This week proved to be a good time for musician and actor Ruben Blades to reflect on his remarkable life and career.

(AP Photo/Julie Bennett)OPELIKA, Ala. – A Christmas tree stands outside the intensive care room where a man stricken by COVID-19 lies unconscious, a machine breathing for him. The medical center about 60 miles northeast of Montgomery faces a new influx of COVID-19 patients as the pandemic intensifies. That means staff members can hang decorations on patients' doors in the ICU but cannot attend after-work Christmas parties. A huge Christmas tree stands near downtown boutiques, salons and restaurants where hundreds of residents crowded together for a holiday program last weekend. The veteran nurse oversees COVID-19 patients on a floor that has been decorated for Christmas with strings of white lights and stockings.