Featured, Presence

Hope in a Covid Vaccine

March 20, 2021

 

Where we waited for 15 minutes after receiving our vaccines, just to make sure that no one had an allergic reaction.

Sometimes I cry at strange times that surprise me. Like, I am totally not prepared for the tears that suddenly well up. Where do they even come from?

Today, I joined a line of dozens of other people at the Placer County Fairgrounds Events Center hall, a place where in the summer they set up tables that display people’s best jams and quilts, photographs and ceramics projects.  Maybe animals are shown here, too: the prize winning sheep, hogs, goats.

We queued up politely, patiently waited our turns, and were directed, one by one, to tables where we received our Covid vaccinations. I got my second shot today, a Pfizer one. I qualified for the vaccine on two different fronts: as a massage therapist, I’m a healthcare professional. And since I’ve been substitute teaching, I qualified through that as well.

I sat down at table eight. The entire process took about thirty seconds. The nurse confirmed my name, confirmed that I was getting my second dose of the Pfizer shot (since there were tables where you could get your Moderna vaccine, too). Then said, “Congratulations. Congratulations.”

Well. That did it. Right in the middle of the Events Center hall. There were my tears. Continue Reading…

Featured, Presence

Rules for Snow Days

March 13, 2021
  1. Wear sweats. Usually, when you have a day at home, you try to get dressed in real clothes. That is a “work at home day” rule. But it is snowing! Sweats are basically mandatory on snow days. Also, fuzzy socks and slippers.
  2. Drink tea. Lots of it. Add cream. As much as you want.
  3. Don’t forget the birds. Put on your boots and go outside and fill the feeders. Except today (a confession), you didn’t realize how snowy it actually was out there, so you put on your regular shoes, and the snow went over the tops of them and onto your socks, so that was really not a great plan. So next time? Put on your boots, even if you think you don’t need them. This is now a snow day rule.
  4. Take time to stare out the window.
  5. Forget about doing all the things that you try to do everyday to feel productive and worthwhile. It’s not a good day to go out and trim blackberries. It’s not a good day to go for a run. It is a good day to go for a walk, if you want to. But only for as long as you want. It’s not a good day to worry about getting 10,000 steps in, because you truly could run the risk of getting your feet or hands or nose too cold. Frost bite is a real thing, right? When you walk on a snow day, the main purpose is just to be in the snow. To tread carefully so you don’t fall. To stay alert to cars that are brave enough to venture out on the road, so that they don’t accidentally slide into you if they go too fast.
  6. As far as cars go, and the roads, and whether they will be icy in the morning? You are not allowed to worry about this today. You tend to stress about tomorrow and whether you will be able to get the car out and drive up the hill in the morning, to get your son to school. Tomorrow is many, many hours away, and so much changes with the snow overnight. The plow will come. Probably more than once. The freeway will be cleared. You can thank CalTrans for that, and the good workers, who show up in the cold and do their jobs, jobs that you wouldn’t know how to do.
  7. Take a bath. It sounds like a marvelous thing, no, to take a bath when there is snow outside?  It is not too pampering. It is not too spoiled. It is just good, and sweet, and will make you happy. So do it.  Also, just in case you need to hear it again, it is OK not to take a walk today. After your bath, you can sit by the fire and read one of the new novels that you picked up from the library yesterday. This is OK. This is all you need to do.
  8. When you are tired of reading (like that ever happens, but just in case) and you have done your writing for the day,  and are pretty sure you have nothing left to say, then turn off the computer, go into the kitchen, and make the curry dish that you’ve been thinking about. Here is the recipe: Peel the butternut squash that’s been sitting on the counter for a few weeks, and rescue the cauliflower that is about to be good only for the compost pile. Cut both those into chunks. Chop an onion, some garlic, some ginger. Sautee all those, then add the squash and cauliflower, the Thai red curry paste. Find the coconut milk, and add a can.  Also, a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce. Juice from the lime that is nearing the end of its usefulness. Let it simmer for as long as you want. Add chicken or not.
  9. Take some to your neighbor and then let her talk you into going for a walk in the snow.  Take off your fuzzy socks and slippers and put on your wool socks and boots.  Trade your sweats for long underwear and wooly leggings.  The snow is coming down hard, so  borrow her umbrella. Be grateful that she is more prepared than you are and has an extra umbrella you can use. Walk with her through the trees. Enjoy these moments. Know that the snow will be gone soon.