I noticed something when I went for my first shot. [View all]

[byronius]

It was a well-run drive-through operation. Volunteers in orange vests holding clipboards guiding a long line of cars through a series of stops that ended in a quick innoculation and a fifteen-minute pause in a monitored parking lot. On the way out they handed me my card and a slip for my second shot three weeks from now.

I live in California. Maybe it's not the same everywhere. But the whole thing was professional from end to end. Seamless. The volunteers were dedicated and courteous. I felt part of -- a national endeavour. A World War II response to a public health crisis.

This kind of serious organization -- a group of Americans helping other Americans get beyond what's been a very bad year -- filled me with pride. We're back. America is real again, if that makes sense.

I was at the still-socially-distant Easter in-law grouping this morning. About half have been vaccinated, the others have appointments. We were talking to the kids about all of it, about the difficulty they've faced this past year.

One of them -- my fifteen year old nephew -- said that it wasn't this past year that he was traumatized by. It was the last four years. His anger at having to survive a presidency clearly designed to degrade the nation -- that's what he felt traumatized by. COVID was just a symptom.

It's been a good two days; a tangible effect of having an actual Federal government at work. Joe and Kamala are doing a better job than I imagined anyone could do given the circumstances.

I'm proud. Proud of my state and proud of the Better Part of my nation.