Week 8 of Coronavirus 'Staycation'

In the news:

"Houses of worship have become the latest coronavirus battleground in the United States.

President Donald Trump declared them "essential" on Friday, calling for them to reopen "right now" and threatening to override governors who resist.

All 50 US states have taken steps to ease lockdown restrictions. But some states still ban large gatherings, including religious services, as the coronavirus death toll approaches 100,000.

Several Covid-19 clusters have been linked to places of worship. When a person who later learned they had the virus attended a California religious service two weeks ago, 180 other people were exposed to coronavirus.

Much like stay-at-home orders and mandatory face masks, the issue has deeply divided Americans. The Interfaith Alliance and the Council on American-Islamic Relations criticized Trump's calls and advised against holding services. The Southern Baptist Convention, however, said they were "pleased" with the President's announcement.

Europe has exercised more caution when reopening religious services. French and Italian authorities allowed them to resume this week for the first time in months. But strict rules are in place. Masks and hand sanitizers are mandatory and seats have to be placed at a safe distance from each other. Meanwhile, Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid al-FItr. The religious holiday will be a somber affair this year, just like the month that preceded it." {CNN.com}

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My thoughts:

I am pleased to say our governor has announced that our state will be reopening soon! I'm hoping in that time, we will be able to catch up with friends, see close family and rekindle relationships with everyone else that the Coronavirus may have affected. Getting some more toilet paper may be nice as well! As my school doesn't have classes on Fridays and Monday {today} is Memorial Day, we decided to go to our house in Maine.

^^This is the view we get from the deck^^

We really enjoy gardening, canoeing and eating out at our vacation house. We spent a few hours on Saturday gardening our rock garden outside the house, and we even got to go canoeing on Sunday! Unfortunately, we won't be able to eat at our favourite diner, but hopefully we'll be back and able to do so soon!

While we were canoeing yesterday, we lucked out and saw a few seals! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any good pictures of them, but it was really cool seeing them just hanging out and looking at us!

Thanks for joining me today, and Happy Memorial Day! Remember, I post Mondays and Fridays, now. Make sure to stay safe, stay connected, and have a great week!