Everything that has a Beginning has an Ending.

 

NASA said that its InSight Mars mission has ended.  The robotic spacecraft after a more than six-month journey landed on Mars, Nov. 26, 2018. Since then, InSight has been studying the planet's interior and seismic activity.  It detected more than 1,300 quakes with a 4.7 quake that shook the planet for six hours. On De. 21, 2022 NASA announced that two attempts to contact the spacecraft failed, likely because its batteries had lost power after dust accumulated on its solar panels and the rover fell silent thus its mission has ended.

This blog was a byproduct of a mission to transport the car of my friend the late Milos from Florida to his son in San Francisco.  My son John decided that it was risky to me to drive alone so we drove the three thousand miles together.  From San Francisco we returned to Chicago ( 2000 miles) by train and then by bus (400 miles) to Columbus, Ohio for a total of 5,000 miles.  My intend at that time was to stop posting but on advice of a friend, I continue posting mostly on my travels.

The most memorable posts were from an epic journey when together with my brother and two friends brought a sailboat from Spain to Greece a 1,400 nautical miles journey. It was our Odyssey and I described it as such on posts from Aug.15, 2015 to July 16, 2016. 

In the past 10 years, I uploaded 228 posts in my blog Cross Country Chronicles but as Jack Kornfield said in his Buddha book "everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well" 

There are many individuals from my immediate family, and those who love and care about me who encouraged and inspired me to write.  I want to thank and express my gratitude to seventy thousand plus individuals who followed my musings. I wish them all a good a pleasant trip in their lives. 

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico's victory at the battle of the Puebla on May 5, 1862.   The victory of the smaller Mexican army against the larger French forces was a boost to the morale of the Mexicans. The city of Puebla marks the event with an arts festival,  with exhibits of local cuisine and with re-enactments of the battle.

The day is mostly celebrated in the United States and is associated with Mexican culture.

Cinco de Mayo celebrations began in California where have been observed annually since 1863.

Cinco de Mayo is often mistaken for Mexico's Independence Day which is celebrated on September 16th.   It was in 1810 Miguel Hildago, a Spanish Catholic priest gave his famous speech Grito de Dolores and initiated Mexico's revolt that lasted till 1821 when Mexico obtained its independence from Spain.

2013-2021; a Travelogue

In the past 7 years, I uploaded 202 posts in my blog Cross Country Chronicles.  As this is the first post of 2021 and maybe the final of this series that started with a trip, I took with my son John, from Orlando to San Francisco to Chicago and on to our starting point Columbus, Ohio.  Also, it included among others the remarkable crossing from Spain to Greece on my brother Nikos 29-foot sailboat Okyrhoe.  The trip from Florida to California and back to Ohio is described in 55 posts in January and February 2014.

The trip from Spain to Greece is described in 23 posts from August 2015 to July 2016.  There are many individuals from my immediate family, and those who love and care about me, to friends I love dearly, to professional associates at places where I lived and worked, and all those who encouraged and inspired me to write.  I want to thank and express my gratitude to all and wish them a good a pleasant trip in their lives.  The pictures in this post are from Porto Rafti, the beautiful little bay, I have made my domicile while in Greece.

                                                                       The three pictures in this post were taken by my brother-in-law Kostas Fotos.

Corona Virus Pandemic; a Review and Perspective

May 1^st is a traditional spring holiday in many European countries. This year’s May 1^st is different than any in my memory because the corona virus pandemic is in the minds of most people in the world. (Photo of Porto Rafti, Greece)  

Since its beginning in December 2019, in Wuhan city in Hubei province of China, nearly 3,450,000 cases and 250,000 deaths due to Corona virus have been reported in 210 countries.  During this period, confirmed cases in select countries, are as listed in round numbers; U.S. 1,100,000, Spain 250,000, Italy 210,000, UK 180,000, France 170,000, Germany 165,000, China 84,000, Netherlands 40,000, Sweden 22,000, Ireland 21,000, Austria 16,000, Japan 14,300, S. Korea 10,800, Greece 2,600, and Taiwan 432.(Wuhan and Yangtze river) 

During the same time the deaths per million of inhabitants in the above-mentioned countries are: Spain 532, Italy 467, UK 409, France 364, Holland 267, Sweden 260, Ireland 240, USA 194, Germany 80, Austria 41, Greece 14, S. Korea 5 and Japan 3 and Taiwan 0.3.  Interestingly, while China enacted strict quarantine of the 60 million inhabitants of the Hubei province, Japan let individuals and businesses continue as in pre Covid-19 period but instituted lockdown when the cases spiked.  S. Korea instituted extensive testing early and reported no new cases as of yesterday.  Sweden also allowed its citizens continue their lives and businesses as in the pre Covid-19 epoch with minor exceptions such as not permiting gatherings of more than 50 people.  The vast majority of the remaining countries enacted lockdown schemes of different severity.  

There is no doubt that the total number of individuals infected maybe 10 times higher to the reported due to the large number of asymptomatic patients and also because the tests have a false negative rate as high as 30%.  Mortality statistics from France show deaths 30% in excess of normal levels, over the same time period.  

The Covid-19 shutdowns and lockdowns have been based on the premise that the disease would kill 240,000 million Americans or up to 2 million as the Imperial College of London predicted.  Some models predicted death rates as high as 1-3% while the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated a death rate as high as 3.4%. 

Thee newer studies though refute these dire predictions.  The study from Stanford University tested 3,300 individuals for presence of antibodies in their blood that would show if they had previously been infected with the novel coronavirus.

The researchers found that between 2.5% and 4.2% of individuals tested had antibodies against the virus. That translated into 50 to 85 times higher number of  infections comparing to the known cases.  This suggests that the large majority of people who are infected by the corona virus remain asymptomatic. The authors also estimated that the death rate due to the Covid-19 is somewhere in the range of 0.12% to 0.2%.

A study from China that was published in BMJ found that 130 of 166 new infections (78%) were asymptomatic.  

A study from New York published in the NEJM examined 215 women entering two hospitals to give birth. Of expectant mothers who tested positive for active infections, 88% were asymptomatic at the time of admission.

If the findings of the three studies are true one may wonder why do we lockdown, if the disease is so widely spread and has infected large number of people worldwide.  

The IHME of the University of Washington projected 82,141 deaths from Corona virus in the U.S. by August 4, 2020. While the CDC estimates that in 2019-2020 season in the U.S. which just ended, there were 39 to 56 million flu cases and 24,000-62,000 deaths.

The more I look at the number of confirmed cases and deaths due to the pandemic the more I realise that certain unique patterns from different countries begin to evolve.  I think we should all learn from the Swedish, S Korean and especially Taiwanese experiences.  The deaths per million of inhabitants in Sweden are 260, in S Korea’s are 5, while Taiwan’s is a mere 0.3 per million.  It is axiomatic that we study how Taiwan’s tamed Covid-19, with sound hygienic practices like wearing masks and/or avoiding congested places, washing our hands and coughing or sneezing into our elbows and the most important early diagnosis of an impeding endemic. If more countries can replicate those, we can achieve death rates as low as that of Taiwan while waiting for a vaccine and/or drugs against the virus to be developed.

Ode to the Fathers

Throughout history, humans have been concerned with discovering the best way to raise their children. Although the influence and love of mothers for their children has received the majority of attention, it is clear to me that dads matter as much as moms do.  Fathers’ respective parenting styles influence their children’s social and sexual orientation, self-control, self-esteem, empathy, altruism, and moral reasoning.  My belief is based on personal experience, both as a child and later as a father, and also numerous examples from art and history.  A notable example from the world of art is the sculpture “The Death of Laocoon,” which stands in the Vatican. It depicts the agony of a father as he attempts to save his sons and himself from two giant sea serpents, which were sent by Athena or Poseidon to punish him. 

Sparta’s warrior society was centered on loyalty to the state. Spartan boys were drafted at age 7 and practiced rigorous military education that emphasized duty, discipline and endurance. They stayed in the military until age 30 and were discouraged from getting married. If they did, they had to live separately from their wives—residing in the barracks with their fellow soldiers.  When Spartan men departed for battle, Spartan mothers and wives presented them with their shields and told them “η ταν η επι τας,» which translates as “come back with your shield, or on it.” In other words, do not surrender.

My parents raised their children lovingly. They taught us to love, care, and to serve one another.  They believed that successful families are established and maintained on principles of love, compassion and work.  My father did not take us on vacation, as he did not take a day off during his forty years of practice.  We knew that he was working hard to support us all. My parents’ unwavering commitment to family life provided stability and made us feel secure and protected.  Their model provided by their lifestyle and principles was the best gift that any human could have given us. In the picture, my father shows his love for his grandson—the same way I do. 

When I was growing up we lived in humble homes, complete with small gardens that were used to grow flowers and herbs, such as oregano, thyme, and basil.  To this day, I am overcome with emotion as I recall the familiar aroma of the lemon trees that grew alongside me in my beloved Athenian neighborhood.  Since cars were rare commodities at the time, our street served as a glorious soccer field—hosting innumerable unstructured, fiercely contested “backyard games.” 

In this picture, my brother can be seen playing soccer with his two sons (in the middle), and a friend and his son.

I visited El Capitan at the Yosemite National Park in California with my four children in the year 2002.  I am fortunate to have good children who have grown up to be compassionate, caring for one another and for the people around them.  I do not know if this was due my parenting style or because of their genes.  I followed my father’s example as I also believe that successful families are established on the principles of love, compassion and work.  I tried to lead by example instead of being disciplinarian and/or setting high expectations.  After all I am an Athenian and not a Spartan!