Pandemic memories

 In the corner of the entrance to my laboratory building lies a neglected and forgotten relic of the recent worldwide pandemic.  This month, four years ago, the saga of Covid began in this country and would severely test the social structure of the nation.  That first weekend of March 2020, my wife and I were on one of our frequent long weekend trips to New York city to see a Broadway show.  Early news stories at that time had just begun to describe a new viral illness, with cases being detected on the west coast, and mere days before our trip, in upstate New York.  With little concern, we went ahead with the trip and spent several days roaming around Manhattan taking few additional precautions over our normal routines.  We enjoyed being in the audience of a performance of The Lehman Trilogy, viewing what would be virtually the last performance of that wonderful show.  The Monday after that first March weekend, we flew home.  Less than a week later, Broadway closed and the city of New York locked down.  Thus began a public health crisis that would test the nation's resolve and resourcefulness.

Today, happily, the situation is much improved.  The past four years seem to be both a blink of the eye and an eternity.  The anachronistic sign that stands forgotten in a corner of my building is a souvenir of those difficult days as we struggled to deal with this new illness.  What the crisis revealed about society is both heartening and dismaying.  We saw the endless and largely unappreciated dedication of healthcare workers on the front lines of the fight against this new, insidious illness.  We also came to belatedly appreciate the value of the unsung members of society, the grocery store workers, restaurant servers, and all those in constant contact with the public who provide crucial services.  With more disappointment, however, we saw with clear vision the utter and complete moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the Republican party.  From the party leader and nation's president on down to local government, the GOP failed the nation with its endless obstruction of virtually every public health measure from masks to vaccines to social distancing, the vilification of scientists as they struggled valiantly (and sometimes imperfectly) to understand this new pathogen, to the belligerent, cultish adoption of unproven treatments and medications that were mere defiant emblems more than they were useful countermeasures to the disease.  So now, four years later, the nation and the world stands, scarred but hopefully wiser and better prepared for challenges to come.

Freezer archeology- pandemic edition

 It seems so long ago now, but when the worldwide Covid pandemic was just beginning, supply chains shut down and panic buying set in.  Remember fruitless searches for toilet paper?  In those early days, my favorite local grocery store got cleaned out pretty quickly and remained so for months.  Paper product, dairy items, and fresh meat and poultry were scarce, if not impossible to find.  About all one could purchase in the meat category was some pre-packaged items that had been overlooked by the rampaging masses.  That's how I came to buy a package of Gaspar's Linguica, a funky odd Portuguese smoked sausage that I had never noticed before.  Surely I could use it in some recipe while awaiting the return of fresh meat.  As things developed, the Linguica went into the freezer and was forgotten.  Until this weekend, when I made a concerted effort to organize the freezer chaos.  It was then that I found the neglected sausage that had an expiration date of 2020.  But as it was vacuum packed in heavy plastic, I took my chances and used it in one of my usual dishes- red beans and rice.

As an adopted son of the south, I may risk my membership card by mentioning that most of my best recipes come from that Yankee outfit, the New York Times. For example, I struggled for years to produce an acceptable buttermilk biscuit.  The famed Southern Living Magazine was no help, nor were other local sources.  Only when I tried this recipe from the Times did I reach buttermilk nirvana.  It's been my standard ever since.  Similarly, my recipe for red beans and rice comes not from New Orleans, but from New York.  This weekend's batch turned out delicious, even with pandemic-era sausage.

Red beans and rice

Scientia potentia est

 Just a few days ago, it was announced that the government would resume sending free Covid home test kits to all households, free of charge.  By applying online here, one can receive four free tests to have on hand when needed.  This valuable program helps prevent a resurgence of the disease by giving a quick, convenient diagnosis at home.  When positive, individuals can isolate early to prevent transmission to others, and in appropriate cases begin medication that is most effective when taken early in the course of the illness.  There is also a new and improved vaccine now available that better protects against newer variants of the virus.  I'm a supporter of all these new developments.  Although the pandemic has waned, the disease, for certain individuals, is a significant threat to health.  Due care must still be taken to avoid contracting and spreading a virus that, despite improvements in treatment and growing immunity, can prove fatal for some.  It should be no surprise that as a scientist, I base my actions on fact-based knowledge.  Not religion-driven contrariness or politically emblematic knee-jerk opposition.  Truly sensible individuals will not panic, but will adopt common sense measures to reduce disease and further suppress what has been one of the greatest health emergencies in generations.