Days #239-240 Writing Through COVID-19: Two Tracks

The numbers tell me I have been blogging through COVID-19 for 2/3 of a year. 

Yet we are currently seeing our nation's highest numbers since the virus brought us to a halt in March. ICU beds are filled to near capacity across the Midwest. 
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My life progresses on two parallel tracks:

On one, I am happily greeting a new batch of students eight times a day. We are exploring profound poems. We're revamping our video news program, and we just earned our third Badge of Excellence for our website. Our 2021 yearbook is well underway! 

This track feels happily normal!

On the parallel track, I am consumed by the staggering rates of COVID in my state and country. As I type tonight, my face still feels chapped from its day behind a mask. 

I log onto the Iowa Department of Public Health each morning and sometimes again at night. 
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These parallel tracks mess with my mind. 

I want to put COVID worries aside, stop being such a Debbie Downer.

But then I remember that letting my COVID guard down is precisely what has brought our country to this frightening vortex. 
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Meanwhile, in New Zealand, my son's young family is thriving. Andrea and Wolf headed to Christchurch yesterday to visit a friend. With the virus firmly under control, they were able to fly without restrictions (within the country) and share close, happy, un-masked time with friends. 
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Unrelated but truly happy news: 

The AHS student who was severely injured in an accident almost three weeks ago has taken huge steps toward improvement during the past 48 hours. His family shared videos today of his progress: responding to questions, giving "thumbs up" and even pursing his lips for kisses to his family. This boy named Steele is proving his mettle. 

Enough.
Be well.
Write. 

Allison

Wolf reading a book while he awaits his first
airplane ride to the south island