An Inauguration, a Woman VP, We Get Vaccinated, and Your Mom Gets COVID!

 Dear Joanie,

    What a letter of despair I wrote on January 6, and with good reason.  It is a date we won't soon forget, with the insurrection at our nation's capital.

    In the two weeks that have passed since then, much has happened, and the world seems a more hopeful place.  Much, much work to do, but Trump is out of office and articles of impeachment have been invoked against him for inciting a riot.  The Senate will take up the hearings, probably in February. Stayed tuned.

    We watched the inauguration of President Biden and Vice-President Harris with tears in our eyes. Clearly it was much scaled down at a time when we had much to celebrate, but COVID distancing and the threat of violence created a scene that was filled with pomp and glory, but the backdrop was barbed wire fences, steel barriers, and over 20,000 National Guard members. Nonetheless.  Lady Gaga sang the national anthem. The Bidens and Kamala Harris and her husband Doug and their families looked splendid. Words cannot explain the emotion of watching Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor administer the oath of office to Kamala Harris, the first woman to hold that position--a woman whose mother was from India and her father from Jamaica.  How will your history books mark this moment? For us, it was as if a huge burden had been lifted from our hearts and souls, the burden of a nation led my corruption and downright meanness.  

    I hope you will know the name Amanda Gorman. A young, beautiful woman who, everyone says, stole the show. Truly that was the case. I'd like for you to look up the poem and also hear her read it. Here is the link:

            Amanda Gorman at the Inauguration 2021 

I do hope YouTube is still around.

    On the home front: Dougie and I have both received our first doses of the vaccine.  Dougie receives his second one January 28, and I receive my second on February 3.  We are both fine and still very much observing mask wearing and distancing. We do not go out except to Target and Whole Foods and that we do every two weeks or so. I hike every day.  Up here, in the mountains of Colorado, it's easy not to run into other people. The trails I take are little known, except to people around here.  I have quit hiking with our neighbors and their dogs. We were very good at distancing, but the combination of hiking uphill and wearing a mask made it really uncomfortable. My glasses fogged up, I had to blow my nose too many times, I'd take my glasses off because I couldn't see through the fog, but then I couldn't see anyway. I also have to confess that I like to walk by myself--just me and Shelby Poodle. It's much more calming for me than climbing a mountain, talking, blowing my nose, etc., etc.

    We were distressed that you mom tested positive for COVID.  We were worried about her, of course, but she seemed to be doing all right. She has now tested negative, and you have come back to her. I think that was the most stressful part, really. You went to stay with your grandparents. I think that was agonizing for your mom, although you were more than okay--your grandparents dote on you. But we were glad to see the pictures of her holding you and the joy in both your faces.

    Here's to better times for us all.

        Love,

        GG Katie