Season's Greetings

December 21, 2020

Season’s Greetings

You don’t hear the term “Season’s Greetings” too much anymore, it seems all people generally say is either “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” as even holiday greetings seem to have become politicized in the current hyper divisive partisan political atmosphere. Personally, I am happy to hear and or/say any of the above- people should just be happy that they are getting an offering of good will from someone and not worry too much about any perceived political connotations that such greetings may or may not confer. The very fact that we even have to think about it, says something about the current sad state of affairs.

For our part, Kathy and I have been busy trying to spread good cheer through our massive holiday light display that attracts all sorts of friends, neighbors and visitors each night as there is a constant stream of traffic, including Conch Tour Trains packed with tourists and some locals, multiple groups of vehicles, cars, golf carts and tons of walkers and bicyclists who come by every evening to see the display and the others in our neighborhood, which has in general really stepped up its game this year.

In the three weeks since we have put up our lights, we have seen more friends stopping by (from a safe social distance) than we have in the past nine months since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Kathy and I have been spending most evenings out in the yard greeting the many visitors and passers-by. Some of the Conch Train drivers have come to know us by name and yell out hellos with every pass. This year the trains and trolleys have been coming from every direction and there have been a lot more than I ever expected given the current circumstances.

The Nation is still caught in the Covid crisis as the numbers of cases continue to rise at a frightening level. There are currently 17,789,366 confirmed cases in the United States with a horrific 295,301 people who have died from the virus. Here in Monroe County, the numbers are rising as well with 3,969 cases with 2,142 of those in Key West and 32 deaths. The good news is that there may be hope on the horizon as the first batches of the new Pfizer vaccine started being delivered around the country started to roll out. A second vaccine by Moderna will be headed out starting this week and first responders, nursing home patients and more have begun to get the initial doses.

It may still be months before the average citizen can get the shots and we need to be extra vigilant in the last few months as nobody wants to catch the disease just before being able to receive the vaccine. Kathy and I have mostly been hunkering down at home and not going out much at all, preferring to let the parade of friends come by to see our holiday lights. I think that maybe more people are taking advantage of the nice weather and the outside activity of going around town to see the holiday light displays that are so prevalent here since the traditional Christmas activities and parties have been canceled.

We did make it out one afternoon to attend the Artisan Fair that was held outside at Sunset Green at the Gates Hotel. Local vendors and artisans were set up on the green with plenty of open space to preclude people getting too close to each other. It was nice to just get out and do something, anything as with the increase in cases coming fast and furious we have been busy isolating again.

The year continues to have some other horrible outcomes as another wonderful member of our community passed away suddenly recently. We were not real close, but always admired Theo Alexander from his performances in the local burlesque troupe and his naughty elf portrayal that he did for the past few holiday seasons. We were saddened once again at the loss of a good person when we heard of his passing. Sympathy and love to his family and friends.