A letter was published in our local paper yesterday that made the usual arguments in favor of Covid vaccine mandates, and masking in a rude, inflammatory tone: https://www.capegazette.com/article/are-you-nut/232185 I started to respond, and then changed my mind. Here is what I wrote instead:
——
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
To the Editor:
Covid Vaccine Mandates are Ineffective and Unethical
To the Editor of Cape Gazette:
To The Editor:
On the evening of October 25, several hundred people showed up for a medical freedom town hall, hosted by the Delaware Medical Freedom Alliance in a large-size ballroom at The Sands in Rehoboth Beach.
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.“
— John Muir
Dear Family,
Dear Family,
I really appreciate YOU. I woke up this morning and found that all sorts of humor and wisdom had landed in my inbox, and it is much easier to laugh at Crazy when others do, too! Plus also, this was an amazing day for weather: we only got strong winds and rain last night, no insane flooding like in DC and NJ and NYC, and it was like a miracle of sunshine and cool breezes and blue skies.
Here are a sprinkling of your comments (feel free to respond if you wish; I won’t share identifying details), plus a couple of my own at the bottom:
Dear Family,
Lately I am doing very good/bad. I continue to live a privileged life, with a wonderful husband and five sweet, growing children who gradually increase in health and cuteness and skills every day. We have good food to eat, a gorgeous house to live in. It’s hard to complain! Especially because it’s so much worse for so many people - my gripes with the insanity in the world should be kept to myself, shouldn’t they?
Since I’m a homeschooling parent, many people have helpfully “checked in” over the years with advice: I must not to be overprotective, and should ensure that my children have many experiences out in the world! It’s a terrible idea to plug my kids into video games or devices in an effort to keep them indoors and “safe” - kids must interact with others, especially peers! They need physical activity! They must learn to take risks in order to fly! They need to learn from many teachers!
Dear Family,
The lockdowns began with clear intentions: “flatten the curve” for six weeks or so, reduce stress on medical facilities while they ramp up facilities and staff, and learn more about the virus. Six weeks passed and we accomplished those goals…yet nearly a year later, lockdowns remain in place with no clear roadmap ever stated, just a growing assumption that We Will Do This Until We’re All Vaccinated.
This feels SO fundamentally wrong.
Dear Family,
“Our planet is poorly equipped for delight. One must snatch gladness from the days that are.”
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (from the poem "To Sergei Esenin”)
——
A Zen teacher saw five of his students returning from the market, riding their bicycles. When they arrived at the monastery and had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, “Why are you riding your bicycles?”
The first student replied, “The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!”
Dear Family,
Late in the evening on his Uncle Jake’s birthday (October 7), Kai Terran Amaral joined his family in a celebratory and slightly riotous homebirth that his Mama is profoundly grateful is Over.