An elephant’s gestation period is 22 months. It has now been eight months since the order for people my age to restrict their activities because of covid. We have missed Easter and we are about to miss Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Even if the vaccine is developed and even if a majority of Americans decide to take it (how likely is that?) Dr. Fauci, the nonpartisan head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said this morning that it will be the third or fourth quarter of 2021 before things will begin to approach “normal.” In other words about another eleven months. But realistically given many Americans’ denial that there even is a disease, I figure it will be into 2022. In other words, time enough for an elephant to gestate and deliver a baby.
But the real question is why has my brain gone off the rails like this? I think that I constantly find myself in some kind of time warp, unlike any I have ever experienced. As such, I try to liken it to some known event. I have failed. I used to compare the length of this trial to my own pregnancy. But I guess should have thought instead of my paternal grandmother who had my father and his younger brother 13 months apart. Yep. 22 months in all.’
As the numbers soar and people scream at nurses that they can’t be dying of covid because it isn’t a real illness (a nurse in South Dakota) and the “leader” of my country keeps saying he won an election he lost, I feel that I have indeed gone down the rabbit hole and am living among the Red Queen and her minions. And all I can see is the white rabbit running around with that big watch ranting about the time. And all I can think about is the line from Chicago: “does anybody really know what time it is?”
Saved By Words 
Trump belongs in a mental health facility, not the White House. He is becoming more unhinged with every passing day….and taking a large portion of the country along with him. These are increasingly nightmarish times, and we’d better wake up before it’s too late.
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It is hard to believe that he is being more unhinged, but he is.
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I have ‘liked’ this post because of the way you write, but there isn’t much to like about the times we are living in, or our ‘leaders’
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Thanks. I can understand what you meant by like.
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😊
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That was a great record by Chicago. I have long since abandoned any idea of ever geting ‘back to normal’ in my lifetime. Things have changed forever, and not for the better.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I am slowly coming around to your perspective.
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I’m trying to find ways to create a new normal that doesn’t feel oppressive. Nothing will go back to what it was in 2019 and there are good things about that as well as bad. I’m grateful to so far be COVID free and financially stable. Anything more is gravy!
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I have often said during this time Elizabeth that I feel as though we are all living in a B grade Sci Fi movie…it just seems that surreal! Where an Alien life form, namely CoVid, has invaded the planet & is killing its inhabitants!
It’s all so emotionally & mentally exhausting!
I hear exactly what you’re saying here.
Blessings,
Jennifer
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I wish we had it 1/8 under control as you do there. But you are right about the exhaustion of all kinds.
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Not me, that’s for sure!
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It’s a completely crazy year in every way. Covid is bad enough, but I am equally distraught by the shenanigans going on in the White House. January 20th can’t come soon enough!
To your other point – My two older sisters are only 11 months apart and my younger brother and I are 15 months apart. That’s not even all of us and somehow my mother survived! And continues to survive at 90 during this pandemic. So there’s hope! 🙂
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Yikes. I get tired just thinking about your mom’s experience.
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And a single working mom most of the time. Pretty amazing.
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Since the beginning, I’ve said that what makes this challenge different from most things in life is we can’t see the finish line. Everything else has always been specific dates. (e.g., my child is due in three months, vacation will be in five weeks, we’ve got that trip to look forward to in February.) This is just one long ride on a rat’s wheel.
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I realize it is like a war. We look back at those long wars and know how they ended, but the people living then had no idea.
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I feel volumes of grief and loving hugs to you who are caught up in the c/19 mess….as some of you know I’m in New Zealand, which is has a much different “playing field” right now. And being a whole country with only one governing body it’s easier to deal with any “outbreaks” and they are usually ring fenced. We have a COVID-19 app that works on most phones which allows one to easily bypass the “paper/pen/contact” with a quick picture through the app via a QR code…
However, my region which is Auckland, has apparently been in the “c/19 pockets” too much and now it’s mandatory to wear a mask on all public transport here, and if we should fly in/out of Auckland, masks on the flights…
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Well if I were you I would just stay put. It’s raging in a lot of places. You can look forward to a lovely summer I hope.
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Things have definitely changed Elizabeth and I wonder if we’ll ever go back to what we call normal.
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Hard to imagine. At least I hope we can return to in person Mass.
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You are far from alone in this. It feels just plain weird. I want to have a ceremonial mask burning party in 2022 when I can emerge to normalcy. In the meantime, I’ll be singing the Chicago song. I still have the record album, which adds to my time warp.
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I am amazed that vinyl seems to be making a comeback. Do you think we could sell these old records?
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They really are making a comeback. I can’t part with mine, although our son begged me for some of my albums. I caved on a few. He was thrilled to get my original Woodstock album and more. It was hard to part.
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I will have to see what any are worth.
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🙂
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Whatever ‘normal’ is…
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Good point.
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Things are fairly normal here in South Africa at the moment, Elizabeth, although we can’t travel abroad. It does feel like we have all been transported to wonderland, I agree. Alice in Wonderland is one of my all time favourite books because I view life as being just like it. A series of strange events that result in happiness or pain.
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It is terribly sad that our so-called advanced nation has handled this so atrociously.
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Life has turned upside down and God only knows when things will change, anyway the old normal is not going to come back. Take care.
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Thank you. I am hopeful that we will emerge better and kinder.
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