Late Covid American Sojourn: Day 11
One of the most aggravating aspects of a Covid road trip is just how many don’t give a damn. From Arizona to Florida, every day we’ve found plenty of maskless yahoos who refuse to don masks, even in restaurants or stores, filling their tanks or walking down the street. To compensate, I suppose, we’ve started double-masking, while turning away from the maskless, and resisting the urge to call out selfish, idiotic behavior. We remain distanced, and, we hope, safe.
Still, all this pulse-raising behavior takes its toll. Hard to swallow that people are risking their lives, and ours, at the height of a global pandemic that has taken 433 thousand lives in the U.S. alone. And yet, with full ICUs and morgue trucks in California, this road trip still feels a lot safer than Andrea going to LAX and flying to Miami and back to LA. I just hope, and believe, things will be subsiding, and the vaccine will be available, by the time we return in a week.
One irony: USC made the vaccine available to those of us 65+ — I turned 65 a couple of weeks ago. So that, if we were home, I’d have gotten my first vaccine. Oh well — we’ll just stay safe, and keep hoping our caution is sufficient protection.
And, happily, last night we were reminded of the whole reason for our journey. After three thousand miles (actually quite a few more, with all the meandering), we reached our pot of gold: Wyatt Maximus Storm. Beaming under his mask, he jumped from his father’s car, we made the transfer (never easy for the parent doing the handoff), and Wyatt piled in the Subaru and peeled off his mask to reveal a giant smile beneath his bright, dancing eyes.
Wyatt! You. Are. Back!
By chance, Andrea’s sister, niece, brother and father are all here in Miami. It was quite the reunion — a socially distant dinner, under a full moon rising over the Miami sea. Such a pleasure and relief to hear Wyatt’s playful laughter floating over the table, all evening.
Tomorrow, we turn the car around. Back to California!
Late Covid American Sojourn: Day 10
Late Covid American Sojourn: Day 12
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