The long Autumn of 2020 was spent in anticipation of two events: the presidential election and the birth of my third
grand baby. We all tried desperately to wear masks, stay outside and keep 6 feet apart, not to mention all the hand washing and hand sanitizer. This was not only to save our lives but to prevent exposing Mary Laurel to COVID-19 which might affect the developing fetus. I tracked infection rates in Marin County daily. The only place I went was the grocery store and occasionally to dinner at my friend, Bev’s who lives near me. Church became a weekly Zoom call, class reunions also turned to zoom for communication. A monthly Rhodes School (lux sit) alumni zoom was always informative.
As to the election, I was glued to TRMS and CNN and the PBS News Hour. Every atrocity committed by the Trumpsters was detailed. That with the horrendous lack of response by the federal government to the pandemic and then lack of concern for first-line workers made for a fair amount of cussing at the tv. I sent off checks the the Democrats and Elect Biden praying others would do the same and there would be a landslide vote for Biden and the Democrats would take the Senate. Not all of this was realized. The lack of concession by Trump to Biden and with Trumps firing heads of security and others at the Department of Defence and Voice of America communication chiefs, it felt like Trump was staging a coup. He replaced all the knowledgeable people with lackeys from congressional staff who believe in absurd conspiracy theories. Trumps continued insistence that he actually won the vote has led to contributions of over $250 million to help fight the results. But the money is actually going into Trump’s pocket for the most part.
I spent a lot of time with Lyle during the day so Arlo could do his zoom school and ML could rest when she wasn’t working from home. Lyle and I made cakes and cookies, took walks and scoots, played tennis, and made art. When it got close to full term, I slept at their house until Thanksgiving week when I brought the boys to my house to stay since there was no school. Lucky I did because finally a week after due date baby wanted out. They rushed to the hospital and baby was born within 45 minutes. His name is Everett Jude Bilek-Burt and he is beautiful. He was 7 lbs & 15 ozs when born on 11/24/2020.
Below are some pics from the Fall of 2020.
