There's something about this graphic that's soothing. I think it's all the space between the dots. In earlier maps, the dot size was related to case number, and the dots overlapped to make a huge multi-layer blanket. Now it's size AND color, and it makes it look like there are wide swaths of Orange County that are unaffected by the pandemic. There are not.
Today there were fewer new cases. Only 1964 compared to yesterdays 2025. Of course, there were about 5000 less tests reported, and at our current positivity rates, that means little if any change. We also have only 10.9% of ICU beds available in our region. Which is why we're under stricter shutdown right now.
The shutdown lasts 3 weeks. I suppose it can last longer if we don't get this under control. I don't know that Governor Newsom has totally thought out what to do if the surge in cases continues throughout December.
In any case, it leaves me a bit of a conundrum. I plan on moving back to Petaluma, and would have usually taken 6 months to a year to do a move, in which time I'd go to all the places I wanted to go and see again or for the first time before I leave a region. At times, I've had a lot less time to make my farewell tour. At this point, I figure I've got something like two months... but of course it's during the largest surge in contagion.
In most cases, the places I want to see (nature reserves, tide pools, whale watching) have very low risk, being outdoors and with low to zero contact with others. Those trips are, however, going to be done at a reduced rate for me because of the condition of my knee. I did have a cortisone injection today, so I hope to be able to at least tide pool during the very low tides at week's end, however there are other things I'd hoped to do, including visit a certain tea house. The tea house is important to me because Ellen loved tea houses, and I had wanted to go there with Cailin and Carlos after Ellen's burial at sea, but Carlos said it was too soon. Now it's probably too late.
I feel constantly torn between wanting to drink in what Orange County has to offer before I leave, and at the same time, knowing that a lot of what Orange County has to offer are mask resisters, shops and restaurants that do not observe the statewide public safety orders, and a lot of people who are gathering at churches and singing loudly, all of which are really efficient ways to spread this virus.
I want to go to Crystal Cove. I want to tide pool off Dana Point. I want to go on a whale watch boat (probably more than once) I am thinking of the San Diego Zoo as well. Today's whale watch boat was canceled (not enough people signed up, a risk this time of year on weekdays) which leaves me here to think about all the things I won't be able to say goodbye to, and the closure I won't have with Orange County.
If only those dots on the map were more representative of the places Covid is... and isn't... I could weave an explorer's path between them and still find so many things to do and see before I go back north.
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