![[Valid RSS]](images/valid-rss-rogers.png "Valid RSS")
This is a valid RSS feed.
This feed is valid, but interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 105, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-image">
line 218, column 0: (5 occurrences) [help]
line 226, column 0: (4 occurrences) [help]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" > <channel> <title>The Bipeds' Monitor</title> <atom:link href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com</link> <description>C.E.D.</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:17:26 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator><cloud domain='bipedsmonitor.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' /><image> <url>https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png</url> <title>The Bipeds' Monitor</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com</link> </image> <atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/osd.xml" title="The Bipeds' Monitor" /> <atom:link rel='hub' href='https://bipedsmonitor.com/?pushpress=hub'/> <item> <title>Diary: 3/1/2021</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/03/01/diary-3-1-2021/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/03/01/diary-3-1-2021/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2021 15:54:35 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=844</guid> <description><![CDATA[Another of our friends got their second doses yesterday, and [our son in Texas] is expected to receive his second dose of Novavax in the clinical trial today in Austin. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is beginning to be distributed today. And Marin County’s health official said over the weekend that the statewide MyTurn vaccination scheduling […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Another of our friends got their second doses yesterday, and [our son in Texas] is expected to receive his second dose of Novavax in the clinical trial today in Austin. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is beginning to be distributed today. And Marin County’s health official said over the weekend that the statewide MyTurn vaccination scheduling website is now working for Marin appointments.</p> <p>But things still don’t add up. The J & J distribution will be “uneven” for the near future, Newsom and Blue Shield still haven’t gotten their act together and are not answering questions about the number of doses that will be available in the three-week forecast window we are promised. And as counties like LA add teachers to the list of allowed categories it still looks like getting the shots into arms will take six months to a year at current rates. Doing the math: With the addition of teachers, 3.4 million Angelenos are now eligible, or 6.8 M doses needed. 2.1 M doses have been administered so far. That leaves 4.7 M doses are still needed to cover the new pool. Garcetti announced that they had given 90,000 shots last week for LA city (40% of the county), the high-water mark so far. So that works out to 20 weeks to cover just these people, putting us into August for just this group. My guess is that LA County doesn’t have the capacity for its 60% share, and it’s more like 40 weeks at current rates. As usual, we need to triple the current distribution rates to make a dent. It’s been this way since Inauguration Day.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/03/01/diary-3-1-2021/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>Diary: 2/23/2021</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/23/diary-2-23-2021/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/23/diary-2-23-2021/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2021 17:55:45 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=839</guid> <description><![CDATA[Two small items of note today. California counties still cannot get 3-week predictions (much less promises) of how much vaccine they will be allocated by the state. The distribution process is being transferred to Blue Shield under a contract. The governor says talk to Blue Shield about it, and Blue Shield has no comment. We’re […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Two small items of note today. California counties <strong>still </strong>cannot get 3-week predictions (much less promises) of how much vaccine they will be allocated by the state. The distribution process is being transferred to Blue Shield under a contract. The governor says talk to Blue Shield about it, and Blue Shield has no comment. We’re almost in March. The post-Trump distribution problem is still largely broken, and you cannot blame it on winter storms.</p> <p>And in better news, the FDA announced that long Phase III clinical trials will not be needed for already-approved vaccines that are going to be reformulated to combat new SARS-CoV-2 variants. Instead blind trials involving just hundreds of subjects will be adequate, meaning that “generation 2” vaccines could be available within months of research and development.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/23/diary-2-23-2021/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>Diary: 2/20/2021</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/21/diary-2-20-2021/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/21/diary-2-20-2021/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2021 16:41:50 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=819</guid> <description><![CDATA[After weeks of anxiety and lethargy and cold, often gray weather, this past Wednesday we got the heating system in our house tuned up. Today was a sunny Saturday, still a bit on the cold side, but bright and tinged with green. The daylight hours are now longer (6:30 am to 6 pm) and the […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After weeks of anxiety and lethargy and cold, often gray weather, this past Wednesday we got the heating system in our house tuned up. Today was a sunny Saturday, still a bit on the cold side, but bright and tinged with green. The daylight hours are now longer (6:30 am to 6 pm) and the sun definitely brighter at midday. Everywhere in the small suburban towns I bicycled past, people were out in the cafés. Entering San Rafael’s 4th Street, the first three groups I cycled past on the sidewalk didn’t even bother to wear masks, and of course those in the beer gardens and café parklets didn’t either. It was dreamlike, you could imagine we weren’t still seeing thousands die every day. But with the weather and the green shoots and the weariness who could blame these people?</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9469.jpg"><img data-attachment-id="834" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/21/diary-2-20-2021/img_9469/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9469.jpg" data-orig-size="3024,3024" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_9469" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9469.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9469.jpg?w=809" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9469.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-834" style="width:391px;height:391px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Acacia Silver Wattle</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Shady Lane in Ross was particularly beautiful with the young Prospector elm trees that replaced the diseased elms all putting out baby leaves. Elsewhere, there were abundant camellias, citrus trees overflowing with oranges and lemons, and magnolias and ornamental fruit trees in bloom.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9494.jpg"><img data-attachment-id="828" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/21/diary-2-20-2021/img_9494/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9494.jpg" data-orig-size="1898,3623" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_9494" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9494.jpg?w=157" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9494.jpg?w=536" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9494.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-828" style="width:393px;height:750px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Lark Theater</figcaption></figure></div> <p>I had started painting again the day before, forcing myself back to the canvas, after feeling “why bother?” for six or eight weeks. The exercise was somewhat rewarding, rediscovering the small delights of yellows, oranges, and blue sky pigments. Today was one of my two sons’ birthday. Even though he was out of touch, on a weekend getaway somewhere in deep Oregon, we could imagine he was filled with spring happiness as well. Meanwhile, his older brother was enduring the Texas winter disaster where millions across the state were without water or electricity for days on end in zero-degree weather. His inconvenience in having to boil drinking and cooking water was probably outweighed by the fact that he could share this medieval experience with his girlfriend, the two of them iced in for nearly a week.</p> <p>So now Rachel and I await our second vaccination dose this coming week, hoping that the supply has not been broken. Across California, they are still trying to open schools. Newsom, who seems less and less confident every day, has ordered that 10% of the doses in the state will be allocated to teachers, but at the current delivery rates, that would take an entire year to give them all shots. The teachers union in LA is holding firm on vaccinations being a prerequisite to a return to the campus. And [two of our closest friends, both in the preferred over-70 demographic] are still probing the broken system trying to procure even a first shot. It is not an impressive response by the fractured health care system we have. </p> <p>The promise of higher rates of vaccination is always described as “coming soon,” “by March,” or “by summer.” We will wait and see if the world is any better by the September and October dates of planned weddings and a trip to France. The G-7 is ponying up minimal billions for the purchase of vaccines for the Third World, but it appears as though they just want to do public relations against China and Russia, who are offering real doses now at cost, or for free, to many countries (not just future money). No one expects that the rest of the world will be able to cover their populations for two to three more years, by which time we will probably be seeing a radically new variant of SARS-CoV-2, and we’ll need another 10 billion doses of vaccine to handle it. Just ask Larry Brilliant.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/02/21/diary-2-20-2021/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:thumbnail url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9503.jpg" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9503.jpg" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">img_9503</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9469.jpg" medium="image" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/img_9494.jpg" medium="image" /> </item> <item> <title>Diary 1/29/2021</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/29/diary-1-29-2021/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/29/diary-1-29-2021/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 29 Jan 2021 16:18:31 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=807</guid> <description><![CDATA[Today, January 29, reports from phase 3 trials of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson adenovirus vaccine, and of the two-shot Novavax protein vaccine were published, and both seem effective (both may be more effective than the two-shot AstraZeneca adenovirus vaccine). Nat probably got a dose of the Novavax two days ago. Last night I watched […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today, January 29, reports from phase 3 trials of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson adenovirus vaccine, and of the two-shot Novavax protein vaccine were published, and both seem effective (both may be more effective than the two-shot AstraZeneca adenovirus vaccine). Nat probably got a dose of the Novavax two days ago.</p> <p>Last night I watched the UCSF Virtual Grand Rounds, and Shane Crotty, an immunologist at the La Jolla Institute, presented a lot of background information on the potentially dangerous new virus variants in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil. He was guardedly optimistic that the current formulations of most of the vaccines, together with the resiliency of the human immune response (memory B cells, CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells, and CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells, as well as the wide variety of antibodies that arise from exposures) will still work with fairly good efficiency against these new variants. What stood out to me from his presentation was that the physical binding properties of the spike protein in the virus to the ACE2 and other receptors in the body, are not perfect predictors of which virus variants will prove more transmissible, more infectious, or more deadly. Predictions of which variant will predominate, how fast it will take over, and whether we will see the constant evolutionary emergence of more or less dangerous variants, is still a guessing game.</p> <p>Crotty published a paper in Science: ‘Beyond sterilizing immunity, immune responses that confine SARS-CoV-2 to the URT and oral cavity would minimize COVID-19 disease severity to that of a ‘common cold’ or asymptomatic disease. This outcome is the primary goal of current COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials.’</p> <p>By this fall, we will know a lot more. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/29/diary-1-29-2021/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>Diary: 1/28/2021</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/28/diary-1-28-2021/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/28/diary-1-28-2021/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2021 16:02:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=791</guid> <description><![CDATA[A hopeful prediction from Washington DC in the LA Times for January 22: ‘Fauci provided updates on how scientists are tracking mutations of the virus, and said he hopes to see 70% to 85% of Americans vaccinated by summer’s end. If that happens, he said, “I believe that by the time we get to the […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A hopeful prediction from Washington DC in the LA Times for January 22: ‘Fauci provided updates on how scientists are tracking mutations of the virus, and said <strong>he hopes</strong> to see 70% to 85% of Americans vaccinated by summer’s end. If that happens, he said, “I believe that by the time we get to the fall, we will be approaching a degree of normality. It’s not going to be perfectly normal, but one that I think will take a lot of pressure off the American public.”’</p> <p>Meanwhile in California, they don’t really know how many people have been vaccinated. On the same day: ‘“This vaccine distribution is being jerry-rigged on a famously fragmented health system and underfunded public health infrastructure, which produces inconsistencies county by county and provider by provider but also problems with getting timely data to see how California as a whole is doing,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California and a member of the state’s vaccine advisory committee.’</p> <p>But now it’s January 28, and at least two seniors have gotten the first dose of Moderna vaccine, thanks to the incredible </p> <ul><li>organization (everything at KP has been online for a decade or more so they can predict the numbers they will need–kind of like a universal health care system would), </li><li>planning (setting up cold storage and procuring a large number of doses of vaccine) </li><li>efficiency (“mass” vaccination sites at least a dozen locations within a drive from the Bay Area), and</li><li>generosity (allowing non-KP members like Rachel and former KP members like me to receive no co-pay vaccinations) </li></ul> <p>of Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Apparently KP Southern California does not have the same quantity of vaccine and is to date still limiting access to people 75 and older, even though the state announced on January 14 that 65 was the new cutoff age. But we two are happy, once having passed the anxiety of two days of wondering whether it would really happen.</p> <p>Rachel on Tuesday in San Francisco:</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg"><img data-attachment-id="796" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/28/diary-1-28-2021/img_9466/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg" data-orig-size="4032,3024" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_9466" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg?w=809" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-796" width="445" height="334" srcset="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg?w=445&h=334 445w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg?w=890&h=668 890w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg?w=300&h=225 300w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg?w=768&h=576 768w" sizes="(max-width: 445px) 100vw, 445px" /></a><figcaption>About to be vaccinated in the 2350 Geary tent</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Me on Wednesday in Oakland:</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="798" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/28/diary-1-28-2021/img_9467/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg" data-orig-size="2316,3088" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_9467" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg?w=768" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-798" width="448" height="597" srcset="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg?w=448&h=597 448w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg?w=896&h=1194 896w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg?w=113&h=150 113w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg?w=225&h=300 225w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg?w=768&h=1024 768w" sizes="(max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px" /></a><figcaption>Moonlight Sonata in the 380 West MacArthur observation room</figcaption></figure></div> <p>We are starting to feel more confident about resuming what were going to be our retired lives, being able to visit our children, travel abroad, museums, dinners, tango, art classes, life.</p> <p>And this morning, Newsom’s team finally realized how messed up the distribution was in California and cut a deal with Blue Shield (apparently he has some lobbying contacts with them) to run the distribution to counties and hospitals going forward. From the LA Times: ‘The new statewide vaccine distribution network overseen by Blue Shield will comprise a wide variety of locations at which vaccinations will be administered, including pharmacies, community health centers and temporary pop-up locations.’ We will see in a month whether Blue Shield is up to the task–it sounds daunting in a state as big and far-flung as California.</p> <p>And a final vaccination note, also from the LA Times today. The airline industry (which I have increasingly less empathy for) is asking the WHO to say that passengers with vaccination cards should be able to skip all the quarantining, testing and other requirements for international air travel. Hopefully, WHO will not fall for this pressure without having scientific data indicating that there is a dramatic decline in transmissivity of virus from those who have been vaccinated. Which I hope is the case! </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/28/diary-1-28-2021/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9466.jpg" medium="image" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9467.jpg" medium="image" /> </item> <item> <title>Diary 1/18/2021</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/18/diary-1-18-2021/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/18/diary-1-18-2021/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2021 23:16:36 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=755</guid> <description><![CDATA[Last week I began French language lessons with the Alliance Française de Santa Rosa. My instructor is a très sympa young woman whose family is from the Charente near Bordeaux. I signed up for level A2, and feel pretty comfortable starting at that level. The words will come back, and I hope the pronunciation will […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last week I began French language lessons with the Alliance Française de Santa Rosa. My instructor is a très sympa young woman whose family is from the Charente near Bordeaux. I signed up for level A2, and feel pretty comfortable starting at that level. The words will come back, and I hope the pronunciation will as well. There are two other students in the class who really are A2-ers. </p> <p>Yesterday was a Sunday, and [my Feldenkrais practitioner] called me at 8 am, waking me out of half sleep. She was alerting us to the availability of COVID-19 vaccine through Kaiser Permanente. I held my silence until 8:45 and then woke Rachel, who took about 30 minutes to realize that getting vaccinated was more important than sleep. The next two hours were spent on the phone with Kaiser, at the end of which we both got appointments for next week, in Oakland for mine, and in San Francisco for Rachel’s. This was all due to the fact that after carefully setting up priority groups 1a, 1b, 1c, and 2 (Rachel and I are in 1c), the CDC and the California director of public health gave up after finding that 65% of vaccine doses were not being administered. And so <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/California-opens-vaccinations-to-everyone-65-and-15868157.php">Newsom opened the shots to all of us over 65 on January 13.</a></p> <p>Rachel was so energized by the thought of being released from fear of the virus that she spent the rest of the day spreading the word about the Kaiser vaccinations to a dozen friends, all of whom got appointments within the next three weeks. Only [two friends in Southern California] decided not to run the Kaiser gauntlet, but rather to wait for their doctor to call them when their turn would come.</p> <p>On Saturday out of boredom we had started thinking about a family Christmas in Hawaii, and found that rooms in Poipu, Kauai were already starting to disappear. So on Sunday, after the vaccine rush, we also started vacation planning for 2021 in a serious manner. Rachel booked a suite of rooms at Kiahuna for the week after Christmas, and I started my usual travel research for our September trip to the East Coast for weddings, and to France for walking with [those SoCal friends]. I am still hoping we can visit Provence and Marseille. There’s a drive between the Dordogne and Provence that goes through the Gorges du Tarn, and a château that we could stay at half-way through the gorge. But we will see; Rachel feels anxious about a long vacation, and we now have the “problem” of an additional two weeks of U.S. travel on this trip, due to a Labor Day wedding of [the daughter of a college classmate] in New York.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg"><img loading="lazy" width="363" height="640" data-attachment-id="773" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/img_9449/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg" data-orig-size="363,640" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.6","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 12 mini","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1610983314","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.2","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.025","title":"","orientation":"1","latitude":"37.944038888889","longitude":"-122.55143055556"}" data-image-title="img_9449" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg?w=170" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg?w=363" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg?w=363" alt="Shoes" class="wp-image-773" srcset="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg 363w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg?w=85 85w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg?w=170 170w" sizes="(max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Shoes</figcaption></figure></div> <p>Another pandemic activity: massive housecleaning. We sent 40 pairs of shoes and countless jackets, dresses and other hardly-worn clothing to the Goodwill box.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/18/diary-1-18-2021/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9449.jpg?w=363" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">Shoes</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>Diary 1/6/2021</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/06/diary-1-6-2021/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/06/diary-1-6-2021/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2021 00:54:45 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=765</guid> <description><![CDATA[As Congress started a dreary day of hearing objections by Republican members to all six of the states that Trump assumed he won, a process that was expected to take 18 hours or more, the Capitol was invaded by Proud Boys, QAnon following realtors, and other fanatics, after Trump urged them on during a morning […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As Congress started a dreary day of hearing objections by Republican members to all six of the states that Trump assumed he won, a process that was expected to take 18 hours or more, the Capitol was invaded by Proud Boys, QAnon following realtors, and other fanatics, after Trump urged them on during a morning rally. </p> <p>Rachel and I were at home and just happened to see it all begin on C-SPAN, when there was a request for “order in the House,” followed by Nancy Pelosi being quietly escorted out of the chamber without any announced reason, and then… chaos. The horrible invasion persisted for four hours of looting and hooting, in which five people succumbed. In the evening, some, but not all of the Republican Senators who supported the objections gave way, and after voting down the Arizona objection, Biden and Harris’ electors were duly certified by a stone faced Mike Pence and a happy bunch of Democrats.</p> <p>It was perhaps appropriate that the day before, I crashed Rachel’s car into a mega-truck parked on Magnolia Avenue across from Emporio Rulli. I think it was exhaustion, wine, or espresso taken during the agonizing weeks since November 3rd, when we had nothing on the media besides political craziness, and nothing on the COVID-19 front besides skyrocketing case counts stemming from the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. New case counts in Marin County went from 9 on October 15 to 172 today. What a dreadful and dire situation. </p> <p>Now it’s nearly time for Biden to take office, and the vaccine rollout, broken as it is, is actually happening. </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/06/diary-1-6-2021/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> </item> <item> <title>The End (of 2020)</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/01/the-end-of-2020/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/01/the-end-of-2020/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 02 Jan 2021 01:10:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Art]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=743</guid> <description><![CDATA[It was the last day of a sad year, but my mood was good as I woke early on December 31. We had passed the winter solstice, and although the death toll in California continued to lead the nation, the sun was shining in Marin County. My English art teacher, Paul Foxton, sent out a […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It was the last day of a sad year, but my mood was good as I woke early on December 31. We had passed the winter solstice, and although the death toll in California continued to lead the nation, the sun was shining in Marin County. My English art teacher, Paul Foxton, sent out a message that he would be painting one last time for the year on Facebook and YouTube. So I passed an hour and a half over breakfast and coffee, watching him carefully select colors for a painting of a vase of white and pale orange roses. Rather than obsessively trying to paint along at his pace or taking notes about every color mix or brush stroke, I just watched.</p> <p>At the same time, I nursed some sourdough through its bulk fermentation throughout the day, doing the final knead according to Tartine standards around 3 in the afternoon. The loaves came out better than my attempts last year. Maybe another indicator of normalcy and progress?</p> <p>In the middle of the day, the sun was out bright and shiny over Larkspur, and my wife and I found time to walk into town for our daily walk-up coffee, and then back to the house.</p> <p>Our dinner was quiet after a week of fire-pit evening visits from my son and his girlfriend; for New Year’s Eve, I poured a glass of California rye, and we ate as a couple, indoors, where it was warm.</p> <p>There was a degree of hope on the horizon that we would survive this plague long enough to get our vaccines sometime in the coming year, and that others would too, giving up the anti-mask and anti-vaccine madness under a new government.</p> <p>In the morning of January 1, the dawn was breaking with color.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9422-1.jpg"><img data-attachment-id="752" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/01/the-end-of-2020/img_9422-1/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9422-1.jpg" data-orig-size="4032,2268" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_9422-1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9422-1.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9422-1.jpg?w=809" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9422-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-752" /></a><figcaption>Dawn, January 1, 2021</figcaption></figure>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2021/01/01/the-end-of-2020/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:thumbnail url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9413.jpg" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9413.jpg" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">img_9413</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_9422-1.jpg" medium="image" /> </item> <item> <title>The Second Wave Approaches</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2020/11/30/the-second-wave-approaches/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2020/11/30/the-second-wave-approaches/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2020 23:29:53 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Film]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=732</guid> <description><![CDATA[At the beginning of November, the warnings about the dangers of Americans traveling for the holidays were as dreadful as the hanging-in-the-balance presidential election results and the authoritarian’s evil machinations in battleground states. I started to feel my energy level dissipate. I couldn’t lift weights as easily, my sense of cinematic smell and taste disintegrated […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At the beginning of November, the warnings about the dangers of Americans traveling for the holidays were as dreadful as the hanging-in-the-balance presidential election results and the authoritarian’s evil machinations in battleground states. I started to feel my energy level dissipate. I couldn’t lift weights as easily, my sense of cinematic smell and taste disintegrated to the point where I felt no reason to reach for the Roku remote to pick a film from the eight different streaming services I pay for, and I had lost the impulse to scan <a href="https://cinephobe.tv">cinephobe.tv</a>‘s nightly playlists, that had been an entertaining and bonding experience for me and my eldest son, locked down in Austin, Texas.</p> <p>The weather turned cold, leaves were dropping off the trees in the neighborhood and things seemed more cut-off from possibility than before. My mood was not great and failures like forgetting my brother’s birthday were starting to seep into the routines that had been mostly unchanged since March 13: ordering provisions, going for a daily walk in the four or five streets of the neighborhood, and then quickly retreating back indoors.</p> <p>Besides nightly cozying with my wife to watch Borgen, I kept on with my weekly painting classes (although my focus was coming and going), and waited up on November 6 to finally replace my dying iPhone (which had gone to the point of dropping from 100 to zero in 100 minutes). Finally Thanksgiving itself arrived. Isolated from our children and friends, we still went through the motions of pre-ordering a turkey and other goodies (thanks, Lagunitas Farm Stand), and procuring three or four harder-to-find items with a safe-r run to the Woodlands Market (which I always consider running the virus gauntlet) by going in just before closing time on the eve.</p> <p>The day itself was the warmest of the week. We trundled the carved turkey and other bits to a local playground which was semi-deserted at 2 pm. We walked around the signs that advised that eating food and drink was prohibited, because it implies that your mask is off. Our rationale was to stay 20 feet or more away from anyone else around, eat as fast as possible, then get those masks back on. And so we did.</p> <p>By now Biden had been “ascertained,” and two vaccines were estimated to be a couple of weeks away from initial distribution. On the day before turkey day, I presented my work in art class, and felt a slight burden lifted that I actually had produced work in the last eight months. On the day after turkey day, my wife and I started to make actual travel plans for September 2021, for a nephew’s wedding in Vermont and thence on to rural France, before our knees give out or autonomous systems accelerate their decline.</p> <p>I finally got back into the habit of a movie every other day or so. William Wyler’s perfection of a Henry James story, The Heiress, landed with such an impact that I felt I was watching Hollywood’s golden era for the first time. Angela Schanelec’s I Was at Home, But… was equally impressive and fit the COVID mentality perfectly, where its characters mused about whether there is any point to life or relationships or art or film, or whether we just need to wait and see what our mission will be. Balthasar the donkey has it better in the season of fear.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg"><img loading="lazy" width="984" height="468" data-attachment-id="740" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg" data-orig-size="984,468" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg?w=809" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg?w=984" alt="" class="wp-image-740" srcset="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg 984w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg?w=150 150w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg?w=300 300w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg?w=768 768w" sizes="(max-width: 984px) 100vw, 984px" /></a><figcaption>I Was at Home, But…</figcaption></figure> <p>So now I move to finish the last painting for my “series” class, and email my brother, and buy presents for distantly isolated family and friends, and await the CDC policy committee’s decision on what round of vaccinations I will qualify for (white male, 65-79, no known comorbidities). I’m going to get that shot as soon as I can.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2020/11/30/the-second-wave-approaches/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:thumbnail url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/img_9301.jpg" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/img_9301.jpg" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">img_9301</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/critica08-k4ue-984x46840el-correo.jpg?w=984" medium="image" /> </item> <item> <title>Stay at Home Summer</title> <link>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2020/07/22/stay-at-home-summer/</link> <comments>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2020/07/22/stay-at-home-summer/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Peter Zingg]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2020 22:12:13 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://bipedsmonitor.com/?p=723</guid> <description><![CDATA[It’s past mid-July, one month past the summer solstice, comet Neowise is going past us towards the depths of space, and it’s hard not to experience some melancholia even in the midst of feeling thankful that everyone in our nuclear family strewn across the American West is, so far, healthy, and keeping busy one way […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It’s past mid-July, one month past the summer solstice, comet Neowise is going past us towards the depths of space, and it’s hard not to experience some melancholia even in the midst of feeling thankful that everyone in our nuclear family strewn across the American West is, so far, healthy, and keeping busy one way or another.</p> <p>To change the mood, I found a few new pastimes in July. I made apricot blueberry jam, fresh pasta from farm fresh eggs and Petaluma durum flour, returned to an oil painting class I abandoned last year, and stretched my listening and linguistic skills by taking the first third of a three week dive into the history of cinema in Brazil, taught via Zoom in Spanish.</p> <p>Some of our friends and relatives have high-tailed it to Santa Fe; the Grand Tetons; Lenox, Mass; Block Island; and Mount Desert Island, as they have in past, normal summers. My wife and I are still here, waiting for the vaccine to make it safer to go through airports and public restrooms, and for state and international borders to be open again for visitors from stained, infected California. But there are still things to be learned about the county we live in.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="729" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/img_8204/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg" data-orig-size="2172,2896" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_8204" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg?w=768" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-729" width="582" height="776" srcset="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg?w=582&h=776 582w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg?w=1164&h=1552 1164w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg?w=113&h=150 113w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg?w=225&h=300 225w, https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg?w=768&h=1024 768w" sizes="(max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px" /><figcaption>Downtown Tomales</figcaption></figure> <p>I have semi-adopted the town of Tomales and the farmlands west of Petaluma as a sweet country to visit by car or bicycle a few times a month, when I feel the ennui of a mostly shut down suburbia overtaking my soul. The ocean and Tomales Bay are so near, and getting there you can choose your route past landmark valley oaks and grazing cattle. In town the bakery has set up shop outdoors, and there’s a co-op of local producers who offer meat cheese and produce for pickup once a week. In town (one block long and two blocks wide) are some of the most beautiful California wildflower-inspired front gardens I have ever seen. And around town are lazy esteros on their way to the sea, century-old windbreaks of eucalyptus, and the hills that entranced Christo to build his running fence here.</p> <p>And closer by, there are the more easily accessible arms of Mt. Tamalpais, west, south, east and north, beautiful ridges cloaked in fog and straddled by fire roads wide enough to maintain social distance without masks, or trails mostly to and from nowhere that reduce those awkward mask-donning encounters with strangers in and out of my pod to only one or two. </p> <p>On Tuesday this week, after not having really given it a thought for the 25 years we have lived in our hose, I found that you can walk up quiet residential streets whose only traffic is the occasional Good Eggs bespoke organic grocery delivery truck and find yourself at the wrist of one of these arms. From there you can walk 20 miles if you so desire, and pass fellow refugees from the old, pre-virus life every hour or so. The wild huckleberry brambles that spread between rocky outcrops and third-growth redwood forests are coming into fruit, so you don’t need to pack an energy bar–it’s all there for the picking. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-attachment-id="727" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/img_8454/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8454.jpg" data-orig-size="3024,4032" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_8454" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8454.jpg?w=225" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8454.jpg?w=768" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8454.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-727" /><figcaption>Peak huckleberry</figcaption></figure> <p>The trail comes down and suddenly you find you are on asphalt again, stepping quietly past barking watchdogs, and people working on their gardens, cars, car ports, and house painting, like they do every summer.</p> <p>When night falls, slowly, and the fog returns, the burning twilight seems to last forever. Where is that comet?</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-attachment-id="726" data-permalink="https://bipedsmonitor.com/img_8456/" data-orig-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8456.jpg" data-orig-size="3024,3024" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="img_8456" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8456.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8456.jpg?w=809" src="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8456.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-726" /><figcaption>Northwest sky, just after sunset, July 21, 2020</figcaption></figure>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bipedsmonitor.com/2020/07/22/stay-at-home-summer/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <media:thumbnail url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8245.jpg" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8245.jpg" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">img_8245</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d0b202221fd5b7df5d87ae184821c36be58ea9b20e88f17b999891144d618444?s=96&d=identicon&r=G" medium="image"> <media:title type="html">pzingg</media:title> </media:content> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8204.jpg" medium="image" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8454.jpg" medium="image" /> <media:content url="https://bipedsmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/img_8456.jpg" medium="image" /> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
Download the "valid RSS" banner.
Upload the image to your own server. (This step is important. Please do not link directly to the image on this server.)
Add this HTML to your page (change the image src attribute if necessary):
If you would like to create a text link instead, here is the URL you can use:
http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http%3A//www.bipedsmonitor.com/feed/
