Man, since the last journal I posted it feels like I've blinked twice and now here we are.

Working in a hospital (the first to receive a covid patient on the west coast even) gave me a front row seat to watching covid unfold into a pandemic and then into a highly unpleasant era of our lives. It's funny thinking about how one of my co-workers was admonished by a supervisor for wearing a mask in the halls back in April, and now we're all rocking face shields and N95's. It's been an arduous process getting to where we are, but I'm finally feeling some optimism about the future, both in my country and abroad.

I'll be honest, I actually preferred being deployed over this. At least deployments have fairly solid end-dates, and people generally didn't consider the enemy to be a hoax, lol.

I hope everyone is hanging in there ok. Keep in touch with your friends and family as best you can, and try to be extra considerate toward the people you love who are suffering from anxiety or depression. It's going to be hitting them hard, but they've made it this far so don't give up on them.

That includes yourself. <3