The New York Times this morning shared some good information. The first had to do with why Africa and Asia, many countries without much health resources, were left relatively untouched by the COVID-19 virus:
Why?
- Poorer countries are younger:
- In sub-Saharan Africa, only 3% of the population is 65 or older.
- Pakistan is at 4%
- The USA is at 16%, while the European Union has 20% 65 or older.
- 80% of U.S. deaths occurred among people 65 or older.
- People in those poorer countries spend more time outdoors and have their window/doors open for better ventilation.
- Many in these poorer countries have already historically been besieged by a wider range of microbes. Thus, many of them are naturally immune to COVID-19.
- Some of these countries, like Ghana and Vietnam, immediately restricted entry into their country, distributed medical masks and subscribed to rapid COVID-19 tests.
Also from the NYT:
The number of new cases fell in the U.S. yesterday for the ninth straight day, according to The Times’s seven-day moving average.
My topic of the day is the first of a series of photos I will show from a long time ago. I recently threw away around 5,000 slides, but first scanned through most of them and selected a couple of hundred which I will digitize. The Wolverine film to digital converter costs $150 from Amazon. If I can do this, you can.
Among the first to be converted were of Pearl and Pepper. To the left is the photo I have used in this blog at least a dozen times. Our dog Pepper is really Pearl's dog Pepper. I sidestepped the draft to join the Army Reserves and went away for basic training. Pearl adopted Pepper when he was six weeks old and took care of him until we eventually left the Big Island for Kilauea, Kauai. She was his mother and fed him every day. All I did was try to train him and be a friend.
Here he is at 3 months, then six and eight:
When we first drove from Lihue to Kilauea, we stopped by the
Kaloko Reservoir. Pepper, who had never swum before, jumped into the water and went to the middle, then came back. That was a frightening experience.
More than half a century later, the dam, after a storm, burst, killing seven people. Apparently, the owner, James Plueger (
who at that time owned the Honda company from which I had bought a Fit), was charged with manslaughter. He ended up paying the families off and the company name was changed to Pacific Honda.
I also was in charge of giving him a bath, once/week. I threw a stick in our backyard river, maybe ten yards left of that top photo with a waterfall. It never occurred to me that the current would pull him over the falls. He returned with the stick, I shampooed him and threw the stick back in. When he returned, that was his bath.
There was a slippery slide the movie
South Pacific constructed just out of sight close to the bank next to our backyard. The pool below was where France Nuyen and John Kerr swam, and just to the right on the opposite side is where Bloody Mary sang to them
Happy Talk.
This is scary, but it once rained 19 inches in one day, and that river was ten feet higher...and there was no waterfall.
It seems unfair, but he liked me more. I think it has something to do with training and loyalty in a German Shepherd. I recall Pearl and I once drove to a reception, which would have been a ten to fifteen minute walk. Many times Pepper was left free to roam. Well, he somehow found the party (
which was indoors), and using smell, I guess, took both my slippers home.
The first time we (
Pepper and I) went reef fishing, I caught a Hinalea, which, for reasons I did not know then, threw them back. Turns out the reason is many are infected with
ciguatera. So I gave the fish to Pepper. He walked back to the beach (
about 25 yards away), dug a hole, placed the fish in, and covered it with sand. Must have been instinctive.
The three of us regularly drove to a beach and walked around. Here we are at Hanalei Beach, the first scene in South Pacific, and you can see the pier.
I saw a rather large piece of wood on the beach and inadvertently tossed it into the sea. I too late realized that Pepper was going to retrieve it. A large wave came, pulled him under and he disappeared for what seemed like a full minute. Then the middle photo showed that a rip-tide had sent him further out. The third photo is Pepper with what he retrieved.
We also went to the Kilauea Lighthouse, where he was smart enough not to chase those birds:
When he was one-year old, we gave him away because we knew we were going to be traveling more, and there were no home-caring services. He was just too big for neighbors.
I worked in the sugar mill, and to get to my office, you had to walk into the middle of the factory, then way up some rickety steps. One day, I returned from lunch, and he was waiting for me next to my desk. How he got there is another one of those mysteries. I dropped him off to his new owner. A few weeks later we learned that he ate something poisonous, and died. He was the last pet we owned. The grief was the most both of us felt, ever. I still think about it.
So, again, the full photo of Pearl and her dog Pepper:
To close, a really cute, and amazing video, of another dog:
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