Spring At Last

[aggienaut]

   Yesterday (Friday) was a very lovely day. 76f and sunny. My application for permanent residency had just finally been lodged, finally freeing me from the threat of being expelled from the country on the 5th, so I was in a very good mood. For an hour or two at twilight I've been cutting blackberries along the slope beside the river at the edge of town, to make a trail, and this fun project was much on my mind in the morning. The trail is being bored a dozen feet a day through the thick tangle of brambles and was getting very near the comparatively clear "other side" of the entangled slope. In particular just the evening before I had discovered instead of slipping on the loose hillside and carrying the cut tentacle-like branches all the way back out of the track, if I carefully laid them lengthwise underfoot and stood on them they made a great stable trackway. So in the morning I eagerly thought about getting back to that, but first I had a busy day of beekeeping, to take advantage of the good weather!

 Mid-afternoon, around 3pm-ish, I was emerging from the forest when my phone started giving me notifications. I glanced at my phone and my brother (Tobin) had sent me a screenshot of a Trump tweet announcing he (Trump) had coronavirus. I nearly swerved off the road! I had to stop and demand "IS THIS REAL???!?" it turns out, as you probably know, it was.
   The rest of the day I was checking my phone between every hive as the updates continued throughout the day. More Trump allies infected! Trump off to the hospital!

   I'm not gonna lie, this already good day was suddenly upgraded to euphoric. I've seen some hand wringing from people saying its immoral to wish ill on even Trump, and some Trump supporters posting that we should be ashamed, but you know what, no. Trump has downplayed this all along. Becuase of his downplaying this 200,000+ Americans are dead and now he himself is sick. It's his own damn fault and I'm not sorry. He mocked Hillary for getting pneumonia during the 2016 campaign, he mocked the McCain family when McCain died, he deserves exactly zero sympathy. He is a direct threat to the health and very lives of Americans and if this severaly damages his elections then it is objectively good.
   On top of all that, I think there's been every indication he planned to lead a chanting mob on election night to dispute the results, which was a terrifying prospect for democracy, but I doubt he can do that from a hospital bed. So yeah, no, this development may have saved America and I won't pretend some imaginary "high road" compels me to feel sympathy for this ogre.

   Anyway, in this state of euphoric wonderland I mnaged to finish the day, inspecting at beehives until the sun set around 6ish. Driving back to work to unload the truck, legendary cat Cato came to greet me and I held his warm furry purring koala-self for possibly an hour while I contentedly watched the big yellow moon rise. And took a photo:


Here is the moon. Did you know it's surface is "slightly brighter than that of worn asphalt" according to wikipedia?

   This morning (Saturady) wasn't even forecast to be a sunny day but it turned out to be yet another nice sunny day. I eagerly walked over to where the blackberry cutting had been going on and found the other two guys who have been having a hack at it in mornings had actually succeeded to cutting all the way through!! I was disappointed though that they didn't seem to take note of my track-laying technique and had manually lugged all the cut branches all the way out and left the soft bare earth of the slope to be directly walked on.
   And then throughout the day today about every hour we find out that yet another member of the Trump camp has come down with Covid!
   It kind of reminds me of the 30 Years War. Ah it seems like just yesterday ::gazes off into the distance:: but no really, so the war raged across Europe with important battles happening in different corners with important ramifications but the news might take weeks to get across. So for example, RBG dies, it feels like "our" side has just lost a significant battle somewhere a bit far away but turning the tables so things seem nearly hopeless for our side. But then just two weeks later there's another battle, and throughout the day news is slowly trickling down to us of all the major figures of the opposing side who have fallen as casualties in it.

   Though in studying the 30 Years War, which I've been finding fascinating lately, I still can't decide for the life of me which side to root for.

   Anyway, in conclusion, Spring is here, in spirit, in the weather, and apparently in politics.

Comments

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

I was prepared to believe Trump's infection was a ploy (Boris J got a sympathy vote when he was in hospital) but apparently not. I don't wish him dead, but I do kind of wish him a severe bout. But I wanted that for Bolsonaro, too, and his attack was pretty mild.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

My sympathy is decidedly lacking....

[egg-shell.livejournal.com]

I had temporarily forgotten that you are on the other side of the world from me till I saw the blossoms. It is good to think that somewhere it is spring!

I don't want him to die but I hope that he is sick enough that it will make his followers see that the covid is a serious thing and they will start to wear masks finally.

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[jocosa]

They're saying, sadly, that his and his wife's cases are mild. That him voluntarily checking into Walter Reed hospital is just a precautionary measure. That he has a full working suite set up there and intends to work throughout his stay. The local news spent a full freaking hour on a special report that basically did nothing but bounce between shots of the waiting helicopter to whisk him away, and the white house.

He's pulled so much shit, my paranoid side is worried it's all a set up, he's using it as a distraction, and will then say he got the vaccine and is all better. I like to think I'm a good person, but I honestly do wish this was real, and it takes him out. He's destroyed our country and if he gets re-elected I will be gutted. I'm also fearful of what will erupt if he doesn't get elected. Him being removed from the equation solves quite a few things.

[ryl.livejournal.com]

I've seen some hand wringing from people saying its immoral to wish ill on even Trump, and some Trump supporters posting that we should be ashamed, but you know what, no.

Exactly. Fuck him and everyone who thinks like him. He got exactly what he deserved. Heck, even my roommate's Reverend Grandpa admitted he wanted Trump to die from this. We're all sick of his shit. I cranked up Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" last night after I heard that one of the senators from my state (Thom Tillis, who I always call Thom Thillis) tested positive as well. Viruses don't care if you don't believe in them. Viruses are the instruments of karma for the careless.

Personally I don't want Trump to die...yet. In a couple of weeks maybe but not right now. Right now all I want is for him to lose his voice.

[maju01.livejournal.com]

I don't want Trump to die. I want him to have a severe bout and then have lung/heart/etc problems for months and months. I want him to really suffer.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I was fairly convinced that 45's illness was a campaign ploy but now a whole passel of his cohorts are testing positive so can we say "super spreader"?

However the news out of Walter Reed and the WH is decidedly contradictory with one side saying all is well and the other that it isn't so great. Who do we believe? Nobody is going to totally honest about his illness given what his attitude has been all along.

PS Congratulations on filing your residency application! How long of a wait will you hav?

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Someone on Metafilter said that he wanted Trump to live so that he can serve his two full terms.

One term in federal prison, one term in New York State prison.

[richaarde.livejournal.com]

I like that. Haha

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

Happy Spring! Yeah...It’s a mixed bag indeed about Trump getting The Virus. He needs some humility and reality kicked into him somehow. Some theorize that RBG is acting from beyond. The ultimate dissent in a way. Lol.

[sea_thoughts]

I don't want Trump dead but I do want him to suffer. >) And no, I don't have any sympathy for him.

[richaarde.livejournal.com]

But if he does die, then can he please hold off on that until after the election.

[sea_thoughts]

Absolutely.

[cactus_rs]

I've seen some hand wringing from people saying its immoral to wish ill on even Trump, and some Trump supporters posting that we should be ashamed, but you know what, no. Trump has downplayed this all along. Becuase of his downplaying this 200,000+ Americans are dead and now he himself is sick. It's his own damn fault and I'm not sorry. He mocked Hillary for getting pneumonia during the 2016 campaign, he mocked the McCain family when McCain died, he deserves exactly zero sympathy. He is a direct threat to the health and very lives of Americans and if this severaly damages his elections then it is objectively good.

yup basically.

I think a case of the 'rona will help him more than hurt him (the sympathy vote, as someone else pointed out, like Boris Johnson got), so the only objective good coming from him getting the rona is if he dies. Sorry not sorry.

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

Aside from agreeing with all the opinions stated here, I must ask, IS THERE WATER IN LAKE MODDEWARRE???

[richaarde.livejournal.com]

If this isn't schadenfreude, then I don't know what is. The annoying orange giving COVID to a huge chunk of his staff...

Good news that you got your permanent residency in!

[sewcute.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your application for permanent residency was a go!! That's probably a HUGE weight off your shoulders.

[picosgemeos.livejournal.com]

I sincerely hope Trump loses by a huge margin - maybe the biggest margin in America's history.

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I think it is appropriate to feel as much sympathy for him as he feels for all the people who've gotten sick and died because of his incompetence - that is, none at all.