Relief of Pressure, Please

If you can detect a note of defeatism in my tone, you aren't wrong. I don't want to resign myself, again, to COVID's will, but here we are. I postponed our monthly picnic, the one that I had especially arranged to include celebrating Geoff's birthday. *sigh* Is there any point in listing all of the things we've missed, skipped, cancelled, deferred, postponed, modified, in the last two years? (Insert sad trombone, here.) Yes, I hear a sad trombone playing, and then I feel salty, and I want to spew a litany of choice words in the general direction of every person that hasn't helped manage this global pandemic with even small gestures of grace, humility, human kindness. Some of us have been self-isolating this week, and three friends are sick, another friend's father is in hospice, alone, there was my uncle, and now another has been diagnosed. The school is full of cases, and warnings, and revised plans. I still hear "It's mild," and "Everyone's gonna get it," but the hospitals, the nurses, staff, technicians are overwhelmed! They are cancelling surgeries, and can't attend to other health care issues, because so many unvaccinated COVID patients are filling beds, and hallways, and tents. Imagine having a stroke, or being in a car wreck, or getting an appendicitis, and when you get to the emergency room, they are short-staffed, have no beds, need you to wait wait wait? Patients with chronic conditions, people that need ongoing care, they are having to wait, to come back another time. What happens to them, how does their health fare if they can't get urgent care, manage pressing issues? I know. I am not saying anything that we don't already know, that isn't making us feel sad, and frustrated. I guess, I just needed to have my say, and relieve some pressure.

Excuse me. I am stepping off of my soapbox, and tucking it away.

Would anyone like to see more pictures of goats? Cats?

I made a Cairo Reel... you have to watch it with the volume up. Oh, but if you can't hear it: It's got a comedy voice-over, and the narrator is describing "The most dangerous animal on this planet. A violent creature with a lust for blood, teeth like razors." It's perfectly silly. Now accepting all submissions for "perfectly silly"... anything to relieve some of the pressure, please.