Covid 19 seemed like precisely what Laurie Garrett warned about in "The Coming Plague".  Having returned from Cambodia through Shanghai in December of 2019, I felt connected to the pandemic as it arose. First slowly, then very rapidly as the USA abandoned science for folly. 

Since I spent most of the summer in the field and the wheat did not know of any human disease, my research continued much the same as usual. I already planned to retire at the end of the year, so this last field season was bittersweet. 

However, as an extrovert, I missed frequent social interactions with friends, but my wife, an introvert, was more than happy to cocoon at home. Our local Indian restaurant provided take away, so we ate well, and drank well.

After the last of the wheat and barley had been harvested and selections replanted for the next year (for my replacement), I set about cleaning my office out, going though mountains of paper, course materials, books and the accumulation of 30 years at Utah State University. 

We had video chats with our daughters and granddaughters to keep us feeling closer to them as they navigated their own lives. New Zealand shut their borders to keep their citizens safe, and used the best science practices to provide perhaps one of the only safe havens in the world. 

The cats were happy we were home more and they were happy to sit on laps or collect the solar heat.

When the vaccines were ready, we happily took advantage of the tremendous amount of work and the advances in technology that had allowed such a rapid development. We avoided Covid for 2 years by following best practices, isolating, and limiting social gatherings.

The year was almost over and the ground was blanketed with snow. We had high hopes for the next year and the transition to retirement. 

Our biggest anticipation was when New Zealand would open their borders, after vaccinating their own population.