Pandemic Week 102: Presidents, A Concert, Masks Off (sometimes) and an Invasion
 |
| Our first indoor concert in 2 years |
Monday
This was the nicest President's Day weather ever. It was 65 degrees and sunny, so we met up with friends Klara, Fefzi and the boys for some sunshine. Incidentally, Klara is a former political scientist with an expertise in Eastern Europe turned cyber security specialist, so she is a very good person to talk about world events with. Since she grew up in Eastern
 |
| The Barns of Wolf Trap |
Europe and has spent time in Ukraine, she has quite a perspective on what is going on in Russia. We will get to that later.
Monday night was a special treat as Theresa got tickets to see Mavis Staples at the The Barns of Wolf Trap. After all these years, this is the first time Joe & Theresa had gone to the smaller venue at Wolf Trap for a concert and it was great. Mavis Staples is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and is a fabulous gospel and R&B singer. She released her last album in 2019 at 79 years old and did so in collaboration with a series of younger artists. Theresa declared it the second-best concert she has ever gone to (the first being Dave Brubeck, who was 90 years old when Joe & Theresa saw him in DC). You can check out her music HERE or one of her latest songs HERE. She put on a fabulous show with great musicians and back- up singers.
Tuesday
Anna did not attend the Mavis Staples concert the previous night but was instead working on a variety of homework (it seems she took the month off in some subjects). One of her tasks was an essay on Frankenstein. It would be an understatement to say that Anna did not want to do this assignment. While she is an avid reader, she truly despised this book. She went so far as to rank one of the worse books ever, right behind The Martian, which she had to read for English last year. Suffice it to say she didn't read Frankenstein, which makes writing an essay rather difficult. This assignment will not end well.
Wednesday
It was 76 degrees - one degree shy of the record.
Thursday
It was 34 degrees.
Friday
The CDC announced new masks guidelines, which seems to suggest that is now up to you. As of March 1, masks will no longer be mandatory at school. This will be a dinner topic for us as Anna has been masked for her entire time at high school. There are many advantages to masks besides stopping the spread of germs (you don't need to wear lipstick or really worry about what half of your face looks like). Let the unmasking begin!
Theresa ended the week with her monthly Jammers Gold session on the marimbas. The parents got their music for the Big Jam concert. Let's just say Theresa has some work to do. It is a good thing Anna has a practice marimba that happens to be located next to Theresa's telework space.
Saturday
Anna attended a birthday movie and game night for one of her theater friends. One of the side benefits of the pandemic has been the return of board games and hanging out to watch movies, all regular things for Anna and her friends.
The Ukraine
It is with great sadness and trepidation we watched the events unfold in the Ukraine. While we knew it was coming, perhaps we held out hope for a different result. This seems so much more personal. Perhaps it is because of our friend Klara who has been warning of the dangers of Putin for years (she spent Sunday protesting outside the Russian embassy in DC with her family). Maybe it is because so many of us still remember the Cold War and what it was like when the Soviet Union fell - all of the hope. Perhaps it is because we know people directly impacted but what is happening. One of Anna's friends has family in the Ukraine as her mother is Ukranian. Theresa had students from the Ukraine in her English class - all with family there. We have neighbors that were stationed in the Ukraine with the State Department and were evacuated. We will be watching closely and praying for the people of the Ukraine.
Comments