H5N1 killing California Cattle

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The H5N1 virus has been infecting America chickens. Over 90 million chickens have been killed because of the infection. There is some concern that the virus might be in eggs sold at the supermarket. Cooking eggs at a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit should kill the virus. It is best not to make runny eggs.  Chicken dropping are added to cattle feed and that might be how the virus spread to cows.

In Tulare, County California, cow carcasses are piling up on the roadsides. Farmers and veterinarians are surprised by the high mortality rates from H5N1 infections. Overt 600 cow herds have been infected. There are now 31 confirmed human cases in California. The virus has been found in raw milk which is still being sold cross America.

Since a 1970 outbreak in Hongcong, there have been 970 Human cases of H5N1. Of those cases 470 people died. That is a case fatality rate of about 48%. COVID -19 had a mortality rate of about 0.8% which resulted in well over a million Americans dying. More than 100 million birds have died due to the virus since 2022. It is hard to imagine the human devastation if the numbers are right and it starts spreading between people.

H5N1 has being detected in wastewater across America. It has been detected in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Tests being done on Ferrets are not promising. Ferrets closely resemble humans in the way they react to influenza infections. The virus has causing very severe disease in the lab animals. Media has been reporting mild cases in humans so far, except the teen in Canada who is in intensive care. One of the symptoms is conjunctivitis, or bloody eyes.

COVID -19 had a mortality rate of about 0.8% which resulted in well over a million seven hundred thousand Americans dying. more than 100 million birds have died due to the virus since 2022.

There have been over 55 confirmed cases of H5N1 in humans. Many work in the dairy industry, but there are some cases that are a mystery. A child in Canada is in critical condition and the cause of infection a complete mystery. The virus infecting this child has shown an ability for its binding receptors to infect humans. That fact alone is concerning. The possibility that H5N1 is airborne is a very real possibility.  If the virus starts to spread from human to human the outbreak will ignite.

My biggest concern is that the incoming administration will make all the same mistakes it made with the COVID-19 pandemic. The easiest action for any politician to take in a public health emergency is to deny, deflect and minimize the outcome. The stakes are much higher if H5N1 becomes a pandemic. People have decided that any form of mitigation is an infringement on the or personal freedom. They yearn  to be infected and to infect others.

Let COVID Burn!

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Ottawa, Canada has been under siege form a truck convoy since January 26, 2022. The truckers are protesting a vaccine mandate for truckers, implemented in mid-January on both sides of the US-Canada border. They want the freedom to spread disease.

Protester demands include an end to all Covid-19 restrictions in Canada and the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Much like the insurrection at the United States Capitol some protestors carry Trump, Nazi and Confederate flags.

Ottawa Mayor, Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency, and Trudeau’s government has deployed hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the protests. This has not stopped the protest from expanding and shitting don several bridges which are important trading routes between the United States and Canada.

The protest in Canada has inspired copycat truck protests. CNN reported that the Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement across the country that a convoy of truckers protesting Covid-19 vaccine mandates could soon begin in the U.S., with the potential to affect Sunday’s Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area and cause other disruptions. “The convoy will potentially begin in California as early as mid-February and arrive in Washington, DC, as late as mid-March, potentially impacting the Super Bowl LVI scheduled for February 13 and the State of the Union Address scheduled for March 1.” the bulletin said. Law enforcement and security officials guarding the Super Bowl in Inglewood, California, are preparing for any possible disruptions.

COVID-19 Air

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The U.S. lifted restrictions November 8, 2021 on travel from 33 countries, including the U.K., (9,333,891 COVID cases) South Africa, (2,924,072 COVID cases) Brazil, (21,886,077 COVID cases) Mexico, (3,827,596 COVID cases) Canada, (1,735,017 COVID cases) and most of Europe. In Europe there is a surge in COVID-19  infections, alarming health officials and sparking fears that the continent could be engulfed by a new wave of the pandemic this winter.

Travelers must show proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test. I am certain that Florida‘s Governor Ron DeathSantis will take issue with these vaccination passports and will fight these airlines insisting every unvaccinated person in the world should  be allowed into the state. He has already been fighting tooth and nail with the cruise industry. But he lost that lawsuit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) the U.S. will accept travelers who have been fully vaccinated with any of the vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, (WHO) not just those in use in the U.S. That means that the AstraZeneca vaccine, widely used in Canada, will be accepted. Though vaccinations are required, there are exemptions for travelers under age 18 and passengers from countries with low vaccination availability. In other words, if the country hasn’t vaccinated many people, then hey, come on in anyway, and don’t bother taking any precautions because this is “Merica.”

Infectious Children

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A study has found that younger children are more likely to spread COVID-19 in a family setting compared with older children. Specifically, children 3 or younger were more likely to spread the virus to household members compared with those aged 14 to 17.

The study, published in JAMA, analyzed public health data from Ontario, Canada, to identify COVID clusters in which a child was the primary case within households.

Earlier in the pandemic, some scientists suggested the risk of transmission declined with younger children. But this assumption was likely skewed by the fact that lockdowns and social distancing meant young children had very few social encounters.

The study involved 6,280 households with COVID-19 index patients 17 years and younger from Jun 1 to Dec 31, 2020, prior to the emergence of the Delta Variant, so more research is needed to understand transmission risk in the context of the variant. The study also took place prior to vaccines being available, meaning all household members were unvaccinated.

Babies and toddlers are probably more likely to spread disease to parents and caregivers because they are cared for directly, in close contact. “The 0-to-3-year-old child is held differently, is cuddled,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The risk of death and severe illness is still much lower in younger children compared with older children and adults. The best line of defense against further spread of the virus is for the parents of the child to both be vaccinated.

This study reinforces the importance of existing mitigation strategies at childcare facilities and schools, including distancing, good ventilation, frequent cleaning and masking whenever possible. t also reinforces the importance of all eligible people over 12, especially those around young children, getting vaccinated.

The 11 O’Clock Number presented an Improvised Musical at this year’s Fringe.

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Grindstone Theater from Edmonton Canada presented The 11 O’clock Number at this year’s Orlando International Fringe Festival. They managed to stage a fully improvised musical built around a prompt from the audience. From our audience they decided to use an entertainment lawyer who liked working from the beach. What made it even more funny is that the actress playing the part of the entertainment lawyer really had no idea what an entertainment lawyer actually did. It became an ongoing joke as she guessed about her role.

The plot centered around a spoiled child star and her sister who felt she could be a star as well if she were only given a chance. The villain was a scheming producer who wanted to have the kid sign her life away.  Every song was heart felt and yet hilarious. There is some major talent involved in making up lyrics on the fly. The music must have been established in rehearsals with the piano accompaniment, but the new lyrics were amazing. The result was a solid hour of laughter. This was entertaining improv at it’s best.

Relaxing at the Lake Louise Ski Resort.

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In an effort to be sure all sketches are posted online, I’ve started signing sketches once they are published. This way, hopefully, no sketches will slip through the cracks. In the early years sketches often slipped by because the latest sketch and experience seemed fresher and more exciting. Looking back at vacation sketchbooks, I was surprised to find this Lake Louise, Canada sketch unsigned. That morning, Terry decided she was going on a horse back ride up to the lip of a glacier. I don’t trust horses so the morning was mine to find a sketch opportunity.

I went through the town maps and brochures and decided that the gondola ride was probably sketch worthy. It was summer however, so there wasn’t much snow on the lower slopes.
The Lake Louise Ski Resort
(1 Whitehorn Road, Lake Louise
Alberta, Canada, T0L 1E0) had this gorgeous ski lodge at the base of the mountain. I could faintly see the gondola snaking it’s way up the first slope. I went inside to check on ticket prices. After a quick deliberation, I decided the lodge would be my subject. I had to sit in the parking lot to do the sketch, so I was always looking around to be sure I wasn’t run over by a wayward tourist bus or an RV.

Every half hour or so a bus would park in front of the lodge. All the tourists would pile out of the bus, take a cell phone photo and then pile back in. I’m glad that Terry and I travel at our own pace. Back at the hotel, Terry made fun of me for not riding the Gondola. She made clucking noises to rub it in. Her morning had been a real adventure riding her horse through muddy slopes to the glacier.A little friendly competition on vacation isn’t a bad thing. I grant Terry won this round.

Jump Start your morning in Banff

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Every morning while staying in Banff, Terry and I would start our day at Jump Start Coffee (206 Buffalo St, Banff, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada). This is a small coffee shop that is frequented by locals who order a cup of coffee and read the morning paper. Terry and I would order an egg sandwich or muffin and then some extra food to take out for lunch later in the day. The proprietress was pleasant so it made sense to, keep returning. The food was simple but good.

The view out the front window was of the town park and the history museum as well as the huge mountains. Some locals returned every morning and the coffee shop became a place to gossip[ and find out what was going on in town. It felt like a welcome relief from the endless tourist stores that tend to line the main street. The place felt much like the local places I return to often in Orlando whe I find some spare time between sketch opportunities.

A hike around Lake Louise

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Lake Louise in the Candaian Rockies is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. From our hotel, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, (111 Lake Louise Dr, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0, Canada) Terry and I hiked around the lake on the western shore. The trail only gets to the far end of the lake before it ends. On the first hike, I stopped half way out to do this sketch looking back at our Chateau. Terry pushed on until the trail ended.

On a second hike, I walked with her to the end of the trail. On the cliffs at that end of the lake, rock climbers were scaling the pure vertical face of the rock. Although there were safety ropes and spotters below, it still seems pretty daring to trust the person below to keep you from falling to your death should you slip. The walking trail ended at a large glacial stream which must be fed by the large glacier up in the mountain pass. When we returned from the hike, I noticed a large class of students sitting on the terrace of the chateau doing watercolors of the lake. I glanced over a few shoulders and resisted the temptation to ask, “Are you an artist?” It was time for an afternoon tea and a nap.

Mounties on Parade for Canada Day in Jasper

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As luck would have it, Terry and I were in Jasper, Canada for Canada day. Were were warned by out hotel that parking would be hellish downtown and that we should use the shuttle bus for a price. We ignored their warnings and found a parking spot easily. We had breakfast at a nice downtown deli and then I headed to the town park where the parade was going to start. People were already setting up their lawn chairs on the sidewalk to be sure they had a prime spot to watch the parade. I got to overheard plenty of town gossip from the locals. There is plenty of drama even in a mountain town paradise. One woman’s sister is married to a convict in prison. The family warned the girl, but love is blind. I found a shady spot across the street and watched the mounties line up in formation for the parade. There was a flag waving ceremony in Centennial Park which the mounties were a part of.

The Canadian flag was everywhere. People had dozens of hand held flags and some people had Canadian flag temporary tattoos on their faces at least I hope they were temporary. Flags functioned as capes and cloaks. By the time the parade officially started, my sketch was finished. I texted Terry and walked back towards the deli where we had breakfast. She was there seated at an outdoor table with red and white helium balloons tied to her chair. It was a typical small town parade with floats advertising local businesses and groups of children marching with their martial arts group of a high school band. Their was plenty of candy thrown into the crowd which sent kids running into the street to collect their loot.

The big draw that evening was the fireworks. It gets dark very late in the Canadian Rockies so it was still light when the first rockets lit the sky at 11:15pm. Terry and I got hot dogs from a vendor and sat with the crowd on a grassy hillside overlooking the soccer field where the mortars were set up. A fenced in area on a baseball diamond housed the beer garden where a crowd sipped beers while watching the fireworks. It was a great display with a thunderous grand finale. Afterwards Terry and I hoped to find an open store but the town was silent. All the celebrating had stopped and the streets were quit except for a few rowdy teens,  although I bet we could have found a crowd in a local bar.

On the drive back to the hotel, we looked for moose or elk wading in the moonlit streams but didn’t find any. Back at the hotel we ordered root beer floats as a treat before we went to bed since we had forgotten to eat dinner.

Relaxing by a glacial stream

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Terry and I stopped at a narrow valley in the Canadian Rockies which had a trail leading to the cliff edge of another glacier. The parking lot was right beside a meandering glacial stream. This became the resting spot for tourists before the hike and after. I hiked with Terry up to a rocky overlook that gave a sweeping view of the whole valley.

A warning sign marked the trail from this halfway point toward the glacier wall. It warned that if the glacier calved, that hikers could drown or be crushed by building sized chunks of ice. Terry wanted to push forward on the unmaintained trail but I turned back to sketch at the stream. One woman was carving her initials on a rock using a smaller rock as her writing tool. I don’t understand this basic human need to scar a gorgeous landscape to prove that you had been there. I suppose I’m doing the same thing by sketching. I need to leave a mark. Stones probably last longer than paper, so maybe I picked the wrong medium to work with.

We had drinks in the car, so I grabbed one and hiked back to the first overlook. I got a bit nervous when I finished my sketch and Terry hadn’t returned. Of course if the glacier had calved, I would have noticed the immense surge of water down the valley. Of course she didn’t know where I had set up to sketch, so I hiked back to the car. When she returned, we had lunch in the car and then pushed off to the next sight.