I’ve been sheltering in place as it were since I retired back in January, which is when the coronavirus was really getting a foothold back in China. The idea of staying at home and only going out when I absolutely needed to was the habit I fell into, not due to some edict or prescience with what was happening in China. I never thought COVID-19 would get this bad because I thought we Americans had enough brains and resources to keep it from getting as bad has its currently gotten. Silly me. Today, as a sad marker, the number of official COVID-19 infections pushed past 124,000 in the US alone, while the world total confirmed is past 664,000. Because of the number of known infections in the US, we have the dubious distinction of being number one in the world.

NPR is reporting that in Wuhan, China, former patients who tested negative are testing positive again. Think about that for a moment.

Today I noticed something quite notable because I didn’t notice it (no, that doesn’t make sense, but bear with me). Today I finally realized that there was no jet noise over my house, and there were no contrails in the sky. No contrails anywhere. I don’t know how long its been that way, but it is very much appreciated. The back yard is quieter, and the blue skies with clouds and no jet contrails remind me of how the sky looked when I was a little guy growing up in Atlanta. I wonder how long the clear skies will last.