NOTES,  16 DECEMBER 2021

Greetings blog reader, on Thursday, December 16, 2021. It is time to check in on the issues we have been following for a long time. 

PANDEMIC. Just when we thought we had turned the corner to see the decline of the COVID-19 pandemic, here it is surging yet again. New, more potent variants and winter weather seem to be causing a fourth surge. Numbers are ticking up almost everywhere. It is still too early to jump to any conclusions about a surge. However, the warning signs are there.

The United States remains the epicenter as it has been all along, almost two years now. Some 800,000 Americans have died in this pandemic, making it historic (in a bad way). The national FIGURES for the past two weeks are alarming. Cases are up 40%, hospitalizations 21%, and deaths 34%. This is mainly in the northeast and mid-west. This is true even though 61% of Americans are now fully vaccinated.

Compared with the national numbers, our southern states are not doing well. In SOUTH CAROLINA , cases are up in the last two weeks by 72%, hospitalizations by 28%, and deaths 21%. Approximately 20% of the population of SC has contracted the coronavirus. The total number of deaths in SC stands at 14,431. The percentage of fully vaccinated in SC stands at 52.

Likewise, ALABAMA is showing worrying signs in the last two weeks. There cases arose 87%, hospitalizations 14%, and deaths 146%. As in SC, approximately 20% of the population has been infected with the virus. The total deaths in AL amount to 16,304. The percentage of fully vaccinated in AL stands at 47%, one of the lowest in the nation.

Unfortunately, the whole U.S. may be in the early stage of a fourth great surge of this pandemic. Time will tell, but right now the telling is not good. I do not know about you, but I have had my booster shot and even thought it left me with debilitating light-headedness for a week, the temporary unpleasantness was well worth it to get the protection the vaccine offers.

THE ADVENT. Nothing new to report here after the brouhaha last week over the ordination of a non-celibate homosexual in the Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham. This caused quite a stir in the parish and beyond. I do not know as a fact, but I believe it may be true that after the news broke, the bishop met with the leadership of The Advent to smooth over things. Whatever happened, matters have calmed down, at least in public and I have nothing new to add except to say that the Rev. Craig Smalley, the interim dean is working hard to keep the ship on an even keel. This is quite a challenge considering the circumstances.

THE SCHISM IN SC. It has been a week and a day now since the hearing and I am still completely flabbergasted and disoriented by what happened in the hearing of Dec. 8. I come from an academic background where people deal with empirical evidence and sort it into logical sequences to arrive at reasonable conclusions. So, I am having a lot of trouble trying to process what the South Carolina Supreme Court has done, and particularly the part of the Chief Justice. It did not agree on empirical evidence. It has made nothing logical. And, it has refused to say the conclusion it had reached was reasonable. So, I am as lost about all this as anyone. 

I have wracked my aging brain to try to understand why the Chief Justice apparently made a stunning volte-face from his written opinion of 2017. I have gotten nowhere. It sounded to me as if he recanted everything he said in the 2017 paper and praised Judge Dickson, to boot, for overturning the 2017 decision ("He did everything we expected him to do.") Unless I am completely misunderstanding what the Chief Justice said in last week's hearing, he is now repudiating his 2017 written decision, and for no discernible reason.

The Chief apologized at the end of the hearing for the "confusion" the court had left. Well, what he had just said in the hearing greatly added to that confusion. And, reading other blogs, I would say that is a universal opinion. 

Where does this leave us? Nowhere. We shall just have to wait for the court's written decision to know what the five justices have decided. I am hoping that between now and then they find empirical evidence, use logical sequence, and arrive at reasonable conclusions. Is that too much to hope for in the state's highest court? I do not think so.

Meanwhile, life goes on. It is mid-December, but one would not know it today when it is sunny and in the mid-70's at my house. Even so, my garden is in its winter mode. Other than the glorious camellias, there are some plants that bloom in winter. These are some pictures of my garden made today:

Compact Strawberry Bush (Arbutus unedo 'Compacta') is an evergreen shrub that blooms in winter. These little bell shaped flowers will turn into "strawberry" fruits. This specimen came from California where it grows naturally in the mountains along the coast. The bare tree on left is corkscrew willow so called for its contorted limbs. 

Chinese Fringetree (Chionanthus retusus) is beautiful all year around. It is the last deciduous shrub/tree in my garden to drop its leaves. They turn golden in early December.

Camellia, Professor Sargent, is an old standard favorite of southern gardeners, and for good reason. It puts out many red flowers from November to May. I have a wide variety of some two dozen camellia bushes. They form the radiant glory of my garden in "the bleak mid-winter." 

All palmettos put out flower stalks that produce black seeds the size of English peas. Certain birds love them. I have numerous tree and bush forms of palms in my garden. When they were young I pruned off the flower stalks to promote overall growth. Recently, I have been leaving the stalks for bird food. This is a form of dwarf palmetto called "Louisiana Palmetto," a cold-hardy type. This bush is six feet tall.

One of the birds' favorite roosting places in my garden is this large wax myrtle bush. The birds dropped enough seeds of dwarf palmetto on the ground that quite a large patch of volunteers has sprung up under the limbs. I keep telling myself I should cut them down but this native Floridian has a hard time moving to kill a palm. Besides, the seedlings brighten up this corner of the garden.

Alas, we remain besieged by woes all around us, some man-made and some natural. We did not ask for them. That choice was not ours to make. They were given to us for the living of our lives. We are all in this together and we will get through it together. Meanwhile, let us rejoice in this Advent. It is a new year. Peace.