Blue Planet Journey

Caroline stretching after a bike ride to Great Falls Park, Maryland. Before we left Utah to travel back to the District of Columbia for Thanksgiving, we continued to enjoy the fall weather. Except, of course, the rain that lasted ALL DAY during the Logan Marathon . Like a lot of racing events, the finisher medals in 2020 reflected the novel coronavirus pandemic. Note the mask on the moose head on this medal! My training partner, Wesley, was still in DC, so he ran a solo marathon the day after my race (his first). Below, he takes his first step on his 26.2 mile journey, mostly run in Rock Creek Park to the Maryland border and back. Katelin presented him with a finisher medal, and then she drove him to a country brewery for some relaxation time. Congratulations, Wes! Then our last race of the year was the annual Halloween Run in Logan, with our neighbors. We all performed well! From left, neighbors Jana, Caroline, me, Andrea, Onya, and Brent showing our place ribbons. In October, be...

Covid-19 continued its march across Utah, the US, and the world. We relaxed in Logan, gardening, reading, running, and (Caroline) playing ukulele. I retired officially from USU on 1 July, after 29 years. That milestone certainly was a casualty of the novel coronavirus. No goodbyes, no celebration, no congratulations. No mingling with colleagues, and no opportunity to reminisce. Not even a card!  Luckily, I have a thoughtful family, who brought balloons, chocolate cake, and a bottle of wine. Then, we went to feed the ducks! It gave me a better sense of what was being missed across the world... graduations, marriage celebrations, reunions, and even funerals attended by more than close family. In my case, there will be no "make-up" retirement party. At USU, I was there one day, and not the ne xt. Close out the lab and the office, and my 29-year history passed into oblivion. Remember the adage, nobody on his deathbed ever said, "I wish I had spent more time at the office....

  Remember the toilet paper shortage? Rice, flour, eggs, and butter also were in short supply. The 2020 pandemic affected everyone. During the first 2 months, Caroline I were traveling in the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, DC, Oahu, and Maui. Yes, the novel coronavirus was slinking around the world, but it had not yet been recognized as a malady that would incapacitate and kill millions of people (as of today, over a half million Americans have died). On March 10, we were back in Logan, UT. On March 11, the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic. On March 13th, President Trump declared a national emergency. Universities began to shut down and send students home. There were nationwide shortages of certain foods and materials, like toilet paper, as people began hoarding essential items. The focus of prevention was still on physical contact with a virus-contaminated surface, with 1 video of a physician demonstrating how to disinfect all of h is groceries getting more than 24 million views i...