The fly in the ointment...

"I am trying very hard to stay positive and to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope that Osterholm is wrong on this one. I really want people to desire to work, to be able too. I want grandparents to want to see and hug their grandies, to be able too. I want retirement accounts restored to what they once were." 

We do all of us, have our own tales to tell of this young year. Whether one is still working, retired, a high school student, or a college student. It is how this year started off so well, with so many plans, and then THUD. We have collectively come to a brick wall. This COVID virus. This mystery virus which (we now think) came out of the wet markets in Wuhan China. It has dashed many if not all of our hopes and dreams for 2020. Now, we are just trying to reconstruct only a portion of what we were hoping for on January 1st, 2020.

Yesterday, 730 citizens of New York went to meet Jesus. More than that in Europe. Most of us right now are looking for anything - any glimmer of hope. Hope in how we can get back to a normal life. Hope in how those who work, can get back to earning a living. Hope that the retirement plans which are fueled by the stock market, can come back from the ashes. Hope that the retired folks can once again go shopping by themselves and hug their grandies. And yet while we were searching for these small slivers of hope yesterday, along came "Dr. Doom", and dashed most of it.

"Dr. Doom" is our own Dr. Michael Osterholm. Maybe the smartest man on the planet in understanding viruses and the havoc they cause in epidemics and pandemics. He was on the Tucker Carlson show last night when he really put a "turd in the punch bowl". Tucker asked the good doctor if this was going to be over soon, or is there a chance it could return in the fall. Osterholm replied that right now, this virus was looking like and acting like an influenza. Therefore, COVID - 19 could have "seasonality". And then he delivered the kick in the groin. "We might only be in the first inning of a nine inning game with this virus."

What does that mean? It means that until we have a proven vaccine which can safely be given to the masses, this highly contagious virus will remain at our doorsteps during different times of the year. And (these are my words, not the words of Dr. Osterholm), if the vaccine works like our current flu vaccine does, there is still a chance of catching this bug if it mutates. Then what am I saying? This COVID - 19, might be the fly in the ointment which will keep us from having a normal life again, for years to come. 

I am trying very hard to stay positive and to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope that Osterholm is wrong on this one. I really want people who desire to work, to be able too. I want grandparents who want to see and hug their grandies, to be able too. I want retirement accounts restored to what they once were. 

Don't get me wrong. I love my house, but I don't want to have to look at it as my prison. I want to go where ever, and when ever I choose - once again. How is this going to end? When is this going to end? If someone knows the answer to those questions, please let me know.