2021

 After having my morning coffee I got to thinking of what this next year has in store for us.    Always scary when I get into deep thinking, so thought I would share what I know and don't know.   

My youngest sister, who is an RN in southern California informs me she has received the Covid vaccine and will get her second dose January 11th.   She says the hospital where she works is on the edge of a disaster due to all the Covid cases.    The experts tell us it will not  be until 2022 when we get this virus under control.   Just like the common cold and other flu viruses it will always be with us.  The only other person I know that has received the vaccine is a friend of ours working in a retirement home in Albany.   Not sure what the protocol or scheduling is for all the rest of us getting vaccinated or how.   Anybody else know?

It will take all kinds of medically trained people to administer and inject the population.   Even thought of volunteering myself as an old Army medic.   Can remember going through training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas and bending needles of each other as we practiced.    Not sure I want to do that again with the general public.   

Hopefully the new year brings us peace, hope and understanding.

Better get more coffee

Political Chaos leading to a shortage of TP

 Celia's daughter in Portland informed us there is a run on toilet paper in Portland, because of political unrest.  Could lead to a national crisis.  Anybody here see a shortage or panic buying?

Better stock up!

Normal?

 Is there such a thing as normal or is it just a state of mind?    No doubt our social life these days is Zero, except for an occasional chat with a neighbor along the gravel road we share, or meeting someone we know in the local Bi Mart while shopping.    If it was not for the Internet we might be classified as hermits.   With this pandemic traveling beyond the local community seems out of the question, even Roseburg is becoming like a foreign country.    Just doing the monthly trip to Costco, north of Roseburg is a great adventure these days.    It is entertaining seeing all the different types of masks people are wearing in the stores, some look legitimate others look marginal like handkerchiefs or rags.    Even with the prospect of a vaccine in the near future the question arises about how effective it will be, especially for us older folks?  The annual flu shot is only 30 to 40% effective as my doctor informed me.  Probably wearing that mask for the long-term may be the way to avoid it all with or without a vaccine.    As I learned years ago there is no perfect or normal in this world.   Sometime the only escape from it all is going to the hammock, listening to the sounds of nature and enjoying a good beer.