An amazing day

 

If you watched the Senate proceedings today and listened to the news or followed it online, it seems there’s not much left to say. And yet, I can’t help chiming in. If yesterday was powerful, today was amazing. The House managers are so organized, so passionate in their delivery, so graphic in their presentations—no one with a conscience could ever find trump innocent. And yet many of the Republicans barely paid attention—I read reports of Cruz, Paul, Hawley and their ilk doing anything but paying attention to what was being presented. That makes me outraged. How could they? How can they ignore the most graphic videos? I think the one that is hardest for me to watch is the one showing the law enforcement officer being crushed and screaming for help—the unbelievable cruelty behind that scene is appalling.

On a more rational level, Republicans with a conscience should pay attention to the heavily armed nature of the invaders—they weren’t going to stop a vote. They were going to arrest and kill people—complete with body armor, zip ties, a noose, you name it. One episode I hadn’t seen until today was when Eugene Goodman, the officer who led insurgents away from Pence, saved the life of Mitt Romney, turning him around and heading him toward safety and away from the invaders. Every Senator in that chamber ought to be grateful that they survived—and yet, I think their fear of trump outweighs that for too many. I have a glimmer of hope—based really on a column by Heather Cox Richardson, whose judgement I trust—but it’s only a glimmer.

I took a day off from writing today, not that I’ve been burning up the computer. But I was slow getting going, and after I checked email and whizzed through Facebook, the Senate trial was on, and I was mesmerized, often in horror.

The reason I was slow to get started is that Sophie for the last three mornings has decided she has to go out at an increasingly early hour—seven, then six-thirty, and today, five-thirty. She needs to pee, I’m sure, but then she goes and lies by the back door to the main house. Nothing I can say or do gets her to come in, and softie that I am, I won’t go back to bed and leave her out there. Color me silly, but I am terrified of dognappers, those people who steal dogs to use as bait in dogfights. So I sit and wait for her to come in—sometimes staring into space, sometimes starting up my computer.

This morning at 5:30 I was firm—and probably impolite. I told her “no” a thousand ways in my harshest voice. When she wanted to be petted, I told her we were not friends at five-thirty (made me feel awful). She finally decided if she couldn’t go out, she needed water and banged her dish on the floor. I gave her a bare cup of water, not wanting to aggravate any potty problem, and went back to bed. We slept until eight, and I got some of the soundest sleep of the night.

I hadn’t slept well because of that second vaccine shot—I think I kept waking myself up to see if I felt all right, which I did. My arm is sensitive to the touch but not nearly as sore as it was with the first shot. Jordan has had a few more symptoms—slight fever, etc., and we both feel tired. But I am grateful we’ve done so well.

When I was wakeful last night I heard a new sound: a distinct “Whooo” outside the corner of my bedroom. Loud and clear. I told Jordan it was either an Indian signaling to his tribe or a really big owl. And of course the latter conjured up new fears—I couldn’t let Sophie out although at slightly over thirty pounds I think she’s too much for an owl. The Burtons’ Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, however, would be fair game, and I heard recently of a small dog picked up by an owl but accidentally dropped—the dog’s good fortune. Just to be sure, I did peek out my kitchen door window to make sure we didn’t have night visitors—those people who try car doors and scavenge during the night. All looked calm.

Little is remarkable about my life these days, except I do have to confess that I dumped almost the whole black pepper can on the butcher block I use as a work surface yesterday. Put it on the shelf above the butcher block, but it fell off, opened, and dumped. I never realized what a mess black pepper can make—nor how hard it is to get up. Nor how much it makes you cough.

Tomorrow I hope to restart my “Gourmet on a Hot Plate” blog—watch for a couple of recipes from the best country cook I ever knew.

Stay warm, folks. It’s cold out there and predicted to be wet and icy. Blessings on the doctor I’m to see tomorrow who said we can do it on Facetime. My kind of appointment!

That dreaded second vaccination.

 

This afternoon, Jordan and I got our second COVID-19 vaccinations. I feel almost guilty writing that because I know so many deserving people are trying desperately to gain access to the shots, applying countless places and caught in an endless vacuum of waiting. We are fortunate because our family doctor is a member of a network that is coordinating with the county to deliver the vaccine and therefore receives a supply. Obviously, I am more than qualified to be in the 1b group because of age, and Jordan qualifies because she is listed as my caretaker.

I sometimes bristle at the idea of calling her a caretaker, in spite of all that she does for me. It’s not that I don’t appreciate her; it’s more that I rebel against the truth that I need a caretaker. But when I take a bold, straightforward look at reality, that’s the truth. I don’t drive, so she drives me to various medical appointments, which are about the only things that get me away from the cottage. She does my grocery shopping, my laundry, cleans my cottage, and fusses at me to drink more water, be sure to take medications, etc. There are a lot of things I can’t do from a walker, and Jordan does them with endless good cheer. I need to shut up and realize that she, as a caretaker, makes my life easy and happy life possible.

So now we’re in that limbo: will we have a severe reaction or not. Facebook is full of stories by people recounting their negative reactions—it’s enough to scare anyone. My doctor reminded me, however, that only about one-third of recipients of the second shot have a negative reaction. It can range from that of a neighbor, healthy young man, who was in bed for two days to a slight headache. And I’m told that older people are less inclined to react because our immune systems are weaker. Still, it’s kind of unsettling to get a shot that you know might make you feel worse. Christian is going to make a comforting chicken dish in the crockpot for dinner tomorrow night, and we will return the favor Sunday after he has his second shot on Saturday (he is eligible because of an autoimmune condition).

And then there’s the question of what we can do after we are fully vaccinated, and the vaccine has had time to take effect. Dr. Fauci, in whom I have absolute faith, says still wear your masks, social distance, and wash your hands a lot. I intend to do that, because even vaccinated, we can be carriers and infect others. The statistics on vaccinated people who get the disease are slim, but it does happen. Still, it seems to me that we are dealing with a disease that is even yet largely unknown—maybe in ten years, we may know the answers, but we don’t now. So that lunch with my daughters will be postponed, and I’ll essentially continue to live in quarantine.

More than one person has said to me, “So if that’s what you’re going to do, what’s the point of getting the vaccine?” It seems twofold to me. By getting vaccinated, I am pretty much protecting myself, but I am also protecting others. Even if I might still be a carrier, I would think odds are less likely. And I do believe that increasing vaccinations are what are making hospitalization and death numbers go down. Being vaccinated is what you do for yourself—and for your family, your neighbors, your community.

I read a Facebook post the other day in which a woman vehemently said she was never getting the vaccine because it is poison and is part of Bill Gates’ depopulation plan (never did figure out why Gates would have a depopulation plan, but I wasn’t about to ask that woman). Such ridiculous thinking doesn’t bother me, but I have also read that large percentages of health care workers and first responders are declining to be vaccinated. And that worries me, because of the implications for continuing spread of the disease. What do they know—or think—that we don’t? I know the vaccine was approved in a hurry—desperate situations call for desperate measures—but I tend to trust science. I wish everyone did.

More later. So far, I feel just fine and ate a good dinner, but it’s too soon to tell. In a sense I feel like there is a dark cloud hanging over my head. Can I blow it away?

Stay well, warm, and safe, everyone.