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OBSERVATIONS
December 3, 2020 |
 |
 Wingate Lassiter |
Clear signals that the coronavirus
outbreak is getting worse, not better
As I walked into Town Hall Tuesday evening to attend the monthly meeting of the Smithfield Town Council, Police Chief Keith Powell stopped me to check my temperature. I "passed," so to speak, so I was allowed to enter the Council Chamber.
That was something new. Council meetings have been open to the public without temperature checks since early last summer --- with face masks and social distancing required, of course. Tuesday's temperature check showed a new level of concern among local officials about the recent spike in coronavirus cases here as elsewhere across the nation.
Further evidence of heightened concern came with the notice of next Monday's sessions of the Johnston County Board of Commissioners. In recent months those meetings have been open to the public held in large spaces including the Agricultural Center's auditorium and the main courtroom inside the Courthouse where social distancing was practiced (and masks required).
Next week's sessions will return to the second-floor meeting room of the Public Library Downtown where they were held last spring when COVID-19 arrived here. Only commissioners and staff members taking turns at a podium will be allowed. The rest of us --- the public and the "press" --- will have to observe the proceedings through the county's online Facebook page as we did before.
Our local officials have shown no willingness to enact public coronavirus rules backed up by local law-enforcement agencies, as the Governor and state health leaders have recommended. That may have to come later if things continue to get worse out there.
In the meantime, local leaders are reminding us that it's too soon to let our guard down regarding the pandemic. Let's "tough it out" a while longer to make our communities safer sooner rather than later.
What a way to end Thanksgiving 2020!
There are two strands of North Carolina beaches where you can watch the sun rise and set over the ocean: the so-called "Crystal Coast" between Atlantic Beach and Emerald Isle, and the Brunswick County beaches between Southport and Calabash. Both strands face south rather than east, thereby producing sunrises and sunsets over the water as the sun "migrates" southward for the winter.
We were fortunate to spend a few days at Thanksgiving for a small family gathering on one of those stretches: what used to be known as Long Beach, today re-branded as Oak Island.
Watching sunsets down there this time of year is a treat, and each day's occurrence is different, depending on cloud conditions. As we watched the sun go down on Thanksgiving Day, unfolding before us was a light show that changed almost every minute, and continued for half an hour after the sun slipped below the horizon.
Here's a sampling of numerous photos I took as the sky kept changing. They really don't do the scene justice, but I'm posting them anyway as a memento of a Thanksgiving season like none other we've experienced....
HERE'S A "BONUS" SHOT TAKEN THE FOLLOWING EVENING:
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