January 20, 2022: I am back at this blog about a year after writing on it last. My idea is to write a record of who I am to come back to for myself that is accessible to others who may wish to know more about me when I die or who stumble upon danielforrest.org on Word Press.

COVID and Trumpism

My life is still limited by the spread of the virus. I am double vaccinated and boosted but many are not, hence the continued limitations that circumscribe my movement. The latest iteration of the virus is somewhat less dangerous than the previous versions. If no new version supplants it, I will enter restaurants again and camp out of state in 2022. Being vaccinated means that I could catch the disease but it would likely not lead to hospitalization.

At my age I try to never be angry but I am. Former President Trump, Fox News, and various other right-wing disrupters continue to spread false information that restrains the influence of factual, scientific data. Because anti-vaccine proponents and Trump worshippers are sealed off in a silo that does not allow rationale penetration, disagreeing with them is impossible. Were I still teaching or a medical worker, I would be a hot ball of anger for sure. Killing others for the freedom to choose not to vaccinate imprisons all of us. Commerce and education suffer needlessly.

The January 6, 2021, Trump-led insurrection based on the plain lie that he really won the election last January damaged the White House and killed capitol policemen fighting off insurrectionists wearing red Trump caps and toting Confederate flags. My faith is America is greatly diminished. An entire society and commerce in general is held hostage by vaccine refusers embraced by former President Trump and his followers.

What I do is avoid others, wear a very good mask, and try not to dwell on what I can not control. In the end I know that the source of the blame is those who voted for Republicans and who think Twitter/Face Book feeds provide accurate information. Beyond that I hope that America will right it itself going beyond insurrection and vaccine denial. I will continue to believe that my individual freedom is fairly and logically constrained by what is good for all of us. Seeking independent factual information is a way of life for me. The Golden Rule is seared into my cortex.

Chinese Immigrants, The O.J. Simpson Trial, Nutmeg, Mammalian Evolution, Poland in WW II

Those are five words from titles linked to ideas that I have held in my head for hours and hours so far this year. They are lifted from two records that I keep: 2022 Viewing Record and 2022 Reading Record. I wrote short essays about the 36 books that I read and 81 movies or television series that I viewed in 2021. My 2022 list is growing.

I am a serious reader and viewer who enjoys science and history. Sometimes I shift through channels to watch old black and white movies that my parents could have seen or snatches of other programs like The Andy Griffin Show. Mainly I stick to serious, worthwhile, critically acclaimed reading and viewing. I am not now and never was an escapist is reading and viewing. My somewhat snobbish approach is likely stems from my degrees in English and habits of a lifetime.

I know more than I ever have. I am well informed and still very curious. Sometime I lament that attainment because I have no audience but I believe being curious is fundamental to being alive. I love ideas, even if they ravage my brain at times.

As per usual Nita and I enjoy some television every night. I watch The Newshour on PBS and Nita joins me form Jeopardy. Then we split and come together to watch something more serious. Last night I watched part of a Nova program about dinosaurs in Alaska. Because I had read Beasts Before Us: The Untold Story of Mammal Origins and Evolution by a young paleontologist named Elsa Panciroli, I was very interested in the hour long Nova program; Nita less so. We returned to streaming The Duchess of Duke Street, a 1976 BBC series about an upwardly mobile cook in Great Britain at the turn of the twentieth century. It is our current joint viewing project.

My brain works by taking in but imperfectly retaining good books and viewing. I then, even against my will, think and think about what I have learned. In can be an affliction but it is part of my constitution. My head turns over the notion that the spice trade, specifically nutmeg, led to the modern capitalistic system etc. I can not stop thinking about ideas.

My Two Cancers

In the last week I have permitted myself to do pushups and pull-ups again. I had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my back in December and another from my arm in January. Surgical excision successfully removed the tumors root and all resulting in a 95% prognosis for being completely cancer free.

For about two months I had to limit the use of my left arm to avoid tearing stitches. I could still walk my usual two or more miles a day but I had to limit myself otherwise. That was not good for my body–or mind. I need to move. So much of who I am is expressed by movement.

Walking to Grocery Stores

Today January 22, 2022, is cold and sunny with a temperature close to 40; yesterday prior to the light snow fall was dark and grey and colder.

Needing nothing in particular other than a change of walking route, yesterday I walked to Food Lion and bought to some bacon and sausage. The 1 1/2 miles took me past the new condominium development. Latino workers were steadily framing the end unit closest to our house in 30 degree weather.

Today I followed the same drill walking on the west side of India Hook Road in the opposite direction to take advantage of the sun that had melted most of the light, fluffy snow. I bought peanut butter, dog food, and beer at Harris Teeter, a two-mile walk.

Walking to the store is unusual around here but I have always loved walking to the store since my days as a boy in Saluda when I could been downtown in short 1/2 mile walk. Am I crazy? Why is what I do so singular?