Omicron is at the wheel of a nation without clear defenses

In the chaos of family at our house I missed posting yesterday, but I am giving myself absolution. Everyone needs some grace from time to time.

There was some angst a couple days ago when our Seattle daughter found out that their scheduled flight on Wednesday had been cancelled. She toyed with cancelling the whole thing, but eventually got a night flight to Denver and they arrived about midnight. 

Her worries now are split between Covid and cancelled flights (they are scheduled to fly back to SEATAC on Monday, one of the busiest travel days of the year). And today I see that airlines have cancelled at least 3,000 flights today and tomorrow (Christmas). I am avoiding bringing this up in conversation but assume she knows.

I think I overheard her this morning asking her husband if he could rearrange his schedule in case of a cancelled or delayed flight, so she is already planning her options.

She and family got stuck last time they were here for Christmas, in 2019, due to a snowstorm, and they ended up staying an extra day. This year we are expecting highs in the 50s for Christmas and we haven't had much precipitation around here since September (and none in sight). 

This year's uncertainty stems from lots of airline employees being sick or quarantined due to the rapidly spreading virus and the newish omicron strain. The good news is that this newest variation doesn't seem as nasty as some earlier variations, with the tradeoff being that it spreads WAY faster.

The new year promises to bring more chaos in staffing and hospital overcrowding and general worry and despair... though we may be on to the next crisis by later January (if the experience of South Africa is any indicator). The faster the virus spreads, the faster it burns out (or moves on to a new mutation).

As far as airline disruption is concerned, there are some weather challenges this week but the key factor appears to be staffing. We certainly don't want people who are not feeling well to be welcoming us onto crowded flights or (maybe more crucial) piloting complex planes.

Hospitals and nursing homes are experiencing the same phenomenon, leaving patients with non-Covid needs to hold off procedures and away from normal testing and preventive care. Is there any doubt that we will see all sorts of teachers come down with (I hope) at least mild cases of Covid once kids return to classrooms in another week or so? 

It's one thing to have a few students miss some class (and perhaps get some online help). It's another thing to have the teachers unable to function normally.

And still the country argues about, well, everything. 

"Elf" is loved by most Americans, right? Let's hope such small shared agreements can expand in 2022.

The four grandchildren and their parents will join Kathleen and me in watching that movie this afternoon. It should be fun.

And it is Christmas Eve, after all. Maybe this weekend will be a short truce in the ongoing culture wars.

Wouldn't THAT be a miracle?