Shelter in Place, San Francisco, December 15, 2020

This is me, walking along Dolores Street, an avenue known for the magnificent, tall palm trees that line its median strip. How happy I am to be walking again - a few blocks at a time and, I admit, not without a little pain - but out and about and glad to be beneath these beautiful trees I crane my neck to see.

I think I am still feeling the effects of yesterday’s good news: the first vaccines were delivered and applied the very same day that the Electoral College rescued our democracy. That’s a lot for a single day. After all these months - even with a stormy sky, even in these empty streets, even though I know not to expect too much - I am feeling hopeful. Things are looking up.