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At the end of 2021, the annual reading of the tea leaves and crystal balls began. In media interviews and countless conversations over the past few weeks, I've been asked how the COVID-19 pandemic will transform our lives in 2022. At this point, it's becoming pretty clear that we are all going to be exposed and potentially infected with the severity determined by our response to vaccines, including the 3rd dose in the mRNA series. If we had enough accurate tests, I'd not be surprised to see over 3 million cases per day or more in the United States.

The European office of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that Europe could hit over 2 million total COVID-19 deaths by March. The WHO said in a statement that the pandemic's cumulative death toll in the European region was projected to reach over 2.2 million by next spring, a number which would include 700,000 more deaths in the coming months. It added that the 53-country region had already surpassed 1.5 million deaths, and noted that COVID-19 is currently the leading cause of death in Europe and central Asia.

Whenever I’m asked what I miss most about youth I answer “the optimism.”Hello May,You seem a bit hesitant to commit this year. Please do, you’re arrival will be as welcome as, well, a breath of fresh airSo stop screwing around and settle in please; we could really use your optimism this year.Springtime, 1921, Penleigh Boyd (1890-1923)Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

INDY 2021 MAY 14-22 Indiana State Fairgrounds 1202 E 38th Street Indianapolis, IN 46205

Green, green everywhere. Spring blooms are here: nascent lime green buds and tufts of emerald green grass—proffering glimpses of God’s enchanting creation—long hidden under snow.On the first day of Spring, my mother—an avid gardener—visited with a big smile and a small box of heirloom Rudbeckia and hollyhock seeds. “Do you have a rake and a watering can? Today would be a great day to plant!” Rain and sun nourished the soil and soon two small leaves pushed through the ground—boldly declaring an intent to become a lofty plant. (Rudbeckia reach 2-to-4 feet in height, depending on the variety, while hollyhocks...

Reports are coming in of strong displays of aurora borealis—the Northern Lights—as a surprisingly strong geomagnetic storm strikes Earth’s magnetic field. “Auroras spilled across the Canadian border into northern-tier US states during an unexpectedly-strong G2-class geomagnetic storm,” said Spaceweather.com, referring to displays late on Friday, March 19 and into Saturday, March 20, 2021. A “G2-class geomagnetic storm” is a moderate solar storm that can bring hours of bright aurora. There could be even more displays coming this Saturday night and beyond.

"Spring... arrive(d) on Saturday morning (March 20) with the occurrence of the vernal equinox. That occurs when the sun will be positioned directly over the Earth's equator at 09:37 Universal Time; 5:37 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time or 2:37 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time." snip "Every year around this time, almost like clockwork, I will get an email from someone who was studying the weather page of his or her newspaper, looking at the section listing the times of sunrise and sunset and noticing that something appears to be wrong."

Despite encouraging national trends in coronavirus-related hospitalizations and cases, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worries that “pandemic fatigue” come spring could significantly hamper the country’s trajectory toward vaccination-induced herd immunity. [cut] “I worry that it will be spring and we will all have had enough,” Walensky told Dr. Howard Bauchner, editor-in-chief of JAMA in an interview Wednesday. “At around that time, I worry that life will feel and look a little bit better and the motivation for those who might be vaccine hesitant will be diminished.”

"In a way Winter is the real Spring - the time when the inner things happen, the resurgence of nature." - Edna O'BrienPosted from: MOTUS A.D.

The British government continues to avoid giving a deadline to the end of England’s third lockdown, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying it is “too early to say” if restrictions could even begin to be lifted by Spring. Asked by the BBC on Thursday whether shutdown could be lifted by the next season, Mr Johnson said: “I think it’s too early to say when we will lift some of the restrictions.”

Why we need art: After Spring Rain under the Tatras - Ladislav Mednyánszky, 1878Because spring, like life, can be sketchy, transient, imperfect and sometimes it rains.Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

Researchers tracking smartphone data say they recently made a disturbing discovery: For the first time since states began implementing stay-at-home orders in mid-March to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, Americans are staying home less. The nationwide shift during the week of April 13 was relatively slight. However, any loss of momentum, particularly when stay-in-place orders remain in effect across most of the country, has some public health experts worried about "quarantine fatigue." Any increase in travel, they say, is premature when staying home remains the most effective way to limit the spread of the virus until widespread testing...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a stop to major sports with increasing concerns for whether or not the 2020 college football season will start on time. As coaches and college administrators continue to navigate their way through an unprecedented time, there is reportedly talk about moving the upcoming season into 2021.According to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, one possibility being discussed around the NCAA is playing the season in spring 2021. The idea, which has reportedly been talked about by coaches and administrators, would allow teams more time to prepare for a potential season.  The University of Oklahoma announced Friday that it is suspending in-person activities...

There is no doubt spring is the most delicious time for outdoors enthusiasts. Even though many businesses and activities are closed, the outdoors is always open. Spawning crappies and walleyes provide succulent, white fillets. Turkey season can reward hunters with some of the tastiest wild game Mother Nature can offer. But perhaps the most valued delicacy this time of year are morel mushrooms. All of these activities also lend themselves perfectly for social distancing. They pop up almost overnight, their succulent fruiting bodies protruding above the forest floor. Although their life is short lived, throngs of probing Hoosiers anticipate this...

It's probably a little early to say for sure, but based on what's happening now, it almost seems like a long dark winter is finally lifting. You can see it going on all around the world. First, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin is hanging on. He's still in the hospital, still in intensive care, but based on the reports seen, he's not getting worse. He's still not on the ventilator. The latest is a confirmation from No. 10 that he doesn't have pneumonia. No news is good news. He's got someone running the place while he fights. Everyone of decency in...

Foreign-born researchers working for U.S. agencies were secretly on China’s payroll, signing side agreements to send sensitive research to that country as part of a recruitment operation called the Thousand Talents Plan, a Senate report found. 10,000 Chinese nationals in 2018 conducted research in the Department of Energy’s National Labs, and one even had colleagues write him letters of recommendation to the Communist Party-run recruitment program, the bipartisan report stated. Agencies like NIH do not even track attempted foreign influence, the Department of State denies only 5% of suspicious visas, and the FBI shut down a key program, according to...

Editor's note: Timothy Craig Allen co-authored this column.Everyone desperately hopes that the coronavirus will recede as spring arrives. Of the seven pre-existing coronaviruses that afflict humans, at least four are seasonal. This is also true of most strands of the common flu, as the low humidity in the winter helps viruses to thrive. How COVID-19 will respond isn’t known yet. It was only discovered in late December, but there is already some statistical evidence indicating that warm weather will inhibit its spread. There is also evidence that countries with travel restrictions have experienced lower death rates. Usually, the weather starts...

They’re gonna fight for their right to party. Thousands of American college students refuse to let the pesky coronavirus pandemic get in the way of their annual pilgrimage to Florida for spring break. Ignoring repeated warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization about the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus, the masses showed up in Miami — only to find their good times hijacked by safety measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus that are taking effect. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the closure of all bars and nightclubs in the state for...

It’s a pollen-pocalypse. Stunning aerial photos show a haze of pollen so thick over Durham, North Carolina, it turned the sky yellow this week — as doctors in the region have reported an uptick in patients complaining about their allergy symptoms. “In April in North Carolina we have an overlap for a couple weeks where we have pretty high counts of tree and then grass also gets started,” Heather Gutekunst, a doctor with Allergy Partners of Raleigh, told ABC 11. “So when we see that, if you are allergic to both, we tend to see an escalation in symptoms.”

The spring allergy season is hitting much of the country especially hard — and researchers are blaming climate change for more intense pollen counts. There's been a spike in the number of people suffering seasonal allergies, also called hay fever or allergic rhinitis, for the first time, and people in the northwest and southwest are getting the worst of it, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.