I thought things were going to get much better when I wrote my last entry. I was hopeful. The major positive was that Belle finally became a full-time employee at Cedars-Sinai, so that took off some of the pressure. Then there was an attempted coup and a real threat to our Democracy. That shook those of us that believe in Democracy to our bones. It was a close call.
It has been political turmoil ever since. Those that dislike democracy have been working furiously in States to change the laws to make it more difficult to vote and to allow their party to change the vote if they don’t like it. So far, they are succeeding.
Democracy in the United States is still very much in peril. We are at an inflection moment. Two things need to happen. We need to reform voting rights so that people actually have voting rights, and we need to get up to herd immunity. Once enough people get vaccinated, that will get us there.
As of this writing, neither of those things has happened. Legislation to guarantee voting rights is stalled. Even worse, so has the vaccination rate.
We both got vaccinated as soon as it was possible. That was in April. Things started to open up. It was not normal, but certainly much better. Eating inside a restaurant again was wonderful. We no longer lived under the fear that a simple mistake of exposure could wind up killing us.
Belle has booked her first post Covid show, a weird blend of Zoom and a live but distanced appearance. Still, unlike at Christmas where she did a few shows as Mrs. Claus just over Zoom, she will actually get to go somewhere to do a show.
That removes a lot of stress. We are both starting to feel better. The creativity is starting to flow again in both of us. So, to update my earlier blog entry about how I never get writer’s block, the exception is a global pandemic during political upheaval.
I am not back to writing fiction, but I am coming up with ideas again and mapping them out. Stepping away for a few months gave time for some things to percolate a bit, and I have figured out resolutions for a number of problems, along with some great new scenes.
Things are looking better, but all it will take to turn things around is a deadlier mutation. We have to get the vaccination rates up, or the angel of death above will go to work with a vengeance.