New strain of Covid in Vietnam; masks really matter

Coronavirus is on the rise here. CNN is reporting that the Vietnamese government is revealing that a new, highly contagious variant of Covid is present in the country, possibly some sort of combination of the UK and India variants. A religious gathering is believed to be responsible for the recent spread and perhaps the emergence of the variant. The numbers aren't like India or Brazil -- we've had 200 to 400 new cases a day for the past week or so in Vietnam -- but that's relatively high compared to what they've been. Most schools are closed, the streets are relatively quiet, and masks are pretty much everywhere -- on people riding bikes, on servers in coffee shops, and as litter all over the streets and in the park. Interestingly, I was walking in the middle of the street next to a car wash business (the street is the only place to walk since there's no sidewalk and cars are parked on both sides) holding hands with my masked daughter on our way to the park when one of the car wash guys, possibly a manager, came running out to scold me for having my face mask around my chin. He gestured at me to pull the mask up and raised his voice at me, but that's the style of talking here. Anyway, I started this little tale with interestingly because two employees in the car wash had no masks and another was wearing his mask like me, around his chin with mouth and nose exposed. Also, two customers were sitting inside mask-less. I saw the masked man two days later at the car wash with his mask around his chin. I good-naturedly gave him the fingers across the face sign, and he pointed to the cigarette he was about to smoke. I tried to communicate that I was practicing social distancing by walking in the street. I'm sure he didn't get it, but hey, even Covid gets a butt break, I suppose. But it's no joking matter in this country now, which until recently had kept Covid well under control. There aren't many or any vaccines to be had. I read where 29,000 people in this country of 96 million have been vaccinated. And the guys banging and drilling on the wall next to our house are all mask free, walking all over the streets and neighborhood. Most folks get it, but the ones who don't get it or refuse to get it put so many of us at an unnecessary risk. It's so selfish and stupid ... and dangerous.
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Komodo dragons remain my daughter's favorite animal for the time being, so I found a website that showed us how to build a little Komodo dragon from templates. It's made so the red tongue can be manipulated by moving the tail. Actual reading and writing are out of he question with the construction work around our house still in full effect, so we do scissor-and-construction-paper work on the third floor accompanied by loud music to minimize the effects of the drilling, pounding, sawing and light flashing. A day after we built the komodo we have no idea where it is, but it provided Joanna an afternoon of enjoyment, even at the park. With Joanna's encouragement, a little girl rode her bike back and forth over the komodo. Everyone thought that was the greatest since it didn't damage the komodo, but we pretended it did. I guess you had to be there. That little project was a good deal that only required two sheets of thicker paper, scissors, tape, and crayons since I don't have have a color printer. By popular demand, I helped Joanna make another komodo the next day, and funny thing, it turned out much better than the first one. This time, the mouth opens when we push the tail to make the tongue come out, and it shuts when we pull the tail to retract the tongue. 
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I want to pay my respects to children's author Eric Carle, who died this past week at age 91. My daughter loves Carle's stories, especially The Grouchy Ladybug, Mister Seahorse, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.  They were staples of our nighttime routine when Joanna was 2 and 3, and she still requests  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, The Mixed-Up Chameleon, From Head to Toe.  Really, we read many more, but you get the idea. Carle was amazing and an important author for my little girl.
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Joanna and I finished reading Charlotte's Web together and by the end the rat Templeton was the most intriguing character for my daughter. She was especially fascinated by Templeton's eating binge at the county fair. Maybe it reminds her of dad.