Chanukah in Isolation

Massachusetts continues to hover around 5k new cases daily. Our town has been sending urgent texts and other alerts imploring us to stay home, wear masks, etc. Nevertheless there is still pressure to gather.

It's Chanukah this week. Usually we would get together with my parents and my sister at least once to light candles together, but this year we are just getting together on Zoom. It's tough, particularly for the kids, but it just isn't a time to take any extra risks with anyone's health or safety.

For reasons I can't fathom, our governor continues to resist adding restrictions. Our town, meanwhile has closed just about everything except the schools - as if somehow teachers and students are immune, but librarians and town clerks are not. Today some neighboring cities and towns announced that they were taking action on their own despite the state's inaction, I can only hope that our town will follow suit.

My kids remain in remote schooling despite the town's hybrid opening. It is going pretty well. For the time being, my son is continuing to receive in-person IEP services, but if things continue to get worse we may need to reevaluate that as well.

Some good things happened in the last day or two. The vaccine started rolling out to healthcare workers - it will be many months before it's our turn for it, but at least there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. And the electoral college voted, confirming Biden's victory and getting us one more step closer to showing 45 the door.

Through it all, the Chanukah candles bring some much-needed warmth and comfort. I enjoy the quiet and simple ritual of lighting candles and singing a couple of ancient blessings.