2020 Life Logs, Day 116: Never Ending Move . . . Almost Done
Date: Saturday, April 25, 2020
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day; High 57 degrees, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Hurray, hurray! What has come to feel like the never ending move is almost done. I have not been able lift and carry boxes since throwing my back out on the first day of the move, but I have been able to find other ways to support. It was a huge decision for Heather and Jed to do this move without any professional help. But, understandably, they really didn’t want to introduce outsiders into the family unit during these days of the coronavirus. I left them around 6:30 this evening as they were unloading the ‘almost last’ van load. They were going to have take-out pizza for dinner and make one last trip before bedtime. That should be the last load. Then, hopefully, they can start fully focusing on the unpacking and the renovations in the new house. While Heather and Jed are working full time at home and home schooling the three boys, it is going to be a slow process. But I know it will be a huge relief for them to know that they no longer have to shuffle things from one house to the other. Closing on 60 Vidal happens on Thursday, so it will be done by then for sure. Today was a beautiful day and as we worked on packing up the last things, the boys played in the backyard with Molly and Joey from next door. They have grown up as brothers and sisters and the farewell this evening was definitely bittersweet. 
The Keefe’s were going somewhere, so the kids said one more farewell as their next door neighbors drove away. They will, of course, remain friends, but that is different from being next door. The Goldpebbles seem to be taking this in stride. They love exploring the conservation area behind their new house and they are excited about the renovations planned for their new bedrooms. And they are constantly planning a ‘man cave’ music room in the basement.
This evening I am listening to interviews from the first day of the 9th Annual Food Revolution Summit. This is hosted by Ocean Robbins, son of John Robbins, who was a major food revolution leader beginning in the 1970’s. I found the first interview of the series to be absolutely fascinating. It was with Dr. Matt McCarthy who is an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and an assistant attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He has been on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic and shared his experiences of the past few weeks. He wrote a book that came out last summer called, SUPERBUGS: The Race to Stop an Epidemic. Matt went to Yale College and played baseball for his four years there. When he graduated with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, he spent a year in Minor League Baseball. After one year, he left baseball and wrote about that experience in a book entitled Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit. From Minor League Baseball, he went to Harvard Medical School. Once he became a physician, he wrote another book, The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician’s First Year. He has the special talent of being about to write about his experiences. In Superbugs he wrote about his research in West Africa with pathogens transferred to humans from animals, specifically from bats. He saw clearly that a world pandemic was coming. He just didn’t know exactly when. He is now living through that pandemic, treating Covid-19 patients. The things I loved most about the interview was that he shared what he and his family are doing at home to protect themselves from Covid. It was interesting to hear how they deal with the food coming into their home. They unpack outside and leave paper bags and boxes outside to be recycled or thrown in the trash. They wash vegetables in water with nothing added. But as he pointed out, there is no research that tells us exactly the best way to do this. His family is just like mine or yours. We are all just doing the best that we can with the information we have.
