Cardboard Boat Races….

Not the "A" Team, but the "Bee" Team

The kids teams

The Bees catch up

A very creative friend, Ginger,  has been preparing for the annual cardboard boat race held at the mouth of the Peconic River. Her cohort in this duct tape rich endeavor is Darryle, who conveniently manages a hardware store, This year’s theme is “Let it Bee,” A cardboard “bee” boat, complete with stinger, which emerges from a paper mache “hive” complete with lots of hovering bees stuck to it. Meanwhile our “team” wore yellow “Let it Bee” T shirts to cheer them on. Extremely corny, but a lot of fun. Also a great way to get together with old friends. My contribution has been to help construct bees made of bunched together bubble wrap into a duct taped tube. One day’s work consisted of gluing googly eyes and infant socks over oval cardboard cutouts to resemble wings. Saturday, we tested out the creation. 

Members of the "hive"

The "Queen Bee" crowned by Roberta and Barb

PS. Our boat came in 4th of maybe 15 boats, but most importantly, Ginger received a prize for “most creative,” which to me is much more important. A celebration barbecue followed, caching up with members of our 20+ year old “Art group”. We began years ago by meeting every week for a communal dinner and working on art projects. Gradually, the projects diminished and it transformed into the “art of eating” group. We don’t get together very often now, but many strong friendships evolved, that still endure. Yet, another life perk!

Our own "Queen Bee Leader - Miss Ginger

More Life Lessons….

Three coincidences have occurred recently with some very good life lessons. I discovered a very good Netflix series on the human body, explaining different systems and how they work (or don’t). Their graphics are excellent and example stories are very interesting. The message they drive home is that we humans are made to move, and health and movement are closely related. The other two incidents are doctor related. 

Ray and I have been catching up on doctor visits since he returned. Yesterday, his cardiologist had three comments: one that Ray was extremely lucky, two, he needs to be very careful not to injure himself, and three, that his being in very good physical shape helped him survive, as well and recover. Today, we both had checkups with the family doctor, and she reiterated the same points. She added that every 90’s plus patient that’s still doing well was very athletic. I think Ray was quite pleased, and a bit relieved. 

So the message is unequivocally: KEEP MOVING!

Evolutionary Thoughts…

I think the C virus as truly the enemy of the human race, on a global level. If you look at the evolution of any species, be it human, animal, bacterial or viral - there is a constant struggle for the individual organism to stay alive, and continue the survival of its species. ie: the strongest survive. No different with bacteria and viruses, which happen to be often parasitic in nature. For a flea, mosquito, or Corona virus to make it they need a host. To be successful, the more “victims” they infect, the better they survive. This involves infecting large numbers of victims and out of those multitudes a few with successful characteristics make it to regenerate. 

This part needed a picture to break up my rambling

As an example: Having been a dog owner for over half a century (Wow!) I’ve witnessed many different chemicals come and go to combat fleas. Every few years a new and ‘improved” product is developed, because the few sturdy individuals that survived the onslaught of the previous chemical attempt to eradicate them resulted in a few “super fleas” that were resistant. These super individuals reproduced, and thus a new generation of stronger individuals survives to procreate….. So it is with life - and Covid!

I found this online from the VA.
It seems to cover most bases pretty well

So, I kinda get what is happening on a biological/evolutionary type of view of the Covid Pandemic. Think about history with cholera, malaria and all the communicable diseases that USED to be prevalent. And why not now?  Vaccines, along with new medications (which go hand in hand), and improved sanitation, are among the reasons we can prevent many deaths, improve health and longevity.