It is 46 degrees outside…but it feels like 43. Also the fall rains have set in for the rest of today and tonight and tomorrow. However there are still some beautiful fall leaves remaining at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale! Our 2020 pandemic continues and is intensifying over our entire country. A vaccine is coming…but it is not here… The Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Dr. Ngozi O. Ezike, during Illinois Governor, J.B. Pritzker’s daily Covid 19 briefing…wept for almost a minute when speaking of the lost lives to the coronavirus in our state. This pandemic is not laughing matter! Some say that the virus will, ‘go-away,’ the day after the election…my question is will that be all over our planet…

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So, I have moved to our loft…where my after retirement desk is. After leaving my management position of 25 years at SIUC I felt that I must have a desk to create some feeling of normalcy for my new state of life. Although I enjoy my little office very much…I only use it on cold days. If the weather is remotely accommodating…I prefer writing on our screened in porch…it reminds me of Maine! We enjoyed my 63rd birthday at Cunetto House of Pasta on the Hill in St. Louis, Missouri. Our friend Frank is the owner and can be found at our favorite restaurant each time that we are there. MJ mentioned, when we were there on Saturday night, that, Frank looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders!’ So when he passed our table she asked him how he was doing. He responded that he was doing, ‘pretty well.’ and that the crowd was good…but that he could only use half of his tables…

We are weary…we are tired…we are numbed by a pandemic that we thought would be over by now… We do not want to be one of the last fatalities before a life saving vaccine is produced and distributed for the public! We want to see the 2020 pandemic in our rear view mirror and be able to say thank God I made it through!

I think over the past few days I have been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel! We are talking as a family about a trip in 2021…and the excitement in Aaron and Jonathon’s eyes has inspired MJ and I to attempt to make it happen! I have often heard the old saying, ‘How many angles can dance on the head of a pin?’ That question addresses where we are at in our current situation. We must be safe…and we must live some semblance of normality…as we dance on the head of pin! I heard my most respected physician and epidemiologist and virus expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, say that we do not have to lock down everyone to practice safety during the pandemic. He emphasized social distancing and wearing of masks and increased hand washing and localized lock downs in Covid-19 hot spots.

Our Federal Government must step up to the plate and provide a nation wide plan for mitigating and containing our virus until a vaccine is produced. Our Federal Government must provide financial aid to the millions of small businesses and many other Americans that have lost their income due to the pandemic. Anything less will guarantee that the recovery of our nation will be years…instead of months…

Better times are on our horizon! I can see it and feel it…and it will be wonderful! We will see each other with a renewed appreciation for our common humanity and our shard walk back to Jerusalem…