Do it anyway!

News blues…

President Ramaphosa on lockdown with restrictions eased: Booze & beaches are back as first vaccines arrive (6:12 mins)

***

I Volunteered To Administer COVID-19 Vaccines. Here’s What I Saw During My Shift." 

***

Coronavirus Pandemic’s Deadliest Month In U.S. Ends With Signs Of Progress. As the calendar turned to February, the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 fell below 100,000 for the first time in two months. 

***

The Lincoln Project Just like always  (0:55 mins)
Sarah Cooper I’m a lawyer for the Trump campaign  (1:07 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Working from home during Covid-19 has brought noise pollution close to home, whether it’s your partner making calls within earshot or grinding coffee during your Zoom interview. Now research suggests the animal kingdom is also disturbed by the noise of humans and our gadgets. As humans proliferate, we have penetrated deeper into wildlife habitats, creating a pervasive rise in environmental sound that not only directly affects the ability of animals to hear but indeed communicate. Emerging research suggests noise pollution, caused, for instance, by traffic, interferes with animal behaviour, including cognition and mating.

Read >>  “Human noise affects animal behaviour, studies show” 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

For those who think about psychology and culture and the how/why “we the people” got into the political mess we’re in – (wars, creeping fascism, political corruption, money as god, etc.) here’s something to chew upon: Joseph Heinrich’s book, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous.
Atlantic Monthly’s review and an excerpt from it:

Given the nature of the project, it may be a surprise that Henrich aspires to preach humility, not pride. WEIRD people have a bad habit of universalizing from their own particularities. They think everyone thinks the way they do, and some of them (not all, of course) reinforce that assumption by studying themselves.
[and]
Given the nature of the project, it may be a surprise that Henrich aspires to preach humility, not pride. WEIRD people have a bad habit of universalizing from their own particularities. They think everyone thinks the way they do, and some of them (not all, of course) reinforce that assumption by studying themselves.
[and]
Democracy, the rule of law, and human rights “didn’t start with fancy intellectuals, philosophers, or theologians,” Henrich writes. “Instead, the ideas formed slowly, piece by piece, as regular Joes with more individualistic psychologies—be they monks, merchants, or artisans—began to form competing voluntary associations” and learned how to govern them. Toppling the accomplishments of Western civilization off their great-man platforms, he erases their claim to be monuments to rationality: Everything we think of as a cause of culture is really an effect of culture, including us.
[and]
It should be said, though, that Henrich can make a person feel pretty helpless, with his talk of populations being swept along by cultural riptides that move “outside conscious awareness.” Cultural evolutionary determinism may turn out to be as disempowering as all the other determinisms; a WEIRD reader may feel trapped inside her own prejudices. But perhaps some comfort lies in Henrich’s dazzling if not consistently plausible supply of unintended consequences.

Enough quotes from the review. Read the book. I download it, free, from my local online library. It is long but worth the effort. (I’ve an undergrad degree in intercultural communication and grad work in adult learning. My interest includes culture shock as “an adult learning experience.” Heinrich's theses make sense to me.)

***

After my close call as a pedestrian earlier this week, I read the following news with glee:

Five former employees of the uMngeni licensing office in Howick, near Pietermaritzburg, will have their fate determined by the court on Wednesday when they appear on graft and corruption-related charges. 
[They] are set to appear in the Durban specialised commercial crimes court, where they will be sentenced for fraud cases after they assisted scores of motor vehicle learner’s licence applicants to pass their tests.

Could it be that the many drivers who were willing to run me over in the pedestrian crossing (I was following direction from the pedestrian lights) had purchased their licences?
Enquiring minds wanna know.

***

I hope the following advice isn’t necessary for you in your life but…
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation – a very weak and fragile parent who’d once been robust and in a care center visit - that parent as much as you can. 

It’s hard. It’s scary. It’s heartbreaking. It’s certainly emotionally painful. 

But do it anyway.
Covid put a damper on visiting hours at the Care Center and, as of six weeks ago they shut down to all visitors although they allowed visitors only under certain conditions (dying, for example). 

Since they eased up recently and allow in one visitor per resident per day, I stiffen my spine and go every day at 10am, to see my mother folded over in the Laziboy chair. 

I sit next to her, talk to her and she knows I’m there, she hears me, she tries to respond. I offer sips of tea or water (through a syringe as she’s too weak to use a sippy cup). I catch her up on news of the dogs, the monkeys, the garden, the gardener, and on appropriate business dealings.
When I realized earlier this week that I couldn’t go on Tuesday (yesterday) I arranged for my brother to visit her. Yes, its a 25-minute drive for him, but he’s the love of her life and, surely, the effort is worth it? 

He agreed to go.
I called him yesterday afternoon to check in with him on the visit.
Turns out, he hadn’t visited. If I hadn’t called him, he wouldn’t have mentioned that salient fact. His excuse? Something about someone having to "go to Durban." (So? With 3 vehicles in his household, one wasn’t available? How many vehicles needed for a trip to Durban?)
He says he’ll visit today.
I know he’s reluctant to visit as it’s upsetting. But she’d prefer he visit than anyone else – aside from her grandson (who won’t even send her a WhatsApp audio message to say, “I love you. I’m thinking of you.”
My point? Yes, it’s difficult. 

But do it anyway!

"Hallelujah"

Have the new jab  (4:20 mins)

News blues…

South Africa officially shows a decreasing rate of Covid infection: 2,548 cases in 24 hours, the lowest in two months. 
California’s number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 slipped below 14,850 statewide, a drop of more than 25% in two weeks, according to the state Department of Public Health. 

***

Meanwhile, the (US) Republican Party just gets weirder and weirder. It’s not really a surprise that that Party is anti-democracy – they’ve been fiddling with elections for years via gerrymandering, limiting voting rights, etc. Now, however, they’re going for broke:

Radicalized by four years of Trump’s presidency, angry over his loss, and emboldened by their own success in fending off Democratic dreams of flipping even a single state legislative chamber last fall, the GOP is ready to subvert democracy in state capitals nationwide. If Pennsylvania is any indication, Republicans could use their majorities to take a jackhammer to voting rights while curtailing the power of Democratic governors and legislators. They may even attempt to overhaul courts in a way that bends the justice system to their liking. 
The Republicans who hold total control of 29 state legislatures are making clear that the authoritarian tendencies of the 45th president were a symptom of something deeper within the GOP.

Imagine living under unfettered Republicanism! The horror, the horror.
Even some stalwart Republicans are trying to address this radical Republican direction: Anti-Trump Republican Group Spearheads Campaign Against Pushers Of The “Big Lie”  (5:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Human activity is fundamentally altering the distances the world’s animals need to move to live, hunt and forage, according to a study that examined the impact on more than 160 species across six continents. 
All activities changed the behaviour of animals, but the study found destructive activities such as urbanisation and logging affected the movement of animals less than sporadic endeavours such as using aircraft, hunting and recreation.
As well as having a profound impact on the animals – like reducing their ability to feed and breed – the changes “point to a global restructuring of animal movement” that could have profound knock-on effects, says the study published today in the Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I made a mistake today that could have cost my life! I crossed the road when the pedestrian light signaled it was safe for pedestrians!
I pressed the button for the pedestrian signal and, when it changed to green, like a well-trained pedestrian, I stepped into the painted walkway.
I quickly discovered the pedestrian right-of-way part of driver training doesn’t exist in of South Africa.
Vehicles, small and large, drove right at me. I shouted, waved my arms, pointed at the light. Alas, I may have been invisible. Drivers acted as my temerity to step into the road was an insult to their busy schedules.
By the time I reached the center median, my heart was thumping; my rapid breathing working my mask like a bellows.
Never again.
I learned my lesson. I choose life: Pedestrian walks are anathema! I’ll avoid them like, well, I avoid coronavirus.

***

Today also marks a new chapter in the property selling proposition. Since the sole mandate period is over, I met with a new realtor and showed her around the property. Tomorrow, I’ll do the same for another realtor.
Here’s hopin’…

***

My brother visits our mother today. Since only one visitor per day is allowed due to the Care Center’s stringent Covid Lockdown Level 3 protocols, I’m off the hook.
Having visited every day since they eased restrictions two weeks ago, I’m emotionally drained. I look forward to a day off. Naturally, this does not mean I plan to curtail future visits, only that I’m happy to step aside if someone else plans to visit her. I’m determined that she’ll have at least one outside visitor a day. 

How awful if, after my mother passes, I’m faced with wishing I’d visited more during her last days.

The Shadow

In Jungian psychology, the shadow is either an unconscious aspect of the personality that the conscious ego does not identify in itself; or the entirety of the unconscious, i.e., everything of which a person is not fully conscious. In short, the shadow is one’s unknown side. Or, for brevity:
The shadow’ is the side of your personality that contains all the parts of yourself that you don’t want to admit having.

The times we’re living in – particularly in the United States are fraught with The Shadow. We the People of good intention appear loathe to accept what’s going on in the US Congress: a concerted effort to disenfranchise vast swathes of Americans, largely because they’re the “wrong” color, the “wrong” ethnicity, the “wrong” ideology….

News blues…

We Have A Real Life Fascist Movement in America  (10:46 mins)
Republican efforts to disenfranchise Americans 

***

In South Africa, we evaluate the pandemic by access to alcohol. This week, the news is good as the ban on the sales and distribution of alcohol is expected to be lifted. The country is expected to move to a lower Covid-19 lockdown level this week as the cabinet is expected to ease Covid-19 restrictions. Looking forward to alert level 2...
I look forward to visiting TOPS (liquor store) for a rum refresher but more so, I pray the swimming pool will re-open.

***

Dr Fauci explains… (but it’s complicated… ) (2:04 mins)

***

Thanks

The Lincoln Project: Leaders of The Lincoln Project, a conservative political action committee that opposes Donald Trump, denounced [Project] co-founder John Weaver on Sunday after a New York Times report revealed unwanted, sexually provocative messages he sent to several young men, sometimes alongside offers of professional favors.

...Steve Schmidt, a fellow co-founder and public face of The Lincoln Project, said in an interview with the Times that the group was “outraged and horrified” to learn of Weaver’s behavior.
In a statement Sunday, The Lincoln Project called Weaver “a predator, a liar, and an abuser” who targeted his accusers with “predatory and deplorable” behavior. 

More shadow showing?

Rep. Adam Kinzinger on Sunday offered a glimpse of what it’s like being one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump: Friends and family turned against him, and he was told he’s “possessed by the devil.” 
“Look it’s really difficult. I mean, all of a sudden imagine everybody that supported you, or so it seems that way, your friends, your family, has turned against you. They think you're selling out,” the Illinois congressman said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I've gotten a letter, a certified letter, twice from the same people, disowning me and claiming I'm possessed by the devil.”

While they deal with that, let’s share a little humor… (2:40 mins) 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Take a page from a panda playbook (0:51 mins) (Courtesy Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

***

Can Prez Joe Biden pull off a more progressive – and planet-saving – direction in the next 100 days?

President Joe Biden’s administration is … all establishment in the front-facing roles, with a progressive party happening in the back.
Biden’s high-profile Cabinet picks tended to have experience, personal relationships and an ability to earn approval from across the ideological spectrum ― Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have all earned bipartisan stamps of approval in the Senate. But left-leaning Democrats are excitedly watching Biden fill agency and sub-Cabinet posts with younger thinkers who have developed big ideas designed to solve the economic, racial, health and climate crises the Biden administration hopes to address.

Here’s hopin’ this strategy works…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Today, my mother was bright-eyed when I arrived and found her in her Laziboy chair. (Yesterday, she was asleep and we had no interaction.)
Life right now is day-by-day with large dollops of acceptance. My new reality requires a new way of “seeing” my mother, a new way of talking to my mother, indeed, and altogether new way of talking. I know she’s listening to my monologs as I interrupt regularly to ask a question or offer a sip of tea through the syringe. She nods or shakes her head in response. I talk about the dogs, the monkeys, the excess water trying to escape through the culverts, and how the hadedah ibis flock to the water-logged lawns to seek worms.
Sometimes I bring my phone and show her photos of dogs and family members.
It’s a new way of being in the world.

Vigil

News blues…

A potentially more transmissible variant of Covid-19 first identified in South Africa has now been confirmed in Maryland, US. The case involves an adult residing in the "Baltimore metro region" who hadn't left the country, indicating that there is "likely" community transmission of the variant. Contact tracing is now ongoing, according to a press release from Governor Hogan’s office. 

***

Ivermectin. Antidote? Or the new hydroxychloroquine?

The black market in ivermectin has boomed after it was touted as a treatment for Covid-19, at the same time as being unregistered for human use in SA.
In a space of two weeks, six foreign nationals gave been arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg for being in possession of suspected ivermectin tablets worth millions.
Police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe said the latest arrests were on Thursday when three people were found with ivermectin worth R5m.
The first suspect, a woman, had 178,200 tablets of the drug while the second suspect, also a woman, had 66,400 tablets. The man had 49,200 tablets.

***

The Lincoln Project is gearing up to sue Rudy Giuliani for defamation after he falsely linked the organization to the storming of the Capitol. 
More on that with co-founder Steve Schmidt  (8:29 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Enjoy photos of our friends from the far north. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Today, I abbreviated my daily vigil at my mom’s bedside. Staff said she’d not eaten much breakfast, had enjoyed a stint in the Laziboy, and was very tired. I talked to her and petted her, but she didn’t stir.
I play CDs when I visit: Dean Martin, Nat King Cole… easy listening that will remind her of the good old days. 

My mom loved to dance, especially cha-cha. Cha cha music is too lively under the circumstances….

Vaccine uncertainties

News blues…

Contradictory information about vaccines:
New research suggesting that several Covid-19 vaccines are less effective against a variant first found in South Africa has increased pressure on President Joe Biden’s administration to speed inoculations and enforce basic public health measures like wearing masks.

• Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was 66 percent effective at preventing moderate and severe disease in a global study, the company said Friday.
  The hotly anticipated findings are the first from a late-stage trial that enrolled 45,000 people across the world. While the shot was 72 percent effective in the U.S. arm of the trial, it fell to just 57 percent in South Africa, where a highly transmissible variant predominates. 
• The coronavirus vaccine by Oxford/AstraZeneca is safe and effective enough to use in adults over the age of 18, the European Medicines Agency announced Friday.
  The European Commission is expected later Friday to rubber-stamp the EMA’s recommendation to formally approve the vaccine in the EU with a conditional marketing authorization. A German scientific committee said Thursday there wasn’t enough data to know whether the jab is suitable for people 65 and over. The U.K. approved the vaccine at the end of December with a temporary emergency use authorization applicable in people over the age of 18. 
• Novavax announced Thursday its Covid-19 vaccine is more than 89 percent effective at protecting against the virus based on preliminary data from a large late-stage trial in the United Kingdom. But the vaccine was far less effective against a variant of the virus first discovered in South Africa, according to data from a small trial in that country, the company said. 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Will Joe Biden come through on climate change?

The vision laid out in the actions signed by Biden on Wednesday was transformative. A pathway for oil and gas drilling to be banned from public lands. A third of America’s land and ocean protected. The government ditching the combustion engine from its entire vehicle fleet, offering up a future where battery-powered trucks deliver America’s mail and electric tanks are operated by the US military. 

... Biden’s administration will spur new climate-friendly policies for farmers while also devoting resources to the urban communities, typically low-income people of color, disproportionally blighted by pollution from nearby highways and power plants. In all, 21 federal agencies will be part of a new, overarching climate body. “This isn’t time for small measures,” Biden said. “We need to be bold.”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I called a local politician with the reputation of getting this done – an anomaly in this country. He said he’d come to the house at 4:00pm.
He did! Right at 4pm he pulled up at the gate and honked/hooted.
I handed him the letters and photos I’ve carried to the local roads department office, showed him the culverts on both sides of the road, and explained the history of lack of service.
One thing he mentioned that I’d be on board with: a rates/property tax boycott. If enough property owners stop paying monthly rates/property taxes if may get enough attention on the lack of service delivery (culverts, extravagant potholes in every local road, overgrown vegetation, etc.
On the other hand, it may not. This, after all, is South Africa: always expect the unexpected….

***

Monday sees us free of the 3-month contract with one real estate agent to sell the property – the “sole mandate.” Suddenly, other agents are interested in seeing the property and bringing potential buyers. Too bad it’s also when the garden, lawns, stream and fishponds are flooded – and the gardener is ill with Covid.
I brought in the neighbor’s gardener to mow. At least the grass will look less unkempt when realtors come over.

***

My daily visit with my mother was sad. The Care Center sprays the facility once or twice a week to prevent coronavirus. Residents enjoy morning tea on the lovely verandahs during this time.
My mother was slumped in her wheelchair when I arrived. Other than slumping further, she barely moved. I dribbled tea into her mouth using a syringe.
After this “outing” she was wheeled back in to her room and laid out on her bed. To prevent pressure sores, aka bedsores, she was placed on her side and propped up with pillows.
My proud mother would HATE to be seen like this.
I hate to see her like this.

“Coronavirus is over”?

News blues…

The first case of South Africa's Covid-19 variant has been discovered in the US.  

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control explained that two cases of the B.1.351 South African variant have been detected. Dr Anthony Fauci has expressed his concerns about the UK and South African strains reaching American shores and becoming a complicating factor. 

But, fear not: Clinical results from the Novavax vaccine trials in South Africa and the United Kingdom have shown the vaccine to be effective against the SA and UK variants of the coronavirus. 

Except… a domestic worker reports “Zulu radio station” in KZN tells listeners “Corona is over”, that is, no more Covid-19, that the pandemic is “over.”

***

Wondering why American style of uber-capitalist government is in such trouble? Well, it has become heavily dependent on financial donors to prop up amoral politicians. “Senators who backed Trump's election challenge may rethink their stance on impeachment after losing corporate funding, experts say” 
It’s not just Republicans. Democrats are also on the take from corporate donors. It is, after all, how the US system of so-called “democracy” works.
You suggest We the People do away with this All-American system of paying off politicians?
How? It’s locked in, now, and for the foreseeable future.
Financial contributions, aka money, have become the way of influence. Elections are quickly becoming obsolete – in the way. The problem has been exacerbated by the US Supreme Court decision on Citizens United in 2009/2010. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

This time last year I was suffering the effects of jet lag: interrupted schedule, lack of sleep, disorientation, and a big change in weather (from cold, wet, and dark winter in California to hot, humid, wet, and bright summer in KZN).But family and friends in California were well. Plans were agreed upon to safeguard my houseboat in the marina. I would return 21 May.
This year I’m suffering the effects of my mother’s impending death and the social effects of the infection and deaths of millions of people from Covid-19. Plus, lack of sleep due to stress. And a flooded garden because, after 2 years, the department that’s supposed to take care of roads and public property won’t do its job.
Today, I’m awaiting a call from a local politician with the reputation of getting this done. Perhaps he can shift this stuck process?

Monday sees the end of the 3-months-long sole mandate for the sale of the house. Not a single person was interested in seeing the house.
I’ve two realtors from two different real estate companies interested in the business.
Alas, the garden is a mess due to copious summer rainfall (70mm in 15 hours this week) and fecund grass and weeds tower. With our gardener sick with Covid and his recovery expected to be slow, I’ve hired the neighbor’s gardener to mow the lawns.
It’s not easy to focus on the house and garden when my mother is shrinking day-by-day.
I’m aware that I must settle on something creative to do that will change the channel in my head from my dying mother, selling her house, and the incompetence of public officials. I’m pondering how to buy clay to build/sculpt “something.” Choices are limited:
Call the person who offers (offered?) class twice a week. Perhaps the most practical solution as he has a fully equipped studio albeit the hours are limited. That is if he still offers classes amid the pandemic. (Problem? During a creative spell, a creator needs uninterrupted work time. A schedule of 3 hours twice a week kills inspiration. No one creates fulling according to an externally imposed timetable. When inspired, I rise at dawn and work through the day, taking short breaks as needed, but always returning to the work-in-progress until it is finished.) Find some clay and build something I hold no hopes/intention of firing. This will offer the joy of working clay/gestating a sculpture, but never seeing it come to fruition.
Build my own studio in my new home. I’ve not clay, no tools, no slips/glazes, no equipment. Besides turning my small living space into a clay-dusty studio, this choice would also require a trip to Durban – 50 kms away during a pandemic – spending lots of money … and continuing to spend lots of money in the future (clay, slips and glazes, kiln, firing, etc.). A few months ago, I explored the possibilities of experimenting with a substitute for clay. (Perhaps one that did not require firing, etc.?) It didn’t work. The joy of clay is inherent in the substance, the ability to knead, easily mold and manipulate, and clay’s feel and texture.
The search continues….

Anniversary

Exactly one year in SA. I arrived a year ago today, scheduled to leave May 21, 2020. I’m still here. US Embassy clarified my return (see below) but who knows when I’ll actually depart.

And the numbers of Covid-19 sufferers continue to climb….

Worldwide (Map)
January 28, 2021 – 100,920,100 confirmed infections; 2,175,500 deaths
December 31 – 82,656000 confirmed infections; 1,8040100 deaths
November 26 – 60,334,000 confirmed infections; 1,420,500 deaths 

US (Map) 
January 28, 2021 – 25,600,000 confirmed infections; 429,160 deaths
December 31 – 19,737,200 confirmed infections; 342,260 deaths
November 26 – 12,771,000 confirmed infections; 262,145 deaths 

SA (Tracker)
January 28, 2021 – 1,430,650 confirmed infections; 42,550 deaths
December 31 – 1,039,165 confirmed infections; 28,035 deaths
November 26 – 775,510 confirmed infections; 21,2010 deaths

News blues…

Coronavirus can infect people so rapidly that it has continued to spread despite shutdown orders aimed at slowing the growth of new cases and flattening the line below.
So far, 1 out of every 12 people in the state [California] has tested positive. The number statewide is now on pace to double every 96.2 days, a number used to measure how quickly the virus is spreading. 

***

A Respiratory Therapist Explains the Effects COVID-19 Has on the Lungs and Heart  (3:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

© Cicada: ‘When they are this abundant,
they fly, land and crawl everywhere,
including occasionally landing on humans,'
said Gary Parsons of Michigan State University.
Photo: Jim Lane/Alamy

A remarkable phenomenon’ as billions of cicadas set to emerge across eastern US. 

Billions of cicadas that have spent 17 years underground are set to emerge across large areas of the eastern US
…The cicadas emerge in a 17-year cycle, meaning they will appear this year once temperatures are warm enough, expected to be mid-May.
“They may amass in millions in parks, woods, neighbourhoods, and can seemingly be everywhere,” said Gary Parsons, an entomologist at Michigan State University.”
Parsons said that while cicadas will not harm people, pets that gorge on them may become ill. It is thought that long underground development helps cicadas survive predators, as their huge and synchronized arrival provides protection in numbers. The noise made by the enormous swarms will be noticeable, however, with males emitting mating calls that can reach 100 decibels, the same sound as standing next to a motorcycle revving its engine. The males produce these mating “songs” by vibrating their tymbals, two rigid, drum-like membranes on the underside of the abdomen.

There’s a 13-year species of Magicicada, too. I saw the emergence of this 13 year variety in Nashville Tennessee. It was amazing: cicadas flying in dense clouds across roads, settling in trees, crawling on the ground.
And locals hated the creatures with a passion! They found them the emergence of this astonishing bug an imposition on their lives and thoroughly annoying.
KZN has cicadas, too. We call them Christmas beetles as they appear and sing around that time of year.
Fewer cicadas/Christmas beetles appear these days. But when they do, I recall how, as a teenager, I responded to the sound that I loved. 
I had a motorcycle – a “scrambler” 80cc bike – that I’d ride to Kloof, a village about 15 or 20 miles from home. Kloof had a long street lined both sides with sycamores? Plane trees? Not sure, but large, leafy trees that shaded the street and provided perfect conditions for Christmas beetles to sing, find mates, and procreated.
I’d name my motorcycle Maybell - after a red-light district worker I’d met in a movie. Maybell and I would ride up and down this street. I enjoyed the overwhelming screeching of cicadas so much I couldn’t help but join in. Up and down, up and down, Maybell carried me as I screeched along.
C’est magnifique!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Rained for 15 hours straight. First thing I did on waking today: check the water level in the lower garden. The stream has been on the cusp of flooding for weeks, since the culvert has almost completely blocked.
I’ve carried letters to the entity responsible for this kind of work. To no avail. 
Predictably, the lower garden is flooded. 

The culvert is now completely covered by water backing up ... no place to go but to flood the garden.

This is my foot in a gumboot showing the water level above my ankle. 

Tomorrow, I will carry – yet again – a letter with photographs to the responsible entity. 

And wait… and wait. 

Meanwhile, more rain is predicted.

***

A very stressful time. My mother is hanging on…. Today, I took one of her small dogs up to visit. My mother appreciated having the dog on her lap as she sat in the Laziboy. Alas, she’s too weak to pet the dog.

***

And news from the US Embassy in SA:

Health Alert: U.S. Citizens are Still Able to Return to the United States Despite a Presidential Proclamation Suspending Entry for Immigrant and Non-Immigrants in South Africa
  Location: The Republic of South Africa 
  Event: President Biden announced that effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 30, 2021, immigrant and non-immigrant entry into the United States will be suspended for individuals who were physically present within the Republic of South Africa during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. Please note that this proclamation does not apply to U.S. citizens and contains multiple exceptions including for lawful permanent residents of the United States and some non-citizen family members. All travelers to the United States, including U.S. citizens, must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test to airlines prior to departure.
  Actions to Take: 

• For more information about this Presidential Proclamations and exceptions to the proclamation, please visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/25/proclamation-on-the-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-non-immigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease/
• Visit the CDC’s webpage for details on COVID testing entry requirements for air travelers to the United States: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html 
• Visit the Embassy’s COVID information page, https://za.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-2/, for additional information on COVID in South Africa.