The holidays are a loaded time emotionally anyway, and this year's additional issues due to the pandemic may overwhelm some as a result.
Thanksgiving is the favorite meal of the year for many not only because of all the yummy food but the warmth of family when the chill of winter is upon us.
Of course, the chilly weather is relative depending where you are -- snow and freezing temperatures in parts of the country; balmy conditions elsewhere.
As a Bay Area person who grew up in cold, cold Michigan, I need to smack myself sometimes for complaining about a drop of a few degrees out here, but the longer nights are part of the issue as well.
But this particular year, the lower temperatures and a touch of rain we've been getting should be welcome after that disastrous fire season and extended periods of extreme heat.
That's how it goes for me -- back and forth as I try to talk myself into some ideal state of how to be. Mood swings, always an issue, rocket all over the place this time of the year. Meanwhile, the calendar turns, time though slowed way down inches along, and now the actual Thanksgiving Day is upon us.
One way for me to look at this Thanksgiving is that it is the first of my adult life where I don't have my own home, car, job, or any but the barest number of possessions. When I move place to place, I take a computer bag and two small tote bags filled with clothes and toiletries.
Like a small kid.
But another way to view Thanksgiving is my family members have stepped in to rescue me from a slow decline physically and mentally when I was locked down on my own.
I'm blessed also that so many people have connected with me here on Facebook as I grind out these daily essays. You have pushed me to become a better writer and inspired me to take my role as a story-teller seriously.
I used to be funnier -- truthfully -- but the joke in the end was on me. Now I am more serious; the humor is still there but these are very serious times.
Over a quarter million of our fellow citizens have perished from this epidemic. Millions are unemployed; millions are hungry. This is not the 1930s and the Great Depression. This is 2020 and homelessness is a chronic feature of our society. Every time I ride in a car around the Bay Area, I pass the encampments, the piles of trash, the makeshift shelters.
While those of us with the resources to do so cope with isolation, masks and loneliness, others are losing their will to live at all. For them there will be no punchline.
This Thanksgiving is a time to share with each other, virtually, the warmth of connections that we have. If you are reading these words, you are connected to me and I am connected to you. I love you and may God bless you.
***
The headlines:
* Jobless claims rose for the second straight week in a sign the surge in virus cases was starting to weigh on the labor-market recovery. (WSJ)
* Biden’s National Security Team Offers a Sharp Turn. But in Which Direction? -- The picks are a repudiation of President Trump’s isolationism, but they will have to resolve tensions between an Obama-era approach and the “fresh thinking” the president-elect says he wants. (NYT)
* Trump’s assault on the election could leave a lasting mark on American democracy (WashPo)
* Trump Stress-Tested the Election System, and the Cracks Showed -- Even in the absence of a questionable outcome or any evidence of fraud, President Trump managed to freeze the passage of power for most of a month. (NYT)
* A new survey found widespread concern among Americans about government tracking of their whereabouts through their digital devices, with an overwhelming majority saying that a warrant should be required to obtain such data. (WSJ)
* A growing number of Americans are going hungry (WashPo)
* Biden made climate a cornerstone of his campaign this year, with his campaign promising a “whole of government approach” to slashing planet-heating emissions and adapting to a hotter world. The Treasury post could prove one of the most active in that new approach. If the Senate confirms her nomination, Janet Yellen would become the nation’s chief financial regulator amid a period of new upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic. And if Congress approves new stimulus funding, she would be in charge of distributing it. [HuffPost]
* Can you repeat that? Hearing trouble more obvious with masks (AP)
* Haight Ashbury T-Shirts plans to shutter at the end of December, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lack of tourism in the area as the reason for the closure. (SFGate)
* The health-care system has failed Black Americans. No wonder many are hesitant about a vaccine. (WashPo)
* Evidence Builds That an Early Mutation Made the Pandemic Harder to Stop -- Scientists were initially skeptical that a mutation made the coronavirus more contagious. But new research has changed many of their minds. (NYT)
* Wild turkeys thrive across much of California — the divisive birds moved into cities and suburbs when water was scarce. Now, as the climate warms, their habitat may be shifting. [CapRadio]
* Jeff Bezos Tables Latest Breakthrough Cost-Cutting Idea After Realizing It’s Just Slaves (The Onion)
***
And then I'll hold you in my dreams
Someone took you right out of my arms
Still I feel the thrill of your charms
Tender eyes that shine
They will light my way tonight
I'll see you in my dreams
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