If Thanksgiving in present-day California were a remake of the 1987 film classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles (considered by some to be “the ultimate Thanksgiving movie”) it would have the running time of a three-minute egg as far as travel is concerned.
The Golden State doesn’t want its subjects taking the former two modes of transportation (planes and trains) this week, nor does it relish the prospect of millions of Californians taking to their cars in search of family, friends and food—spreading both holiday warmth and, heaven forbid, more of the virus causing COVID-19 (last week’s report of more than 10,000 new cases a day constituting an all-time high).
If the point of the 1987 movie was the comedic-emotional plight of one man trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving, California’s 2020 reboot is all about keeping people at home, with precious few visitors.
Thus we have California governor Gavin Newsom announcing, a week before the holiday, a “limited” but mandatory stay-at-home order and overnight curfew in the most COVID-stricken portions of the state. It didn’t take long for a few sheriffs in California’s more conservative-minded Central Valley to inform reporters that they have no intention of enforcing the curfew, which runs daily from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. through December 21.
So this year, amidst a new pandemic wave, wave goodbye to multifamily gatherings and nonfamilial “Friendsgivings.” This year’s California is a celebration of the family “pod”—a downsized affair meant to prevent holiday spreads from becoming “spreader” events.
To settle any confusion you may have: the government in Sacramento can’t keep you from leaving your residence, if you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving outside your home.
The direst Purple (Tier 1) restrictions, which presently apply to about 95% of California’s population (it kicks in when a county has more than seven cases per 100,000 residents, or when more than 8% of tests in a week report positive), have closed many a “nonessential” indoor business operation across the Golden State.
Otherwise, the state offers lifestyle recommendations, not mandates (“limit time that an individual is at the business or activity”; “limit time of exposure”; “limit mixing of people from different households”; “limit amount of physical interactions of visitors/patrons”).
A year ago, in this same space, I wrote about California as a land of Thanksgiving contrasts—a major of producer of pumpkins and sweet potatoes, and home to the sort of holiday fun that chillier climes don’t allow (at last report, for example, Surfin’ Santa returns to San Diego next week).
Those contrasts exist differently in 2020: this is year state officials called for outdoor gatherings only, no more than two hours in duration, and with at most three families involved (Los Angeles County ballparks that at no more than 15 people in attendance).
Seeing as it won’t be a “traditional” California Thanksgiving (some fun-run “turkey trots” were scrapped while others live on), maybe it’s time we focused less on life’s inconveniences and more on reasons for gratitude. It is the holiday of “giving thanks,” after all.
In no way is this meant to diminish the genuine pain and suffering my fellow Californians have endured (the Golden State has now surpassed one million COVID-19 cases and 18,000 fatalities). But as we grieve, we still can be grateful for blessings that come in unusual forms.
Those would include:
Zoom. Sure, we all like to take shots at the San Jose–based video conferencing giant for our dependence upon the service. But as the firm would have us believe, it also “deliver[s] happiness.”
Here, I’m thinking of my sister. She lives just outside Charleston, South Carolina—minutes from one set of grandsons, three hours away from a second duo in upstate Greenville. At present, COVID and distance have her pining for her beloved boys this holiday (two of the Charleston toddlers were possibly exposed to COVID-19 at their charter school, so their immediate family is under quarantine).
Her salvation: Zoom calls (with honorable mention for Apple’s FaceTime and Skype). The technology has kept her connected, as it has for millions in this country and around the globe who otherwise would have been deprived the substitutions for physical contact—the sounds of a voice, the look of an eye—that make the longing a little less painful.
Biotech. The Golden State prides itself as the birthplace of biotechnology, even if the two most promising COVID vaccines come from operations located elsewhere in the United States (those would be New York–based Pfizer and Massachusetts-based Moderna, both of whom have produced vaccines that appear nearly 95% effective in clinical trials and that could be available as soon as the year’s end).
But earlier in the year, it was a California biotech concern making news. In May, San Diego–based Sorrento Therapeutics revealed the discovery of the STI-1499 antibody that potentially could shield the human body from COVID and force it from an individual’s system within days.
As you look around the family table, keep in mind what California medical science has meant for life and longevity. That includes cardiovascular breakthroughs (the first open-heart surgery in the American West occurred at UCLA in 1956) and researchers at UCSD testing repurposed drugs for their ability to mitigate COVID.
Speaking of San Diego, don’t forget to thank the late Jonas Salk for both his polio vaccine and his late-life efforts to find an AIDS vaccine. Without him, your kids might not be running around in the yard as they await their holiday meal.
(Non-Turkey) Binging. After dinner, there’s family time, though the state frowns upon indoor singing these days. Your possible salvation: Netflix, the Los Gatos–based content provider.
Had I visited my sister this Thanksgiving (the aforementioned COVID scare kept us apart this holiday), we would have set aside some time to binge-watch the new season of The Crown.
Given that the new set of episodes pursues the unraveling of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer’s fairytale marriage, one wonders if it will be airing in the Montecito estate of one of the two products of that unhappy union, California transplant Prince Harry (ironically, Harry and his bride, Meghan Markle, climbing the ranks of the Golden State’s wealthy royalty after signing a development deal with Netflix reportedly worth $100 million).
To Our Turkeys in Sacramento. Finally, as you give thanks, don’t forget to also say a prayer for California’s elected leaders—a prayer that they start setting a better example.
That begins with California’s governor, who saw fit to advise his constituents not to travel afar or gather in large groups, only to journey from Sacramento to Napa and the exclusive French Laundry restaurant and an indoor table of 12 (the nine-course dinner will set you back at least $350 a plate, not including wine).
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, like Newsom a San Francisco mayor in her earlier political life, last week was spotted walking sans mask through a Senate corridor (coincidentally, this occurred at roughly the same time news broke that her fellow 87-year-old colleague, Iowa senator Charles Grassley, had tested positive for COVID).
And there was April’s nationally televised spectacle of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (a few months ago, seen without a mask in a San Francisco hair salon at a time when such indoor services weren’t legally allowed), standing in front of a $6,000 Wolf refrigerator in the kitchen of her Pacific Heights mansion, showcasing a pricey freezer packed with overpriced ice cream ($12 a pint).
By the way, some top California Republicans likewise are guilty of hypocrisy and double standards. Last week, we learned that eight state lawmakers—three of them Republicans—attended a conference at a four-star resort in Maui three days after the governor had issued a travel advisory asking Californians not to travel outside the state.
Which goes to show: there are plenty of turkeys still at large in the wilds of the state capital.
By all means, stay safe and stay healthy in this holiday season—and stay off the streets late at night.
As best you can, have a joyous holiday.
