deaths reported at times in different regions (again Italy and New York, but also Spain, France, Britain, Brazil and India) Overall the virus has infected 13. 3 million people and the death toll is over 575,000. These numbers alone make it sound like fiction, but in fact it is very real and continues to throttle our world in many ways.
From unemployment to economy to education we as a human existence have been damaged probably beyond repair. The economy could take years to recover as small and large businesses continue to fold (so far 110,000 small businesses have shut down) which directly affects the unemployment rate. The loss of quality education is going to have repercussions for all school age children.


Science fiction would say it's natures way of dealing with mass population.
Again George Stewart in Earth Abides,writes, "Some zoologists have even suggested a biological law: that the number of individuals in a species never remains constant, but always rises and falls—the higher the animal and the slower its breeding-rate, the longer its period of fluctuation [...] As for man, there is little reason to think that he can in the long run escape the fate of other creatures, and if there is a biological law of flux and reflux, his situation is now a highly perilous one....Biologically, man has for too long a time been rolling an uninterrupted run of sevens"

Even the bible (some might say it is a sort-of science fiction novel) agrees. In Ecclesiastes 1:4 — "Men go and come, but earth abides."

Day 100

Today is June 19, 2020 

So many times in our lives 100 is a milestone.  100 days into something or 100 days remaining. 100 percent. 100 episodes of a television show. 100 likes. 100 years. There was even a 100 years war! (Remember that from social studies?) You can look it up here if you wish (https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/hundred-years-war) 

100 of anything is usually a good thing. As I write my day one-hundred entry my first thoughts are: how long I have journeyed and how far will I go?  Consistently doing anything for 100 days is something to be proud of (ever try a 30 day challenge?) writing for 100 days during the time of  a pandemic has been therapeutic.  It started as a way to document this event and have a record of the experience and then just became routine. Writing is also a love of mine and it been both fun and challenging to create the blog and it has encouraged me to stay on top of the current events and virus news while adding tidbits of information that would be interesting to readers.  I had decided a few weeks ago I would probably write for one complete year. I feel like that is an accomplishment  I can be proud of and also provide future readers a large scope of the event and how our world was impacted. So thank you for reading and following my journey. Let's get into it...

Anthony S. Fauci has answered questions regarding pandemic waves and the most important answer he gives is "You can’t talk about a second wave in the summer because we’re still in the first wave." I understand people want to know what the future holds and we are all anxious for this nightmare to end, but he goes on to provide some insight into our roles by saying, "This will end and it will be within our power to end it both from a public health standpoint and hopefully within a reasonable time with the scientific advances that bring us interventions in the form of vaccines and therapy. But we are all in this together.  You have a responsibility for your own health. But also, since we live in a big country and in a global community, what we do as individuals will have an impact on the success or not of getting this outbreak under control."

So hold fast my friends and continue to protect yourself and others as you move about the world, whether that means flying, driving or walking. In any manner you interact with others know the best precautions that can prevent transmission are wearing a mask, staying six feet apart and being mindful not to touch your face while diligently washing your hands (especially after contacting any surfaces or just being out in public).  I was inspired to write some poetry after waking in the middle of the night and realizing I dreamed, but have know idea what the dream was about...so here is what I wrote:

Dreams fill my mind, but like untethered ships pass in the night forever lost to me. Images unseen haunt me, tease me, shhh they seem to whisper, yet leave as if uninvited.

Photo is a Michael Zeno Diemer painting entitled Ship at Sea.

Day Six

Today is March 17, 2020 Saint Patrick's Day for what it is worth. The world is suffering
The WHO dashboard today looks like this...

The situation here in Denver is now all restaurants and bars are closed to the public for sit in dining. They are only open for take out or delivery. This ban is in effect until May 11, 2020. Eight weeks. Aurora Public Schools started serving lunches at fifteen locations including North MS. Today Maren and I went to North to pick up her plants. They are living in the spare bedroom now since Tim and Scarlet have left for CO Springs and eventually on to Maine. The streets were less busy today as we drove. One thing to note I have heard more emergency vehicle sirens than usual throughout each day.
All news back home is everyone is alright albeit a bit shaken up and anxious. Dewey and Kathy are back in Farmington NM. Dad and Mom Portoghese are being assisted by the Zappalla-Portoghese family. Yesterday Joanna postponed her wedding until July 4, 2020. Again I sit in my living room. The time is 4:30 PM