A crazy series of events happened in August, or 葉落ち月, the Month of Falling Leaves, in Japan. Not sure why it's called that in Japan (Autumn comes really early there) but it certainly wasn't a month for falling temperatures in California, falling stock prices, falling real estate prices, or falling Covid infection rates across the U.S. There was a huge breakout around college campuses as college students moved into their dorms, and as one would expect with college students being eager and giddy to meet their future friends-for-life (FFL) or members of the opposite gender, Covid naturally ran rampant, especially at UNC-Chapel Hill. The stock market had a historic August (something it's done before in my 3 years of investing experience) followed by a bad September historically, but that gets kind of skewed by nature of being an election year, the theory being stocks run up into a November election then sell off, and maybe different this time due to historically low interest rates and a Federal Reserve that seems totally behind the stock market.
September figures to be a long month (長月) too, as with October, essentially 2 long months of election coverage and buildup before the election, which might be a protracted process this year and not the "Election Night" determination we're used to due to mail-in votes. 2016 was a pretty bleak night for Hilary supporters and anti-Trump America, but it was a fascinating exhibition on how the swing states determine the election and how the votes shake out, and in that sense it was similar to a football game/ sports contest (we don't want the country to treat arguing politics like a sports game, but electoral college math is interesting) where the guaranteed blue states came in early on the East Coast, those states were decided easily lifting the Democrats to an early lead, but then states like Virginia and North Carolina that were presumed to be going blue were locked in a close contest as Hilary supporters started getting nervous but not necessary worried as they were the favorite; I remember a group text where some friends stated that Hilary just needed to "hold on to Virginia" and then take the Midwestern states and she would be OK........then the big hammer was Hilary losing Ohio, one of the bellweather states of any election, then Florida fell, and.......it was only a matter of time after that (as the Chinese saying goes, the water fell and the rocks showed themselves), the result was obvious, and only a matter of time until Clinton had to make a concession speech to Donald Trump.
September and October is normally a great time to travel as MJ and I did on our honeymoon 3 years ago especially this year to escape the political divisions and election coverage (every single ad on Youtube either is strongly opposed to or strongly in favor of Biden/ Trump) but also because kids are in school and it's low tide for vacations and travel destinations, and the weather cools down from the dog days of summer. This year is an obvious no-no because of Covid and the fact that MJ is one of the "kids in school" (we hope to travel in November/ December during the break if at all possible!) but one of the factors making time progress so weirdly this year (March seems like forever ago but also just happened) is that we're stuck at home almost every single day of the year. Pre-pandemic when I woke up, I usually go to work, which can be a 20-minute commute or a 5-hour commute (if I'm traveling to a different city of the week). Nowadays for work I wake up, and within 1 minute I've used the rest room, washed my hands (important nowadays!) and logged into my computer right after to start the work day. "Sounds ideal!" My pre-pandemic self would say after years of slogging through LA traffic or hustling and scrambling to work in order to barely make it on time, no time wasted! But part of me actually misses that hustle and bustle, of walking out the door into the unknown (sounds like a Disney song) every day and facing the world head-on, that adrenaline rush of whether or not I'm going to make it in time or not, to feeling like I'm alive working in a city. I even feel a little more professional (even though it's just a facade) wearing business casual and putting on fancy shoes, and (gasp!) pants. I don't even need to wear pants nowadays at home, but I am just spending my life between 2 or 3 rooms (I've gotten really accustomed to my restroom and consider it as a stimulating experience each time I go in there). I always tell MJ I'm a dog person, and I need to be outside and breathe the fresh air (after I take off my mask that makes the outside smell bad). I'm relegated to imagining what my last months of freedom (before possibly starting a family) would be like if I could go on a wild adventure for weeks on end, without worrying about anything at home, and discovering so many possibilities and inspirations. (I realize some of this is fueled by advertising and the pyramid scheme of travel). But MJ and I do have so many plans to go to Paris, Denmark, Iceland, back to Korea, etc.....all suspended due to Covid-19.
I'm resigned to the fact I'll still be working at home for the foreseeable future, at least until September ends. So please, wake me up from the doldrums of this pandemic when the pandemic ends.
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