I got a flu shot at CVS. It was easier than posting on Facebook. 
I went to CVS.com, answered about 10 questions about symptoms (basically I clicked  "no COVID-19 symptoms" about 10 times), then I clicked on an appointment time and said, yeah, I'll show up. 
I went to CVS, waited, then I sat in a room with a nurse, she asked me if I had any questions, checked my ID and insurance, and gave me the shot. Done. 
Easy peasy.

If you haven't, and you can, get one. 

A friend had to take her roommate to the hospital this morning. They thought he was having a heart attack--it's COVID 19. I last saw her 16-17 days ago. We met outside to exchange some things. We're waiting to hear. To see what we can do for her, if it's even possilble to help. Maybe deliver soup.

The estimate is that 1 in 16 people in Chicago has an active infection. The realtor who just sold my rental property tested positive last week (I last saw her in person in August). She feels like she's recovering.

Our across-the-hallway neighbors have a steady stream of visitors. I have never seen these neighbors wearing or even carrying face masks but I have only ever run into them when I'm sitting in the back yard. 

I am frightened. I am angry. I am sad.

In a lovely November weekend, I head out to my local winery. While buying a case, I notice there is a photo of a Mason-Dixson crownstone framed on the wall.

I get excited. “You have a Mason-Dixson stone! Can I see it?!!?”

Alas, I was informed, it’s on the owner’s property, and not available for public viewing. Except EXCEPT, occasionally when they do the behind the scenes vineyard tours. Which they aren’t doing now due to Covid, but expect to do so again. As one of the workers there carried my case out, he took me to the side and pointed out where the stone is - in the distance, behind the vines, under a tree. 

I am so going back for the Vineyard tour.

Mason and Dixon and crew placed "crownstones" every 5 miles, way back in 1763. Smaller stone markers were placed in the inbetween miles. The stones were quarried in England, and crown stones were engraved with the crests of the two great houses that commissioned the survey: House Penn and House Cavert. (Calvert was also Lord Baltimore, and the Maryland state flag has this same graphic on two quardrents of its flag)

Five miles north of the Harvest Ridge Winery is the town of Marydel, on the border of Maryland and Delaware. In an unassuming spot by the road is a little chain marked square, with a crownstone inside. My understanding is that this marker was removed and displayed in St. Louis in 1904, and later in Baltimore. It was returned to Marydel in 1954 and was reset in 1964. So it may be a few feet off the original spot. 

The next day, we traveled south to the south western most point of Delaware. I planned the route to take us across on the Woodland Ferry. (Google maps doesn't realize this ferry is an option, so you have to convince it.) Apparently this ferry has been running since 1743ish, by the Cannon family, who were eventually granted “exclusive ferrying rights”. The Cannons ran the ferry for 100 years, among other business ventures. The Deldot brochure on the ferry mentions a jilted groom, strongarm foreclosures, slaving, and honey disputes that end in death. Apparently the Cannons were assholes, and their demise was not mourned. The county and eventually the state took over the ferry, which is free to use today. It’s about a 2 minutes crossing and can fit 4-6 vehicles at a time. (And from my home in Dover to the southwest corner of Delaware, only a 5 minute detour from google’s “fastest route”.)

Anyhow, at the south western most point of Delaware there is - you guessed it - and monument placed by Mason & Dixon. It is another crownstone, called the Transpeninsular Midpoint Marker and it is much better protected than the Marydel one. Also in the protective cage are 2 smaller survey stones done by other surveyors before Mason & Dixon came around. Mason & Dixon verified the earlier survey work. There is ALSO a third smaller stone, which apparently is just there because when they were building the cage, a local had it, thought it looked similar and belonged with the others, so put it with them. Another point for my Delaware is Awesome tally.

People throw change into the cage. Dunno why. We left our 2cents and moseyed on.

If your call for "unity" does not begin with the statement that Black Lives Matter, I reject it. If your call for "unity" does not start with the acknowledgement that the humanity and dignity of Black people, of Latine people, of Indigneous people is unassailable, I reject it.

If you call for unity without declaring that humanity, dignity and a basic right to exist belong unequivocally to gay, lesbian and queer people, I reject it. If you call for unity without without proclaiming that humanity, dignity and a basic right to exist belong unequivocally to transgender and nonbinary people. then I reject it.

If you cannot state that women are without exception as fully human as men, then your call for unity is false.

I will try to acknowledge your humanity, and I will try to preserve your human dignity. I will fight for healthcare that includes you, for clean air and water and climate that can sustain your children and grandchildren, for economic justice that relieves your burdens, for systems that support and feed you and your family. But I will not defend you. I will not join hands with you.

I will reject your beliefs because they are not equal to mine and they have no place in society.

​​​​​​​“A quote widely attributed to James Baldwin, but was, in fact, coined by Robert Jones, Jr. on August 18, 2015 on Twitter, succinctly states the intention of Son of Baldwin:

We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”

A note from the author, Robert Jones, Jr.: "I said this originally in response to public disagreements between social justice activists I witnessed on Twitter. I wanted to note that despite having different ways of accomplishing what is essentially the same mission of liberation, it's important to keep each other's humanity in mind. I initially didn't think about the broader impact of what I said until it went viral. I find it especially meaningful given the prospect of a Trump-led America, where bigots have found new energy and resolve. It's a reminder that no dogma supersedes any person's inalienable right to liberty. It's a statement meant to let, for example, the queer-antagonistic business owner know that no matter how fervent their religious convictions, it doesn't grant them the right to discriminate against or dehumanize queer people in the public sphere. That's the price of living in a civilized society. What they believe in their own private spaces is one thing, but the moment they enter public spaces, they must abide by the standard of equity that is inherently ours from the minute we are born, simply because we are born. James Baldwin, someone I deeply admire, once put it like this: "From my point of view, no label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and indeed no religion is more important than the human being."

-Son of Baldwin

I firmly believe that every single time any one of us goes to a doctor for any reason, we should write our Congress and describe in detail the existential angst and the out of pocket costs and the dread and fear and threat of complete financial ruin if there's any diagnosis requiring any follow-up care.

The calculus of out of pocket vs deductible limits, the confusion of six bills for the same visit which you just keep paying for. The the six hours of phone calls trying to figure out which medication they can maybe prescribe instead because that one is $300, but the automated nurse on the phone said there was something that was only $20 and the pharmacist said a third one was about the same but has to be prescribed as a generic.

Then end strong with a demand for Medicare for all.

These fuckers need to fix things. We need to stop letting them get away with not doing it.

We're in a complete media black out. It's less burying our heads in the sand and more accepting our impotence and protecting our nerves. I'm not working this week and had pulled together a stack of projects in the sewing room, but today I'm watching Monstrom on PBS Passport, sorting socks, playing video games. 

I made breakfast tacos. I have an appointment with a remote notary at 1. Zoom cocktail hour later. We have our late fall several day run of sunny warm weather, so maybe my sister will come sit in the yard for coffee.

All we can do is wait and hope.

I've heard and read a lot of things in the last 14 days about having a safety plan, filling the car with gas, having cash. We've got two pounds of coffee , 12 rolls of toilet paper and some flour.

We'll either be fine or we won't. Given everything of the last few years, I have little confidence any aciton I could have taken would have had any impact.

The fence is now too high to jump and I will just lie here, on the electrified half of the floor, helpless. 

Ok, all I can think about right now is election day, which will begin with Ms. Toad's Wild Ride (go to Gettysburg, get kid so he can vote), continue with standing next to my son as he votes in his first election ever (when it's time to go big or go home, we never go home ...) and end hopefully with returning him safely to his dorm sans whatever fresh hell erupts once the results start coming in.

As disruptive as this all is, the drama is exciting. Like the Women's March in Washington (yes, we were there), except more virus. Eek.

And you'd think that by mailing in his absentee ballot application on Oct 6, he would have received his ballot by now. Mail in PA usually takes three days at the most to be delivered to other places in PA. Usually it arrives the day after you send it. The Dept of Elections got his app on Oct 21, then they mailed his ballot to him ... also in PA ... still hasn't arrived. Insanity.

Here is a riddle.

Where is the one place in the United States where the mail is being delivered on time?

Answer: Mudville.

Why?

My research of Mason-Dixon markers on the Delaware Border. All of which I plan to go see in the near(ish) future.

• Glasgow - Marker on Rt 40 - article from 2016  https://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/historians-trying-to-save-mason-dixon-marker-on-route-40/article_81651878-042b-530d-b757-87cca773fd53.html
• Elkton, MD Mile Marker 1 Tangent Stone This might be the same one as above https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMPG7Q_Mason_Dixon_Tangent_Stone_Elkton_MD
• Marydel Crownstone https://archives.delaware.gov/historical-markers-map/mason-dixon-crownstone/
• Delmar Mason-Dixon Middle Point Marker https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=74130
• Mardela Springs, MD unused stone https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=3847
• Rumor of a stone near MD291/DE6 which would be 10 miles due north of the Marydel one . . . meaning there also should be one on rt 300, which would be 5 miles north . .. And maybe one not to far from the Harvest Ridge (where I'm a member of their wine club!) winery, 5 miles south?
• And of course the well documented Tri-State Monunent with its trail from Delaware's White Clay Creek state park https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7029135/tri-state-marker-trail