Day 104: Whichever Way the Wind Blows

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Shelter in Place, San Francisco, California

We’ve had quite a string of windy days of late - not atypical for a San Francisco summer, but starting earlier in the day and lasting longer into the evening than normal. Or so it seems. Already this morning, the gusts are revving up. It’s all about the air coming off the ocean that, from here, we cannot see. Oddly enough, our large variegated maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis), which looks windblown in any weather, seems one of the least affected plants when the real stuff starts to blow. I took this picture in the midst of a huge gust, and only a few of the front fronds bothered to bend and sway. Mystery.

I’m really bothered by the pictures in the news this morning of the Vice President wearing a mask. NOT because I think masks are unimportant - just the opposite - but because it took a dip in the polls and rising criticism to make him put it on. Whichever way the wind blows, eh? He looked absolutely foolish the other day when he stumbled badly over the lame explanation as to why the administration was not requiring masks, a clip played endlessly on various media. After the bad press, he cancelled some of his events and, as of yesterday, started wearing a mask. Too late, sir, too late. How many people have died needlessly because of the administration’s mean pig-headedness and the VP’s cowardice? How many more to go?