When you pay attention, you get to find out about cool stuff like watching the Minuteman reenactors practice their drills prior to the big day.
Tag: Minuteman National Park
COVID Strikes the House!
After two years, much of the world seems to have given up on keeping a pandemic posture. I haven’t touched on COVID-19 in the blog in a while because I find it to be so frustrating. In the United States we’ve had strong anti-vax, anti-mask, and anti-science movements. They’ve really hampered efforts to “flatten the curve” of hospitalizations and keep COVID-19 from overwhelming the healthcare system.
Infection and hospitalization rates have dropped recently, so even the most vigilant have relaxed. Few people wear masks into stores; most employers are cajoling people back on-site. If there is going to be another resurgence of the virus, now is the time.
So, of course, the entire family is now COVID-19 positive.
We fell in a fairly orderly fashion: Megh, Alpha, me, Beta, one per day. The only family member not affected appears to be Butter-the-dog. I don’t know how to even tell if she is infected, but there’s evidence that she can. So far she seems fine.
We think we’ve traced it back to an outdoor event the past weekend in Concord to re-enact the “Battle Road” from the American Revolution. There was a crowd, and not everyone was masking – sadly, including us.
There have been a number of COVID-19 variants, and we seem to have caught a fairly recent one, Omicron, based on both the speed of infection and nature of symptoms. It’s been fairly mild for us overall.
We also visited Baba on Sunday, after infection but before contagiousness. Megh has been feeling guilt over the possibility of infecting her, but (so far) she has tested negative and seems fine. After this much time it’s unlikely she’ll contract it from us.
As a side note: my boss Terry, and his mother, also both tested positive for COVID-19 this week. I work from home so it’s just coincidental timing.
Patriots Days in Concord (Day 1)
The morning dawned bright and clear, and the weather prediction called for a warm and gorgeous day. We decided that today was the day to take off and go learn some history! We packed the kids and the dog into the car, and off we went.
The first stop was the North Bridge. We missed the excitement at Miriam’s Corner, but had fun walking around the bridge and seeing just how full the river is. I can see why going around the bridge wasn’t really an option back in the day!
On our way up to the Visitor’s Center we ran into a very friendly dog. “Mort” was out without a leash, and apparently without an owner! Butter thought he was great fun, and they had a good time playing. We managed to catch him, and I leashed him with the strap from my bag (army map cases rock, and I highly recommend them). Fortunately, Mort’s family put their phone number on his collar, so we were able to call them. Their first comment, “We thought he was inside!” We met them up at the Visitor’s Center, and Mort the Houdini Dog went on home like a good boy.
There was one event I really wanted to see today, and that was the ceremony that commemorated the end of Paul Revere‘s ride (but not the end of the ride of William Dawes or of Dr. Samuel Prescott). The drive from Concord to Lincoln takes you past The Old Manse, Orchard House, and The Wayside. Once we got into Lincoln, the site of the ceremony was easy to find. Revere was caught on the road to Concord, after all.
There was a dramatic reading of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by “Mr. Longfellow,” along with “Mr. Revere” and a “British Captain” calling him out when he got fast and loose with the facts (he called it “poetic license”). All in all, it was fun.
We got home in plenty of time to make dinner, and we were all tired. It was a fantastic day, and there is more to do next weekend! I can’t wait!
