NOTES,   4 AUGUST 2020

Good day to you, blog reader. A few points to mention today. 

The pandemic continues to worsen even as there are signs its spread may be easing up in South Carolina. We last checked with the data in Worldometers four days ago (July 31). Since then world cases of COVID-19 have jumped from 17,511, 607 to 18,475,190. In the four days, 20,000 people in the world died of the disease, up from 677,540 to 698,215.

The United States continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic in the world with by far the most cases and deaths. In the last four days, over 200,000 Americans fell ill of the coronavirus, up from 4,635,226 to 4,862,513. Deaths continue at about 1,000 a day, from 155,306 to 158,968. At this rate, 200,000 Americans will be dead of the disease in about a month.This rate is almost certain to increase as cold weather arrives in the fall. Meanwhile, there is no coordinated overall national response. Indeed, the national administration is in denial of a problem.

South Carolina continues to outpace the national average. In the last few days, the reported cases there jumped from 87,572 to 92,951. However, the state health department estimates the actual number of cases in SC at a staggering 660,029, or 13% of the population. The number of deaths in SC jumped from 1,667 four days ago to 1,793.

Charleston County continues to be the hottest spot in SC. Reported cases moved from 11,245 four days ago, to 11,697. DHEC estimates the actual number of cases in the county at 83,550, or 20% of the population. As for deaths in the county, the figure arose from 154 to 161. However, the data show that the rate of spread in the county has been declining for the last few days.

Alabama is experiencing the same as SC in the last four days. There, reported cases jumped from 85,762 to 92,661, and deaths from 1,565 to 1,633.

Clearly, the pandemic is spreading apace in our land. There is no end in sight. We are at the mercy of this tiny organism for the foreseeable future, certainly for the next five months at the very least until a vaccine appears. There is no national policy to deal with this catastrophe. This is a great shame and disgrace for the richest, most powerful country in the history of the world. We could do better than this, much better, with competent leadership. The virus has forced Americans together as nothing has since the end of the Cold War thirty years ago. Most Americans are crying out for leadership but there is none. There is only denial at the top. My sense is that people are so profoundly disappointed in this they are preparing to express a massive rejection of a sitting president, and he knows it.

On another topic, the church litigation in South Carolina, we are awaiting three action that should come in the near future:

1-Judge Dickson, of the circuit court, will rule on whether he will grant a "stay" (postponement) of his Order of June 19 pending the Church's appeal of the order to the higher state courts. Given his consistent record, I fully expect him to deny the Church's request for a stay.

2-The Church side has appealed Judge Dickson's June 19 Order to the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Both sides asked that the appeal go straight to the South Carolina Supreme Court, bypassing the SC Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals has to agree to this. I fully expect them to do so. This would mean the appeal would go back to the SCSC. There, four justices will rule. Two of the four are new to the case. I expect the SCSC to overturn Dickson and uphold the Aug. 2, 2017 SCSC decision.

3-The new diocese has appealed Judge Gergel's decision favoring the Church to the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, that sits in Richmond VA. All preparatory papers are in there. We are awaiting action by the court. Three judges are handling the case, the same three that have been handling this case for several years. Every ruling so far has been in favor of the Church side. They have two choices: hold a hearing, or go straight to a written decision. In my view there is virtually no chance the appeals court would agree to overturn Gergel's masterful decision. If so, this would finally settle the issue of the ownership of the historic diocese, which Gergel said very clearly belongs to the Episcopal Church.

This is a dark hour in all of our lives. Let us accept this unwelcomed reality. This is especially hard in lower South Carolina where the unique church crisis is layered in with all the rest. Sometimes, the bad news seems too bad to take. Right now we have to find the best way to get through all of this. I say the start is to recognize the situation and embrace it. Then, find positive ways to power through it. As American citizens and as Christians, we must press on with faith and resolve always remembering we are part of a larger community. We are not alone.

And so, I go out into my garden as much as I can, to remind myself that there is a great big world out there full of beauty and wonder if we but seek it. Here are scenes of my garden now:  

Looking toward the central lawn in afternoon. The large tree is elm.

On one side of the garden. Abelia on right. Dwarf bamboo on left. The large shrubs are crepe myrtle.

Hydrangea is one of the best families of shrubs for the southern garden. This is Hydrangea paniculate 'Tardiva'. It puts out long, white flower stalks late in the summer.

The banana trees are growing quite large this years because of excessive rain. Noting gives a tropical feel to a garden as these huge leaves.

Russian olive is a common plant although I do not recommend it for a home yard and garden. It is often used along highways. The problem is it grows large and is difficult to manage. This is a small version of it, Elaeagnus pungens 'Hosoba Fukurin'. Some plants are remarkable more for their beautiful leaves than for their flowers, as this one. 

I will not be posting on this blog for the next few days. I will return soon.

Meanwhile, my best wishes to you. Remember we are here, at this terrible hour, for a reason. Nobody asked for this, yet here we are. We are here for the living of this time. It is our time. As Americans and as Christians, we have a vast reservoir of strength and faith from which to draw for this moment of trial. We must not despair. We must soldier on through the night. Then, when all of this is over we can say we did our best and we can hold our heads high. Peace.