In California when we talk about “The Big One” we mean only one thing: the overwhelming displacement of the San Andreas Fault that will reshape Southern California. Epidemiologists talk about a different kind of earthquake. When they talk about “The Big One” they mean a sweeping pandemic that will reshape humanity. The sources I’ve seen agree on two things. It’s not a matter of if, but when. And it will probably be the flu.

By now you may have seen some of the accounts by people who feel ill for months after having COVID-19, often referred to as “long haulers.” This week the recognition of COVID’s long-term effects has gone mainstream, with articles in the August 21 edition of the MMWR (CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), the August 20 Wall Street Journal, and the August 21 Johns Hopkins Newsletter. Ironically, one of the problems long haulers have is getting medical authorities to believe them.

If you long for the good old days, go to the back section of your newspaper (digital or paper) and check out the horoscopes and advice columns. Today in the Orange County Register, Dear Abby has advice for a wife frustrated with her mother-in-law, while Heloise has a tip on recycling jars. Dear Amy in the L.A. Times fields a touchy question on dinner party introductions.

Last week I heard from my sponsored student in southern India, near Chennai. I am so proud of her. We’ve been corresponding for eleven years now and she just finished her first year of college.

On Monday, August 10, the NIH announced that they are looking for volunteers to test two monoclonal antibodies that are about to enter phase-three clinical trials. (1) With this technology so close, it’s a good time to take a look at the history of monoclonal antibodies and how they might be used in the management of COVID-19.

Sunday night we saw a very different production of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. I’m not very familiar with this play, but I’m reasonably sure that it’s never before been performed live on Zoom. What an engaging and lively performance it was!

If you are contemplating a road trip this year, my best advice is to expect things to be different. For example, I haven’t seen any restaurant so far that offers indoor dining. They’re either closed completely or open for take out only during restricted hours. This morning we took the 180 west from Grant Grove in Kings Canyon, thinking we would stop in Fresno for breakfast. But our GPS took us past Fresno on to the 41 north without spotting a single coffee shop.