The Graystone tower crane is coming down currently.
You might recall the crane that fell across Mercer Street in 2019. The winds became gusty while they were doing such a takedown; in a hurry, workers bypassed some stability safety measures. The lawsuits were settled for $150 million.
Thanks to Mike C.
A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 379, Issue 6633. Download PDF
IN THE SHADE of a mango tree, Mamadou Ngulo Konaré recounted the legendary event of his childhood. In 1987, well diggers had come to his village of Bourakébougou, Mali, to drill for water, but had given up on one dry borehole at a depth of 108 meters. “Meanwhile, wind was coming out of the hole,” Konaré told Denis Brière, a petrophysicist and vice president at Chapman Petroleum Engineering, in 2012. When one driller peered into the hole while smoking a cigarette, the wind exploded in his face.
“He didn’t die, but he was burned,” Konaré continued. “And now we had a huge fire. The color of the fire in daytime was like blue sparkling water and did not have black smoke pollution. The color of the fire at night was like shining gold, and all over the fields we could see each other in the light. … We were very afraid that our village would be destroyed.”
It took the crew weeks to snuff out the fire and cap the well. And there it sat, shunned by the villagers, until 2007. That was when Aliou Diallo, a wealthy Malian businessman, politician, and chair of Petroma, an oil and gas company, acquired the rights to prospect in the region surrounding Bourakébougou. “We have a saying that human beings are made of dirt, but the devil is made of fire,” Diallo says. “It was a cursed place. I said, ‘Well, cursed places, I like to turn them into places of blessing.’”
In 2012, he recruited Chapman Petroleum to determine what was coming out of the borehole. Sheltered from the 50°C heat in a mobile lab, Brière and his technicians discovered that the gas was 98% hydrogen. That was extraordinary: Hydrogen almost never turns up in oil operations, and it wasn’t thought to exist within the Earth much at all. “We had celebrations with large mangos that day,” Brière says.
Within a few months, Brière’s team had installed a Ford engine tuned to burn hydrogen. Its exhaust was water. The engine was hooked up to a 300-kilowatt generator that gave Bourakébougou its first electrical benefits: freezers to make ice, lights for evening prayers at the mosque, and a flat-screen TV so the village chief could watch soccer games. Children’s test scores also improved. “They had the lighting to learn their lessons before going to class in the morning,” Diallo says. He soon gave up on oil, changed the name of his company to Hydroma, and began drilling new wells to ascertain the size of the underground supply.
The Malian discovery was vivid evidence for what a small group of scientists, studying hints from seeps, mines, and abandoned wells, had been saying for years: Contrary to conventional wisdom, large stores of natural hydrogen may exist all over the world, like oil and gas—but not in the same places. These researchers say water-rock reactions deep within the Earth continuously generate hydrogen, which percolates up through the crust and sometimes accumulates in underground traps. There might be enough natural hydrogen to meet burgeoning global demand for thousands of years, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) model that was presented in October 2022 at a meeting of the Geological Society of America.
“When I first heard about it, I thought it was crazy,” says Emily Yedinak, a materials scientist who devoted a fellowship at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to drumming up interest in natural hydrogen. “The more that I read, the more I started to realize, wow, the science behind how hydrogen is produced is sound … I was kind of like, ‘Why is no one talking about this?’”
Since 2018, however, when Diallo and his colleagues described the Malian field in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, the number of papers on natural hydrogen has exploded. “It’s absolutely incredible and really exponential,” says geologist Alain Prinzhofer, lead author on the Mali paper and scientific director of GEO4U, a Brazil-based oil and gas services company that is doing more and more hydrogen work. Dozens of startups, many in Australia, are snatching up the rights to explore for hydrogen. Last year, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists formed its first natural hydrogen committee, and USGS began its first effort to identify promising hydrogen production zones in the United States. “We’re in the very beginning, but it will go fast,” says Viacheslav Zgonnik, CEO of Natural Hydrogen Energy. In 2019, the startup completed the first hydrogen borehole in the United States, in Nebraska.
(Continued)
Thanks to Pam P.
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said Thursday he will not allow Pennsylvania to execute any inmates while he is in office and called for the state’s lawmakers to repeal the death penalty.
Shapiro, inaugurated last month, said he will refuse to sign execution warrants and will use his power as governor to grant reprieves to any inmate whose execution is scheduled.
In doing so, he is exercising an authority used for eight years by his predecessor, Gov. Tom Wolf, to effectively impose a moratorium on the death penalty in a state where it has been sparsely used.
Shapiro went further, asking lawmakers to repeal the death penalty and calling it fallible and irreversible.
“Today, I am respectfully calling on the General Assembly to work with me to abolish the death penalty once and for all here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said in a news conference at Mosaic Community Church in Philadelphia.
The state, he said, “should not be in the business of putting people to death.”
The first execution warrant came to his desk last week, Shapiro said.
Twenty-seven states allow the death penalty, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
On the campaign trail last year for governor, Shapiro had said he was morally opposed to the death penalty, even though he had run for attorney general in 2016 as a supporter of the death penalty for the most heinous cases.
Shapiro is shifting his stance amid shrinking support nationally for the death penalty.
While Wolf was governor from 2015 until last month, judges delivered eight more death sentences. In the meantime, Wolf issued eight reprieves to inmates who had been scheduled to be put to death.
Wolf had said he would continue the reprieves until lawmakers addressed inequities in the use of the death penalty, but lawmakers never did and Wolf’s reprieves remain in effect.
Wolf’s use of reprieves was upheld by the state Supreme Court in a legal challenge brought by county prosecutors, who argued that Wolf was unconstitutionally turning what had been intended to be a temporary tool into a permanent one.
Pennsylvania has 101 men and women on its shrinking death row, according to statistics from the Department of Corrections. The state has executed three people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, as courts and now governors have blocked every other death sentence thus far.
All three men who were executed gave up on their appeals voluntarily. The state’s most recent execution took place in 1999.
Ed note: If you have some moments listen to wonderful music, please listen – and consider finding the movie to stream on demand. It stars Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson. The photography of Iguazu Falls is fantastic. The story is about the brutal colonization of the area.
From Wikipedia: “The Mission is the soundtrack from the film of the same name (directed by Roland Joffé), composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Ennio Morricone. The work combines liturgical chorales, native drumming, and Spanish-influenced guitars, often in the same track, in an attempt to capture the varying cultures depicted in the film.[3] The main theme, “Falls”, remains one of Morricone’s most memorable pieces, and has been used in numerous commercials since its original release. The Italian song “Nella Fantasia” (“In My Fantasy”) is based on the theme “Gabriel’s Oboe” and has been recorded by multiple artists including, Sarah Brightman, Amici Forever, Il Divo, Russell Watson, Hayley Westenra, Jackie Evancho, Katherine Jenkins, Amira Willighagen and Yasuto Tanaka.
The soundtrack was nominated for an Academy Award in 1987 and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and the BAFTA Award for Best Music. It was selected as the 23rd best film score in American Cinema in the American Film Institute‘s 100 Years of Film Scores.[4] The music was also used during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.”
Ever heard of it?
Do you know what it does?
Did you know that it has a board of supervisors?
Did you vote in its latest election?
For the answers to these questions and more go to
This organization and its recent election for a board member was a topic at last Friday’s Civic Engagement Group (CEG) meeting.
Ed Note: There are now 169 subscribers to our Skyline725 blog. You can see some interesting blips in usage (note the COVID onset increase in 2020). Also, there’s an astounding increase in “hits” over the last few months. Recently, individuals outside of Skyline have subscribed — so please remember the postings on the blog are not confidential unless included in a password protected page. We’d like to keep the blog eclectic in service to the interests of residents of our lovely community. The resident portal (CareMerge) does not post activities outside of Skyline, so if you would like to have something posted or have suggestions for the blog please send it to the editor, Jim deMaine (email is listed in CareMerge).
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 65 | 75 | 33 | 67 | 1,016 | 1,329 | 2,585 | ||||||
| 2015 | 2,539 | 1,885 | 1,971 | 1,398 | 1,625 | 866 | 777 | 1,024 | 856 | 800 | 789 | 667 | 15,197 |
| 2016 | 1,063 | 1,226 | 996 | 695 | 874 | 1,031 | 1,575 | 1,318 | 959 | 1,125 | 815 | 988 | 12,665 |
| 2017 | 1,205 | 1,378 | 1,114 | 674 | 1,163 | 1,163 | 2,033 | 2,756 | 1,809 | 1,591 | 1,897 | 2,046 | 18,829 |
| 2018 | 2,012 | 1,763 | 1,525 | 1,550 | 1,481 | 1,505 | 1,918 | 1,544 | 2,085 | 2,074 | 2,055 | 2,345 | 21,857 |
| 2019 | 1,862 | 2,108 | 2,428 | 2,015 | 2,090 | 2,327 | 3,239 | 2,973 | 1,720 | 1,906 | 2,223 | 2,155 | 27,046 |
| 2020 | 2,446 | 2,256 | 3,329 | 6,638 | 6,519 | 4,608 | 5,058 | 4,680 | 4,517 | 5,637 | 5,581 | 5,536 | 56,805 |
| 2021 | 4,768 | 4,516 | 4,264 | 4,813 | 3,776 | 2,956 | 2,882 | 2,733 | 2,736 | 3,907 | 2,620 | 3,727 | 43,698 |
| 2022 | 4,221 | 3,059 | 4,780 | 2,947 | 3,298 | 3,018 | 3,823 | 2,881 | 2,694 | 2,448 | 8,301 | 18,084 | 59,554 |
| 2023 | 33,188 | 25,461 |
Thanks to Mary Jane F.
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From the WSJ by Richard A. Muller
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By BRIAN MILLER
Real Estate Editor
Rendering by Perkins and Will [enlarge]This perspective looks northwest at the planned medical building, with SHA’s planned new Sawara apartments at left.
As planned, Kaiser Permanente has paid a little over $36.2 million for the site of a new Yesler Terrace medical tower at 755 Alder St. The deal and planned building were announced almost exactly a year ago by the health care provider and Seattle Housing Authority. The land price was then estimated to be about $1 million higher.
King County recorded the sale last week; it was worth about $511 per square foot. SHA’s brokers were Frank Bosl, Jon Hallgrimson, Eli Hanacek and Kyle Yamamoto of CBRE. Kaiser Permanente’s broker was JLL.
The sloping corner site, at Ninth Avenue and just south of Harborview Medical Center, totals slightly over 1.6 acres. Perkins and Will is designing the nine-story building, which will have about 260,000 square feet of clinics, offices and labs. Kaiser says Mortenson will build the unnamed project, which it values at over $500 million.
Kaiser Permanente Washington COO Janet O’Hollaren said in a statement, “This strategic development furthers our mission of integrated care and meaningful partnership in our communities. Seattle Housing Authority has a thoughtful plan to invest in the Yesler neighborhood, and we’re pleased to contribute to the health of this evolving community.”
Regarding the Block 7.2 sale, SHA executive director Andrew Lofton said in a statement, “The presence of Kaiser Permanente as a health care provider, employer and Yesler community member is significant. They are exactly the type of partner SHA and the Citizen Review Committee envisioned when creating a master plan for a new Yesler that will enhance the lives of our residents and attract others to the community.”
Also notable in the ongoing, over $1.7 billion redevelopment of the 30-acre campus is that Kaiser represents the first non-apartment project. About 1,500 affordable and 2,500 market-rate units are in varying phases of development by Sustainable Living Innovations, Mack Real Estate Group, Vulcan Real Estate, Su Development, Lowe, Mill Creek Residential Trust and SHA itself. Soon there won’t be any more land left to sell and redevelop. The effort began in 2013, when the mostly 1940s-era complex had around 1,200 residents.
Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Mazzetti and Site Workshop are also working on the Kaiser project. It’ll also have about 810 parking stalls on six mostly underground levels.
Kaiser includes the Yesler Terrace project in what it calls a $1 billion initiative, announced four years ago, to expand its presence and deliver better health care in our state. As part of that same effort, Kaiser is also planning a new medical building in Everett, also announced a year ago, and expanding another next door.
The new four-story building, at 2929 Pine St. in the Riverside neighborhood, will have about 165,000 square feet. ZGF is the architect there. A new structured parking garage on the opposite side of the block, on Maple Street, will have about 750 stalls. The old Denny’s on Pacific Avenue and other old buildings will be removed. Last summer, the entire expansion/addition project received its SEPA determination of non-significance from the city. No start date has been announced, though Kaiser said 2022 was the goal for opening the facility.
Leonard Cobb, MD speaks about Step 10 – Work Toward a Culture of Excellence, a section from the book: ‘Ten Steps for Improving Survival from Sudden Cardiac Arrest’ by Mickey Eisenberg and the Resuscitation Academy Faculty.
It was documented by this 60 minutes episode. Leonard will never be forgotten, a true pioneer in saving lives.
Thanks to Mary Jane F.
Seniors are increasingly left to protect themselves as the rest of the country abandons precautions: “Americans do not agree about the duty to protect others.”
Ed note: Are seniors being forgotten as we try to break out of isolation and masks? Why are so few team members and directors unwilling to wear masks when around us–even in the elevators? Paula Span in this NYT article outlines the problem. COVID is NOT GONE. Continuing precautions are reasonable. IMHO we do have a moral duty to protect others!
By Paula Span Published Feb. 11, 2023 Updated Feb. 13, 2023
In early December, Aldo Caretti developed a cough and, despite all his precautions, came up positive for Covid on a home test. It took his family a couple of days to persuade Mr. Caretti, never fond of doctors, to go to the emergency room. There, he was sent directly to the intensive care unit.
Mr. Caretti and his wife, Consiglia, both 85, lived quietly in a condo in Plano, Texas. “He liked to read and learn, in English and Italian,” said his son Vic Caretti, 49. “He absolutely adored his three grandchildren.”
Aldo Caretti had encountered some health setbacks last year, including a mild stroke and a serious bout of shingles, but “he recuperated from all that.”
Covid was different. Even on a ventilator, Mr. Caretti struggled to breathe. After 10 days, “he wasn’t getting better,” said Vic Caretti, who flew in from Salt Lake City. “His organs were starting to break down. They said, ‘He’s not going to make it.’”
At least, this late in the pandemic, families can be with their loved ones at the end of life. When the family agreed to remove Mr. Caretti from the ventilator and provide comfort care, “he was alert, very aware of what was happening,” his son said. “He was holding everyone’s hand.” He died a few hours later, on Dec. 14.
For older Americans, the pandemic still poses significant dangers. About three-quarters of Covid deaths have occurred in people over 65, with the greatest losses concentrated among those over 75.
In January, the number of Covid-related deaths fell after a holiday spike but nevertheless numbered about 2,100 among those ages 65 to 74, more than 3,500 among 75- to 84-year-olds and nearly 5,000 among those over 85. Those three groups accounted for about 90 percent of the nation’s Covid deaths last month.
Hospital admissions, which have also been dropping, remain more than five times as high among people over 70 as among those in their 50s. Hospitals can endanger older patients even when the conditions that brought them in are successfully treated; the harmful effects of drugs, inactivity, sleep deprivation, delirium and other stresses can take months to recover from — or can land them back in the hospital.
“There continue to be very high costs of Covid,” said Julia Raifman, a public health policy specialist at the Boston University School of Public Health and a co-author of a recent editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine. (continued)
Happy Valentine’s day. Show your love!
Thanks to Tim and Tony
Thanks to Pam P.
Bay Area nonprofit SunLight Ukraine is bringing much needed solar lanterns to Ukrainians, as many struggle without power amid Russian missile strikes.EMBED <>MORE VIDEOS
Bay Area nonprofit SunLight Ukraine is bringing much needed solar lanterns to Ukrainians, as many struggle without power amid Russian missile strikes.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — With a click of a button, solar lanterns are poised to bring some much needed light to Ukraine.
“We’re shipping thousands of these little light units they can use in their houses and underground shelters,” said Paul Andrews, co-chair SunLight Ukraine. The Bay Area resident founded the nonprofit with his brother and their Ukrainian American friend.
“In Ukraine right now due to the relentless bombing of power plants, millions of people don’t have power,” said Andrews.
A massive airstrike Thursday left thousands more without power after Russia launched more than 100 missiles at cities across the country.
VIDEO: Ukrainians at home and abroad grip tightly to Christmas spirit amid Russian shelling
“The three of us said, ‘Gee’ with the bombing going on these little lights could be useful,” said Andrews. Shortly, they started assembling a team. “We have freight boarders in Los Angeles, web designers here in San Francisco, we have a Ukrainian shipping company in New Jersey.”
And the manufacturer made it possible by donating the lanterns, which produce 50 hours of light on one solar charge, as well as have a USB port.
“If you have no electricity you can’t charge your cell phone, you’re alone in dark, so these will make a big, big difference to Ukrainian families,” said Andrews, noting a group of students are helping to get the lights to families.
“They’re distributed by a student-run volunteer service of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv and they’re taking them all across the country,” said Andrews, who couldn’t be more proud.
“So what do these Catholic students decide to do? They took a big group for the first batch and they gave them out to three Jewish communities to celebrate Hanukkah as sign of interfaith solidarity.”
A gesture that was received with great gratitude.
“May the light of these lanterns help us all,” said Leonid Goldberg, Jewish Society of Drohobych. “The power of light will always overcome the power of darkness.”
To make a donation to SunLight Ukraine, visit its website here.
Excerpt from Facing Death: Finding Dignity, Hope and Healing by Jim deMaine
Suicidal gestures are highest for young adults undergoing a crisis. But suicide rates are increasing across all age groups, particularly among the elderly, who commit suicide with a frequency more than four times the age-adjusted national average.[i] Suicide is now the tenth leading cause of death[ii] in the United States, more than double the number of homicides.
Suicide is always tragic and often preventable. But can it ever be rational? Kaiser News reports that small groups of seniors meet openly to discuss this question.[iii] A few hundred seniors each year commit suicide when transitioning either to or from long-term care facilities. It’s unclear how many were clear-headed when they made this choice. But it appears they wanted to be able to end their lives when circumstances came to feel unbearable. Among the elderly a major concern is the fear of progressive dementia, or an illness, that will seriously limit their ability to enjoy living—even if their disease is not terminal. “Heck, I’ve lived a full life. I’m basically falling apart,” they say. “There’s nothing to look forward to so I’m ready to die.”
This concept of “rational suicide” is worrisome to me. Dr. Yeates Conwell,[iv] a psychiatrist at the University of Rochester and leading expert on elder suicide, feels that widespread ageism is particularly dangerous in this regard. If ageism begins to normalize suicide among the elderly, it will profoundly change the way we look at aging and dying.
But then there are depictions of this struggle through films like Amour. If you haven’t seen it, I hope you get the chance. Amour starts and ends with love, but not in the usual, youthful fashion of a Hollywood romance. It focuses on death after a life of love, longtime care, and, finally, suffering.
The story begins in the apartment of two aging musicians. As the wife suffers a series of strokes, her mind and her will to live erode. Her life becomes agonizing, and her caregiver husband is exhausted. This painful circumstance, common to many real-life couples handling illness on their own, was dramatized so beautifully that Amour won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Was it reasonable for the wife to attempt suicide? Was it OK for her to make her husband promise never to take her back to the hospital? Could the couple’s daughter have been more supportive? What happens as the loving caregiver is finally at wits end? Amour left me full of lingering questions about the choices this couple made, yet admiration for the love between them as they navigated the process of dying.
In real life, sadly, the death of an elderly couple can be violent and abrupt. Not long ago, in a Seattle nursing, two residents in their nineties were found dead in their apartment, both from gunshot wounds, in an apparent murder-suicide. About twenty older Americans die in this manner each week in the United States, according to estimates.[v] I see nothing loving in those situations. Typically, a controlling husband shoots his wife in her sleep, then turns the gun on himself. There is often a history of domestic abuse. Most commonly, the underlying issue is depression. Families, physicians, and caregivers need to be on alert and unafraid to ask about mood changes and suicidal thoughts. There is no easy solution, but we can all reach out and, if there are concerns about potential self-harm, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
There certainly are actions that physicians and loved ones can take to help before things get that dire. We need to address loneliness, depression, spousal abuse, cognitive changes, and housing stability for the aging. We need to better ensure access to caregivers and loved ones. In my own retirement community, a friend observed, “I’m sure we live longer and happier lives here because of our connected community of people.” I believe this is true.
To my mind, the concept of rational suicide remains nuanced; it is certainly not black or white. For those who are not terminally ill, choosing VSED could be seen as an example of rational suicide, as it is a conscientious decision to stop eating and drinking made not out of depression or other mental illness, but as an option against enduring a deteriorated quality of life. For the terminally ill with severe suffering, I consider MAID a rational response, as long as patients are screened for mental health and legal safeguards are in place.
Both MAID and VSED remain uncommon although their rates are increasing. As death nears, it’s not uncommon for a patient to state: “I want no more pills or fluids or food.” This is likely much more common than reported. With the advent of hospice and palliative care, most of us will die naturally, hopefully without great discomfort, and ideally in a manner that allows for healing and a positive legacy for those we leave behind.
[i] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5916258/
[ii] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
[iii] https://khn.org/news/suicide-seniors-long-term-care-nursing-homes/
[iv] https://khn.org/news/rational-suicide-seniors-preemptive-death-medical-aid-in-dying/
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. I’ll post a follow-up piece that I’ve written called “Is Suicide Ever Rational?”
By David Brooks
My friendship with Peter Marks was created around play. Starting at age 11, we played basketball, softball, capture the flag, rugby. We teased each other, pulled pranks, made fun of each other’s dance moves and pretty much everything else. We could turn eating a burger into a form of play, with elaborate smacking of lips and operatic exclamations about the excellence of the cheese. We kept it up for five decades.
My wife has a phrase that got Pete just right — a rare combo of normal and extraordinary: masculine in the way you’re supposed to be masculine, with great strength and great gentleness. A father in the way you’re supposed to be a father, with great devotion, fun and pride. A husband the way you are supposed to be a husband, going home at night grateful because the person in the whole world you want to talk with the most is going to be sitting right there across the dinner table.
Over the years, Pete and I often spoke about the stresses he was enduring over the management of his medical practice, but I didn’t see the depths of what he was going through until we spent a weekend with him in the spring of 2019. My wife noticed a change immediately. A light had gone out; there was an uncharacteristic flatness in his voice and a stillness in his eyes. One bright June afternoon, he pulled us aside and told us he wasn’t himself. He was doing what he loved most — playing basketball, swimming in the lake — but he couldn’t enjoy anything. He was worried for his family and himself and asked for our continued friendship and support. It was the first time I had seen such pain in him — what turned out to be severe depression. I was confronted with a question for which I had no preparation: How do you serve a friend who is hit with this illness?
I tried the best I could, but Pete succumbed to suicide last April. This article flows from what I learned from those agonizing three years and that senseless tragedy. It reflects a hard education with no panaceas.
First, I need to tell you more about Pete. We met as kids at Incarnation Camp in Connecticut. We were campers and counselors together for a decade and remained close for life. At camp, Pete was handsome, strong, athletic and kind. There was an exuberant goofballism about him.
I remember once, in a fit of high silliness, he started skipping around the dining hall, singing, and leaping higher and higher with each skip. He tried to skip right out of the room, but there was a doorframe, probably about seven feet tall, and Pete slammed into the top of the frame and fell flat on his back. The rest of us, being 16-year-old junior counselors, found this utterly hilarious. Pete, also being 16, found this utterly hilarious, too. I remember him lying there in a fit of giggles, with a doorframe-shaped bruise forming on his brow.
One summer, Pete and I led a team of 12- and 13-year-olds in a softball game against a team of 14- and 15-year-olds. Our team miraculously won. In the celebration afterward, Pete, the boys and I piled on one another on the mound in a great wriggling heap of disproportionate ecstasy. We hugged and screamed and high-fived. I think our celebration lasted longer than the game — a volcano-like pile of male self-approval that is lodged in my memory as one of life’s moments of pure joy.
As the years went by, Pete did well in college, joined the Navy, went to medical school and became an eye surgeon. On evenings before surgery, Pete took great care of himself, didn’t stay out, made sure he had enough sleep to do the job that he loved. On evenings after surgery, he’d call his patients to see how they were feeling. His wife, Jen, a dear friend who was also at camp with us, used to linger around just to hear the gentleness of his tone on those calls, the reassuring kindness of his manner.
He seemed, outwardly, like the person in my circle least likely to be afflicted by a devastating depression, with a cheerful disposition, a happy marriage, a rewarding career and two truly wonderful sons, Owen and James. But he was carrying more childhood trauma than I knew, and depression eventually overwhelmed him. (continued)
Ed note: This is a scientific review from a top medical journal. It is a cautionary tale. There’s not a lot of difference in boosting between the mono and bivalent vaccines. We’re lucky so far that resistant variants have not emerged, but we’re far from “done with COVID” unfortunately.
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