Vaccines and other things

Tomorrow is March, and you know what that means.  Spring is around the corner.  We had a whiff of something that smelled like spring this week, even though the temperature was barely above freezing and there was a foot of snow on the ground.  Maybe it was the sun in a higher position in the sky.  Maybe it was in my head and wishful thinking.  I'm guessing the latter.

Still, we make the best of what's here, and we're convinced that this may have been the best winter ever, snow-wise.  At least for being outdoors.  Then I remind Mary, that in the past, this is the period when we take off for warmer climes, so we should really be saying that it's the only winter we've been here all the way through.

Snow, however, has not been the biggest news these last two weeks.  Vaccines are. Through the right circumstances, we were able to get our first vaccine, shortly after the Governor opened up to people over the age of 65.  Mary was able to hit the internet appointment scheme ahead of the bots, and we both got jabbed last Saturday.  It was very well organized, in the Berkshire Community College gymnasium.  I felt part of a movement - the parking lot was full, there was a line to get in the door, chairs set up across the gym, dozens of tables with a check-in person and a nurse to give the shot.  Waiting chairs for the 15 minute period afterwards, and then check-out at door on the other side of the gym.  My claim to fame was that the person checking me in where I got the shot was the president of Berkshire Community College, barely recognizable behind her mask, but her unmistakable Boston accent (and nametag) gave her away.  I could not thank them all enough.

News out of Brazil ain't so good.  Late Friday night, Joe and Leonor heard that the governor of the province of Brasilia just reinstated a total lockdown – no nursery school for Thomas, no parks to go play in, no nothing, nada.   They've been on a roller-coaster, especially since they had lifted all restrictions for months.

We hear Peter and Janet have gotten their first vaccine, after disappointing inaction for a while.  David and Paula have had their first shots, and Paula's scheduled to get her second shot soon.  Lur has already had her second shot, since her volunteer work at the hospital continues.  That just leaves the youn'un, Andrew. 

We talked to John and Marilyn, and they have gotten their first shots.  Temperatures were up in the 80s, so they have returned to the golf links for distanced recreation.   

State Department employees were supposed to get vaccines early, but Margaret said only for those people going into the offices for the moment.  We have seen Simon on Zoom, and he has moved to commando-style crawling – with his arms.  Very determined, and exhausted after the hard work.

Annie and Sankar had an eventful week, they'd just as soon forget, I imagine.  They got a call that their storage unit in San Francisco had flooded, so they hopped to right away.  Within a couple of days they were on their way west where they spent a week unpacking, drying out, cleaning up and re-storing things in a different unit.  Some things were ruined, and Annie was in the throes of applying for insurance reimbursement.

A quiz – which of the grandchildren are puppeteers?  Which are into ballet?  Who's been snowshoeing? (answer next letter)

Finally, in my project on Pop's Weekly Letters, I have started a new folder that has the years all mixed up, from 1977-1982.  Here are a few gems from my "chapter" on arts and letters, that stand the test of time, especially now as those of us cooped up are reading more:

Mom and I have been doing some "heavy" reading. At least, the books weigh a lot. She is reading Trinity and Pop is working on a Civil War book of some thousand pages. (09-18-78)

I also finished a spy book this week, and am frankly not too sure who won what. These spy stories, with their subplots and code names, are hard for my simple mind to follow. (12-10-78)

Mom finished Chesapeake and Pop finished Six Men, and am now working on a book about the Irish and English struggles in the late l500's. Those people could really fight.  (01-21-79)

And, on that note – love from up here:

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  What did you do today?  Eat chocolates?  Open a card?  Take a plane to Oakland?  Fix a dryer vent?

If you didn't do the latter, then you are really missing the whole point of St. Valentine's Day. 

We're down in DC with Margaret and Andrew (and SIMON), and among the many things that went wrong in their lives this past week, their dryer breaking was the last straw.  We hope.  More on all the other things later, but they bought a new dryer and then after hooking it up, they found out their vent was clogged.  I should add they still needed the new dryer.  Anyway, as you know, everything is on YouTube or Google, so Andrew ordered the snake/brush to clean out the dryer vent which winds through the basement ceiling about ten yards.  We may be half way there, but I suspect Andrew has a little more to do after we leave.

Long story, but, wait, there's more.  It has to do with their day care shutting down because a staff member tested positive for you know what.  Then Simon got sick with a high fever, and they spent more than a few hours in the emergency room.  His test, fortunately, came back negative, as did Margaret and Andrew's.  So we came down to help out, where we could.  He recovered, slowly through the week.

And there's still more.  Margaret has started a very strict, supervised diet to get at the root of her stomach issues.  So, while we all ate birthday cake and generally partook in all things festive to celebrate Lincoln's birthday, Margaret watched longingly.

And there's more.  We did a Zoom call with Brazil and Vermont, and all is well at those two weather extremes.  But Annie's storage area was in the way of a burst fire hydrant, so that flooded, and she and Sankar are on their way back to Oakland right now to assess the damage.  Thank goodness for USAA.

And let's hope that's it.  We drive home tomorrow, and expect bad weather, so we don't want any more stories.  I'll go for uneventful.  And my motto – "no hospitals."

There's been a lot of weather, from Chicago to NJ through Rochester.  We saw snow all the way down on the drive, a rarity.  We might have about two feet on the ground at home, and are expecting another 6-10 inches this week.  David said it's snowing a couple of inches almost every day.  In Dundee, Andrew can barely make it out to the grill.  Don't even compare Vermont – Annie said Sankar went skiing on Friday, and it was minus 20 or something at the top of the mountain.

There's no snow in Daytona, I'm pretty sure.  The news from there is that they had their first shot this week, and have their follow-up scheduled in March.  I kind of thought David and Paula would have had theirs, but they're weeks away probably.  David, by the way, is knee-deep in his senior housing project, which he has been selected to lead.

There's nothing but rain in Brazil it seems, as they're full on the rainy season.  Normally, they would also be full on Carnevale, but you can imagine even they have muted the festivities down there.  Not enough though to stop Thomas and John's day cares from having dress up parties.  Thomas went as Woody from Toy Story and John as a tiger.  I know someone who would be happy with the tiger choice.

We will also have a muted Mardi Gras up in Pittsfield.  Heading back to our routines of lifelong learning courses and winter sports, like shoveling.  And snowshoeing and x-country skiing. 

One other breaking news item.  You all will remember Susan Pratt, who joined us in the Poconos with her mother Janie and partner Fernando.  She just sent out a story that her son Harlin got published about playing chess in prison, inspired by The Queen's Gambit.  Here's the link: The Marshall Project.

So, wish us luck tomorrow on our drive back, and we wish you luck, good health and love in return.