Daylight savings is in two weeks, hurrah!
I dug out my box of ancestral archives a couple nights ago. It comforts me so much to read my ancestor's own words, to remember their stories, and see their photos. I love getting lost in history and completely forgetting for several hours that it is 2021.
I read letters from my great great grandpa who described what it was like not seeing civilization in over a year while searching for gold in the harsh far north. I confirmed that my great great great great grandpa was in a chain gang from age 18 - 35 with ten pound metal balls chained to his ankles and survived a half year journey at sea under a captain who deliberately starved his minority passengers who were shipped away for the dual purpose of ethnic cleansing and colonization, never to see their families again. And I read about my great great great grandpa who was a prisoner of war, but due to specialized knowledge, was freed and given a whole lot of free land and invitations to party with the emperor himself. And my great grandma, the only woman in her college graduating class. I wish I could meet them, but then I remember, I am them. I am just the continuation of their stories. My destiny could go in so many different directions. (I'm in a choose your own adventure story.)
I only read the news maybe once a week now, and only local news, to prevent mental breakdown. Since I live in the middle of a highly populated neighborhood, all I really need to do is look out the window if I want to know what's happening in the world outside. If I see people strolling down the street, blasting music in their cars, construction workers making noise, birds perched on rooftops, neighbors dancing in their apartments, then I figure things are okay. If I hear sirens barreling down the road or flashing lights of fire trucks etc, or hear explosions outside, or people chanting in protest, or helicopters hovering, then I know shit's going down. It's a good political barometer. Maybe people in isolated places are more prone to believing conspiracy theories and aren't as able to distinguish fake news because they don't have the live city window news channel to show them what's real and what isn't.
Everyone is starting to get vaccines (well except the afforementioned gullible conspiracy theory folks who don't read medical school blogs) and I'm feeling increasingly excited about getting my vaccine as soon as it's my turn too. SO MANY FRIENDS from the county I am originally from repeatedly pressured me to go back home (after 20 years) where they assumed it'd be safer from covid than the city. One year later that same county has the highest death rate in half the state and hospitals have broken under the pressure. I'm glad I follow my instincts and don't listen to bad advice.
8:36 a.m. - 2021-03-01