153 Days
It’s been 153 days since I went into quarantine. J worked at the office until March 21st. That day the tech support team went into overdrive to get every last person out of the office building and working from home. He walked through the door three hours early with a box filled with office supplies and his computer. Those first weeks it took everything I had not to lose it completely. Extended family and friends didn’t match our level of seriousness when it came to the stay-at-home order. They still don’t and we’re still not phased by their eye rolls.
Just when things seemed to be settling into the new normal the rest of the country blew up with COVID 19 cases and the death toll skyrocketed. As of today there are 5,234,800 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 166,750 deaths here in the United States. I never thought we’d be in this position five months after shit hit the fan. The country is struggling with the decision to send students back to school and college. Black Lives Matter protests are still going strong and President Trump is trying to undermine our right to vote by mail with the latest changes to the United States Postal Service.
But two days ago, former Vice President Joe Biden announced that he’d chosen Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate. Vice President Harris has a nice ring doesn’t it? History was made. Senator Harris is the first woman of color to run for vice president. Perhaps she’ll be the first woman and first woman of color President. Let’s get through this election first.
Something has to change. The past 153 days have amplified just how terrible Donald Trump and his administration are for this country. To be fair I don’t blame President Trump for COVID-19. That’s not his fault. It couldn’t have been predicted. But I do blame him for his lack of leadership. I’m not a fan and I despise the lack of spine exhibited by the GoP since Trump announced his run for the Presidency. I’ve been an Independent voter since the early 2000s when I felt the party moved away from what I believed in all my life.
In those 153 days I made the decision to start blogging again. I want this blog to accompany my handwritten journal. This blog allows me to share photo moments as well as video and audio files. My parents passed away in 2010 and 2017. My older brother passed in 2015. I wish I had captured video or audio of them because I miss their voices. I miss hearing my Mom tell stories from her childhood and I miss talking to my Dad about computers and music. I’ve been a photographer for 20 years so capturing moments from our life is second nature. Since the global pandemic roared to the forefront of our lives the important of video and audio has become priority one.
The Election is 82 days away and while I don’t agree with the more progressive views of the Democratic party I will once again vote Democrat on November 3rd. Because our country can’t take another 4 years with no one at the helm and a ratings obsessed, name calling, narcissist sitting behind the Resolute desk. Change needs to happen.
Change will happen.
And I’ll be over here writing a blog.
