Pre Pandemic Orlando Urban Sketchers Drink and Draw

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By February 27, 2020 Covid-19 which started in Wuhan China had spread to 37 locations internationally, including cases in the United States. This week however life was normal. I was sketching rehearsals in theaters and I sketched in a crowded theater.

The CDC was making the following recommendations at the time…

  • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer between hand washings
  • Cover your cough: Use tissues or cough into your sleeve.
  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces
  • Get Vaccinated: CDC recommends vaccination for everyone aged 6
    months and older, especially for those people who are at high risk of
    serious complications from the flu. (This step we now know would have no effect on Covid-19. There is no vaccine for Covid-19.)

15 days later, On March 13,, 2020 Donald Trump would Tweet, “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages
between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the
economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of
CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”

Orlando Urban Sketchers held a drink and draw at the Bear and Peacock Brewery, 1288 N Orange Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Pam and I arrived a bit late and found everyone crowded around a table. With no where to sit, we decided to get our own table in the corner and I sketched the group huddled together. Gay Geiger had picked the venue because her co-workers wanted  to go out after work for a drink. Her co-workers never left so we had two groups crushed together for drinks and conversation. This sort of scene is unimaginable today in our new reality.

Daily over 2000 Americans are dying from Covid-19 this week. Over 2 Million people have died world wide. 37,154 people have died in America so far from the virus. The inaction of the president has resulted in a massive death rate that didn’t need to happen if testing was being done on a massive scale to find and isolate those infected. 

Trump is now effectively calling for protests in Minnesota Michigan and Virginia where followers are protesting stay at home orders. A similar protest took place yesterday March 17, 2020 in Orlando Florida outside the Administration building downtown, with no social distancing among the protesters gathered.

Pre-Pandemic Major Carl T. Langford Park

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This sketch is from my series of sketches of Orlando’s significant trees. An Orlando parks department map shows seven locations around Orlando of Significant trees and so I was going to each location to sketch. Carl T. Langford Park (1808 East Central Boulevard, Orlando FL) is a natural refuge near Downtown Orlando, filled with Large Shumard Oak, Swamp Chestnut and Laurel and live Oaks. I had 3 more trees to sketch before the pandemic shut the city down.

One location was Harry P. Leu Gardens which remains open daily but I refuse to enter a crowded botanical garden during a pandemic. The  Gardens are still open until further notice. All events,
classes, memorials, weddings and meetings have been canceled through
April 30. The gift shop will close starting Friday, March 20, 2020. The
historic museum remains closed due to hurricane damage that has yet to be fully repaired.The idea that this park remains open astounds me.

A photographer set up a swing on a tree and was taking family photos as I did this sketch. The mom in a flowing red dress was pregnant. She posed with her husband and her two small children.  There was so much love and hope in the photo shoot. I am hoping there was enough social distancing during the shoot. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable sketching outside, but the pandemic had not yet been officially announced yet. That wouldn’t happen until March 13, 2020.

Researchers in Washington state who are studying the spread of COVID-19,
are now saying Florida is expected to see the worst of the outbreak about April 21, instead of the beginning of May. As of April 26, 2020 there were 1074 deaths in Florida with 31,528 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Projections show between 18,000 people dying of the virus in Florida or as little as 1,700 deaths depending on how well people adhere to social distancing measures. To date, 30 people have died in Orange County with 1290 confirmed cases.

#StayHome, #StopTheSpread, #SaveLives.

Second Wave

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There were 3 different waves of illness during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, starting in March 1918 and subsiding by summer of 1919. The pandemic peaked in the U.S. during the second wave, in the fall of 1918. This highly fatal second wave was responsible for most of the U.S. deaths attributed to the pandemic. The virus infected 500 million people worldwide and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims.

President Donald Trump claimed the danger of a second wave  was “fake news” and said “Covid-19 virus might not come back at all.” CDC Director Robert Redfield told The Washington Post that there could be a second wave of the coronavirus this winter, combined with flu season, ‘will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went
through.’ Trump pulled Redfield up to the podium during a press briefing to dispute the report but after splitting hairs between “worse” and “more difficult or more complicated” he confirmed that he was quoted correctly by the Post. Dr. Anthony Fauci, referenced the possibility of a “second wave” of the Covid-19
pandemic in the fall, following expected slower growth rates of COVID-19 cases during the summer. He said, “By then, the country will be better equipped to fight the illness.

On March 31, 2020 Captain Brett Crozier of the USS Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier, sent an emotional letter, pleading for a more decisive response to his ship’s COVID-19 outbreak. He had asked for permission to let all but 10 percent of crew get off in Guam for their protection.That letter leaked to the news media. 

On April 2, 2020 he was removed as the ship’s skipper by then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. Video of the crew when he had to leave the ship was brimming with the respect they had for their captain. The Navy secretary then flew to Guam where the the war ship was docked in the midst of a pandemic and delivered in person a petty, obscenity-laced speech denigrated the captain and his crew. Modly said, “If he didn’t think the information was going to get out into the public, in this information age, then he was either -A too naive or too stupid to the commander of a ship like this.” The crew could be heard literally shouting “What the F#ck?!” The acting Navy Secretary’s comments were widely criticized. Clearly he was too naive or too stupid to realize that his comments would have consequences.  He resigned.

 At least 840 sailors on the war ship have since tested positive for the virus. The number could climb as a “small number” of results are still pending. The Navy has tested the entire 5,000-member crew of the Nimitz class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Of the positive cases, 88 sailors have since recovered, the Navy
said. Four sailors remain in the hospital, down from six Wednesday, with
none in intensive care. One sailor from the Roosevelt died last week.

Admiral Michael Gilday, who is the Navy’s highest-ranking officer, is
reported by the Associated Press to have met with Joint Chiefs Chairman
General Mark Milley on Tuesday and with Defense Secretary Mark Esper Friday
to recommend the fired captain’s reinstatement. On April 20, 2020 the recommendation was made that Captain Brett Crozier be put back
in command of the Covid-19 plagued aircraft carrier USS Theodore
Roosevelt. Crozier’s reinstatement is likely to be the first time that a
ship’s commanding officer who had been relieved of command for a loss of
confidence has been restored to command.

The heroes in this crisis are those that seek to protect those around them, while government leadership looks for ways to cover up or ignore the crisis exists. Captain Brett Crozier is one such hero.

Walkers Rush to Jacksonville Beach

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On April 1, 2020 Ron DeSantis issued a sat at home order which was to last 30 days. The order limits movement outside homes to providing or getting
essential services or carrying out essential activities and applies to
interaction with other people outside of residents’ homes. 17 days later he issued an order allowing Florida beaches to open. With the state experiencing 27,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was the first to decide to open it’s beach prompting #FloridaMorons hashtags on Twitter. On the day DeSantis allowed municipalities to open their beaches, there were 1,400 new infections, in the state’s highest one-day jump yet. Curry seems to feel that by limiting gatherings to less than 50 people will keep the beaches safe. Jacksonville has the largest population of any city in Florida at 900,000 people. With 794 cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths so far it has become a hot spot.

Other cites including Coco Beach are planning to open their beaches soon. Coco will allow locals to sunbathe and sit in chairs on beaches, as long as
people practice social distancing and don’t gather in groups of more
than five people.

Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Omari Hardy weighed in on Twitter, “When a person
doesn’t believe in science, they do dumb things. When a person in power
doesn’t believe in science, they do dumb things that hurt the public.
This move is so dumb that I had to make sure it wasn’t fake news. You
guys, it isn’t fake news.”

According to DeSantis, “You look at how this disease is transmitted, it’s transmitted
overwhelmingly when you are in close, sustained contact with people,
usually in an indoor environment,” DeSantis said. “Going forward, we got
to be promoting people to get exercise, do it in a good way, to do it
in a safe way.” However recent research shows that the virus spreads much further then 6 feet and an ocean breeze is a perfect vehicle to allow the spread.

The Mayor of Miami Beach, Dan Gelber, said in a video statement, “I’m
sorry but we will just have to do without beach access for the near
future,” adding that it’s unlikely that Miami’s beaches will reopen
before early June. Miami-Dade County closed its beaches on March 19, after thousands gathered at the beach
for Spring Break. As of April 22, there are more than 10,000 confirmed
cases and more than 200 deaths of COVID-19 in Miami-Dade county.

Some from Orlando must have also flocked to Jacksonville, where hundreds crowded together in line and then rushed the beach when it opened at 5pm on April 17, since vehicles with surf boards strapped to the roof were seen leaving town. Social distancing seemed to be the last thing on anyone’s mind when the beach opened. Thousands of people were seen on the beach within 26 minutes of the beach opening. The decision to open beaches goes against Trump’s re-opening recommendations that cases should have declined for 14 days. 



As of today April 23, 2020 Florida has 28,576 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 927 deaths. 60 people died today from the virus.

Counter Protest

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2804 Americans died yesterday April 21, 2020, making it the highest death toll since the Covid-19 pandemic began. America continues to surpasses every other country in the number of daily deaths. Despite this, Americans across the country felt it was prudent to stage crowded protests against state wide stay at home orders. They gathered in large groups sometimes sporting assault weapons. What may kill those gathered is the virus rather than the guns.

As a counter protest in Colorado a health care worker silently stood in the middle of the street to block a huge SUV. A woman wearing an American flag T-shirt and holding a
sign that read “land of the free” shouted, “Go to China if you want
communism.” She also dropped the F bomb many times. The health care worker was one of a few who tried to counteract the
protest yesterday that hundreds attended in Colorado, where over 400 people have died from Covid-19.

The protest was part of a wave of demonstrations against the lock down orders across the country, encouraged by President Donald Trump’s “LIBERATE” tweets over the weekend. He tweeted “LIBERATE MINNESOTA,” and then, “LIBERATE
MICHIGAN” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It
is under siege!” He wants division and if people are angry enough they might ignore of forget how he has denied science and been a roadblock to resolving the pandemic. Healthcare workers have to fight an uphill battle without sufficient protective equipment against his ignorance. He now only has his eyes on the election and is willing to sacrifice thousands more unnecessary deaths.

Colorado-based photographer Alyson McClaran took photos of the healthcare worker’s counter protest. A video shot from perhaps an apartment window several stories high of a healthcare worker blocking a huge SUV reminded me of a photo of the 1989 protest in Tienanmen Square. A single man blocked the advance of the tanks.  Estimates of the death toll in Tienanmen square vary from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands more wounded. The stakes are even higher today with far more deaths daily. The frustration of health care workers is palpable in a Facebook post by Nurse Eric.

I spoke with an actress named Mikaela A. Duffy who went from Orlando to NYC to attend an acting school. She suddenly found herself at ground zero of the pandemic. I asked her for advice on what to paint, and she said “Oh man have you seen pictures of Times Square? It’s absolutely desolate. I bet you could make something super powerful with that image.

Governor Andrew Cuomo pointed out that thanking health care workers is nice but it would be even better if the federal government provided hazard pay for essential
public workers on the front lines, proposing a 50 percent bonus for
these workers for risking their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic.  “They are the true heroes in this crisis.” he said. It is hard to imagine Trump rewarding anyone for their sacrifice during a crisis. He just fires his entire staff at his infamous Mar-a-Lago estate.

“When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility,
then [they] ceased to be free.”  – Edith Hamilton, Edward Gibbon, The
History and Fall of the Roman Empire.

#StayHome

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As County Mayor Jerry Demings and City Mayor Buddy Dyer were giving a Covid-19 pandemic briefing inside the County Administration Building, an itty bitty crowd of protestors assembled outside. Protestors were demanding that the state re-open in the midst of the pandemic.  Jerry Demings said “In my humble opinion, it’s much of a circus. Perhaps one person has
the right to risk their health and safety, but they don’t have the right
to endanger the health and safety of others in the community. I
wouldn’t want to play Russian roulette with myself like that.” 

Buddy Dyer said, “So, there are some people that don’t accept science or facts, and I
suspect that’s a bunch of them that are out front. What I’d probably do
is suggest they speak to family members of someone who has died of
COVID-19. Maybe that would wake them up a little bit.”

Facebook has begun closing down some sites that promote the anti say
at home protests. They will not close every site. The protests run afoul
of the states’ social distancing guidelines, Facebook spokesman Andy
Stone said. The problem is that the POTUS himself who in a series of
tweets on Friday appeared to condone people
disobeying rules intended to blunt Covid-19, many based on his
own recommendations.
People are justifiably on edge, with unemployment souring and the
promise of the next meal on the table is uncertain. Strange conspiracy
theories flicker to life in this wasteland of despair. 

As far as reopening the state’s economy, Gov. Blue Glove (DeSantis) has faced criticism for suggesting that schools could soon reopen. On Monday April 20, 2020, just 18 days into his 30 day stay at home order, he unveiled his Re-Open Florida Task Force, a 22-person panel
that has until Friday to come up with recommendations for cracking open
the state’s economy more than a month after it started to seize up. Gov. Blue Gloves instinct is to open the state quickly.

He announced that beaches were permitted to reopen Friday April, 17, 2020, if they
could do so safely; by early evening, some beaches in north Florida had
removed police barriers, allowing residents to stroll and surf. Photos of huge crowds on Jacksonville beaches triggered the well deserved hashtag #FloridaMorons. “No chairs, coolers, sunbathing, or towels/blankets laid out to sit on,”
read a tweet from the city of Jacksonville’s official account. Florida’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic was and continues to be haphazard. He only closed the beaches when images of spring breakers partying in large crowds garnered headlines.

Cumulative cases of Covid-19 have been rising steadily in Florida. Daily deaths from COVID-19 also showed a glimmer of hope in the past
several days in Florida, according to FDOH’s provisional data. Daily
deaths in the state from the new virus peaked at 43 deaths on April 6,
but dipped to 14 deaths on April 18.

Some modelling of the disease shows signs of hope, as well. The
University of Washington model, relied on by the White House at the
beginning of the outbreak, this week lowered its prediction
to 1,363 deaths in Florida from the virus by Aug. 4, down from an April
4 run of the model that had predicted 6,770 deaths in Florida through
the Aug. 4 “first wave,” with a high estimate of 11,242 deaths and a low
estimate of 3,629 deaths in the state. However low case numbers result from inconsistent and or insufficient testing.

As of April 21. 2020 the number of Covid-19 cases topped 27,000 with 823 deaths in Florida.

WWEssential

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While Legitimate sports franchises are closing stadiums for at least a year, a Florida Man who struggled to put on a single blue medical glove declares the WWE an essential business.

On April 1, 2020 Blue Glove (DeSantis) issued a Stay At Home Order due to the thread of Covid-19 and wrestling was not listed as an essential business.  On April 9, 2020 he issued an amended executive order that says “employees at a professional sports and media production
with a national audience are exempt from a stay-at-home order as long
as the location is closed to the general public.”  On that same day, April 9, The America First Action Committee chaired by the WWE owner Vince McMahon‘s
wife Linda, a former member of Donald Trump’s cabinet,  donated 18.5
million dollars in television ad spending in Orlando and Tampa for
Trumps political campaign. This glut of political ads will appear
between Labor Day and Election day. The McMahon’s are among the Trump’s
top political donors, so it was little wonder that wrestling was
suddenly considered an essential business by Florida Governor Blue
Glove.

At a press conference, Blue Glove tried to justify his decision, saying, “Obviously, WWE, there’s no crowd of anything, so it’s a very small amount of people,”  He went on, “I think people are chomping at the bit. I mean, if you think
about it, we’ve never had a period like this in modern American history
where you’ve had such little new content, particularly in the sporting
realm. I mean, people are watching, we’re watching, like, reruns from
the early 2000s, watching Tom Brady do the Super Bowl then, which is
neat because he’s gonna be in Tampa and I think they have a chance to
win a Super Bowl this year. But I think people, to be able to have some
light at the tunnel, see that things may get back on a better course. I
think from just a psychological perspective I think is a good thing.”

On Monday April 13, 2020 WWE began broadcasting live in the midst of the pandemic.

Two of WWE’s Orlando staff tested positive for Covid-19. In a statement, WWE said, “We believe this matter is
low risk to WWE talent and staff, as the individual and a roommate
became symptomatic in the days following exposure to two people working
in acute health care on the evening of March 26, after WWE’s TV
production on a closed set was already complete.”

Like the staff at the meat packing plants in the Midwest, it seems more important to keep the wrestling live rather than to consider staff health in the face of a pandemic. Taping sessions are at Full Sail University, which is where I used to teach animation. It would be a real travesty if the virus were allowed to spread among the student population.

The 74-year-old billionaire and WWE circus ring leader Vince McMahon seems only concerned with the bottom line when it comes to his organization which is reported to have 500 million in its reserve and stands to make a sizable profit this year. He needed to maintain live programing to get paid in lucrative contracts with USA and Fox networks.

What happens in the ring is scripted and false, but the threat of the virus is very real. McMahon’s concern over staff health has been dicey through the years with deaths of performers due to drugs, murder, suicide, and one in-ring disaster involving a wrestler falling 78 feet during his staged entrance to the ring.

On April 15, 2020 to further pad the bottom line, the organization is firing on air staff even though the taping continues. The reductions include:

  • Reducing executive and board member compensation,
  • Decreasing operating expenses,
  • Cutting talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting,
  • Deferring spending on the build-out of the Company’s new headquarters for at least six months.

“Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Company also identified headcount reductions and made the decision to furlough a portion of its workforce effective immediately,” according to a WWE statement.

Little known fact, I used to art direct a Wrestling Magazine when I was going to school in New York City.  That job helped put me through college. I used to love designing those loud boisterous spreads but seeing how this business is run today, I look back with dread at the idea that I helped promote this circus that does not value human life.

This is a clear and simple case of Quid Quo Pro. “You can have 18.5 million in ads, but I’d like you to do me a favor though.” It is business as usual in Central Florida. Add to this the caveat that Vince McMahon has been appointed to the council that will decide when it is safe to reopen the economy. He hardly seems an expert on what is safe.

Pre-Pandemic Significant Trees of Orlando

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Before the Pandemic, I was doing a series of sketches of the significant trees of Orlando. The City of Orlando Parks department published a map of 7 locations in Orlando with Significant Trees. These live oak trees line the south side of Lake Eola on Central Avenue. The huge lower branches reach out an some touch the ground before reaching back up to the sky. These huge trees provide plenty of shade for people walking around the park.

It was rush hour while I sketched. Someone wanted to park in the spot next to where I was sitting. He asked it the meters were running after pm and I told him I think the meters are off after 6pm. I can;t be quoted on that however. I tend to park out in the suburbs and walk into downtown when needed for a sketch.

This series of sketches of Orlando trees were the final outdoor sketching project I was working on as the looming pandemic squeezed in on Orlando. As of today April 11, 2020 there were 923 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Orange County and 12 deaths. Central Florida has 2,300 cases. The number of cases in Florida has topped 18,400. I had to stop sketching trees on location when people started coming up to me to see what I was sketching. Adulation is fine, unless it might cause death. The latest projections show Florida may see 1,218 to 10,293 fatalities
by June 21, with the median projection at 3,999 deaths, according to the
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation out of the University of
Washington.The lower numbers of the projection assume everyone honors the stay at home at home order. Publix Supermarket, across the street from these live oak trees I sketched has made all of it’s aisles one way to be sure people shopping can maintain a six foot distance from each other.

Orlando area patients at Orlando Health are starting to get treated for COVID-19 with the blood of patients who have recovered. Convalescent plasma has shown promise as an early treatment for SARS, MERS and EBOLA before a vaccine could be developed.

#Stay Home, #Stay Safe, #Save a Life.

A Doctor’s Visit During a Pandemic

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My doctor’s appointment was set up months ago. On the day of the appointment I managed to let it completely slip my mind since I was juggling Zoom conference calls in an attempt to work remotely. I cursed myself for forgetting as it takes months to get in. Rescheduling however was relatively easy. When Pam and I arrived at the doctor’s office the reason it was easy to reschedule was obvious. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. The lot is usually packed to overflowing.

The waiting room was also not very crowded making social distancing a breeze. The nurses wore face masks, but otherwise it was business as usual. After filling out mynew insurance forms, I took a heaping squirt of hand sanitizer from the dispenser on the counter. I didn’t have much time to sketch the waiting room. My name was called before I could refine this sketch.

The closest I got to any other patient was in the narrow hallways. My appointment was a standard follow up visit to be sure I was still functioning like normal. I honestly expected more of a war zone atmosphere, but I suppose the small general practitioners are not yet feeling the brunt of the virus outbreak yet. They did insist I fill out a form that verified that I had not visited a foreign country and no one in my family had the virus. I am wondering if I would have been turned away if indeed I had recently traveled abroad.

Where’s the Bacon?

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Smithfield Foods the world’s largest pork production facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is now the largest Covid-19 hot spot in the United States. Nine state governors have not issued stay at home orders, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. The governors, all
Republican, have often defended their actions out of a belief in smaller
government, despite many calls from within their own states to do so.  

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, for instance, told reporters
earlier this week that “the people themselves are primarily responsible
for their safety” and that state and national constitutions “prevent us
from taking draconian measures much like the Chinese government has
done.” She also added, “South Dakota is not New York City.”

Eighty of South Dakota’s 180 new COVID-19 cases are employees of the
Smithfield Foods meat-processing company, bringing the total to 600 Smithfield Foods
employees who have tested positive. There are also now 135 total cases
of non-employees that became infected when they came into contact with a
Smithfield employee, according to the South Dakota Department of
Health. 

Augustín Rodriguez, 64, showed up for every one of his
shifts at Smithfield Foods, where he worked for nearly two decades.
Augustín kept going to work even after he began experiencing COVID-19
symptoms like fever and cough because he needed to work. He kept working until a sharp pain in his side kept him from going to work. Three days later he was hospitalized and tested positive for Covid-19. He was placed on a ventilator and died two weeks later. His death is presumed to be the first connected to a COVID-19 outbreak at Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls. His wife, Angelita, believes he was worked to death.

Smithfield announced Sunday April 12, 2020 that it would be closing its Sioux Falls
plant indefinitely Wednesday. The plant has 3,700 employees.  The company is closing its meat processing plants in other states as well. The number of South Dakota residents who have tested positive for Covid-19 has surpassed 1,100, and more than half of those cases have
some connection to the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls. 

Kristi Noem a staunch Trump supporter seems to think that her rural state is safe from the virus or she is choosing to ignore the reality. Despite the numbers, Noem said she would not issue a stay-at-home order
for Minnehaha and nearby Lincoln Counties, as Sioux Falls Mayor Paul
Ten Haken requested. Noem said a stay-at-home order wouldn’t have made a
difference in Sioux Falls because the plant would have remained open as
part of a critical infrastructure business.

Noem also said her state will begin trying Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug pushed by President Donald Trump in treating COVID-19. On the same say she made that announcement scientists in Brazil said they stopped part of their study, after heart rhythm problems developed in one-quarter of people
who were given a higher dose of the drug. Tom Hanks wife, Rita Wilson, developed “Extreme side effects” when she was given the drug in Australia. Noem received 1.2 million doses of the drug from the Federal government. Her constituents will be the guinea pigs. Senator Elizabeth Warren, said: “The governor just lets this problem get bigger and bigger and bigger.”

The Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls used represents about 4% to 5% of
U.S. pork production, or about 18 million servings per day. The pork industry could see 5 billion dollars in losses due to the pandemic. Consumers are likely to be meat shortages due to the plant closings.