Don't count on the vaccine to save you

I follow John Pavlovitz on Facebook.  I didn't actually ask to follow him, but I read so many of his articles that Facebook apparently decided I needed to become a follower.  He's further to the left politically than I am, but I do like his messages of peace, hope, and love.  

I hate having to copy and paste his words here:  I'd rather link straight to him, but it's on Facebook, and not everybody has that.  The following story is in his own words, exactly as he told it.

OUR COVID NEWS:

Hello Friends.

Two weeks ago, we took a family trip.

Three-quarters of us had been fully vaccinated, with the exception being our 11-year old. We'd been super diligent for a year and half and were hopeful we could finally begin doing some normal things, and left for our first family vacation since lockdown began. We were being as careful as we could, but as vaccinated adults it's easy to let your guard down and to generally be less attentive than you had been regarding masks and sanitizing and distancing.

A few days into the trip our daughter started complaining about headaches, which we attributed to the heat. The next day, she began to get congestion and said her throat was sore. We took her to the local clinic and received her positive results. We immediately began lockdown.

A couple of days later, my wife started feeling sick and we were stunned to get a positive test for her, as she's been vaccinated since April.

I had two negative tests earlier in the week but began feeling much worse over the weekend, and today both me and our son tested positive. Thankfully, he is asymptomatic so far.

So, amazingly we are four for four with COVID here in the Pavlovitz house, with three fully vaccinated people testing positive for the virus... insane.

The doctor who gave me my results said that this Delta variant is frightening and unpredictable. She has been alarmed by how quickly it has spread, and also by how many people are still avoiding the vaccine.

I'm hopefully in the worst of it now: congestion, headache, body aches, cough, fatigue, etc. Lost my sense of taste and smell, but overall it feels like a bad case of bronchitis. I shudder to think how bad it might have been had we not been vaccinated.

Friends, please get vaccinated if you haven't. It's the only way we're going to get the edge on these dangerous variants and it will keep you from the worst symptoms and very likely save your life.

And please consider still masking after getting your vaccine. We're simply not out of this yet, and we need to take care of ourselves and one another.

I'll be down for a few days, so feel free to read some old blog posts or order something from the shop. I'll write and post here as I feel well enough.

Thanks everyone!

You are loved.

John

What can I say? Cliff and I received the Pfizer vaccine, both doses, but I'm just wondering how careful we ought to be. The hospitals in Springfield, Missouri, are overloaded and are sending some Covid patients to Kansas City.

I'm feeling like the pandemic is far from over.

Checking in

I've been busy cooking, gardening, and resting.  Yes, at this age I rest a lot.  I can't believe how tired I get sometimes doing the simplest things.  

We had a big Fourth of July celebration on Saturday, the third.  I took pictures of babies and other partiers that day, but I have misplaced the dongle I use to upload pictures to my Mac, so I will wait until my new dongle arrives to share those pictures (dongle is a silly-sounding word, isn't it?  Almost naughty-sounding... or maybe my mind takes the wrong road sometimes).  The picture above is me on my Missouri Foxtrotter, Boogie Midnight Rhythm Blue, in 2007.  Longtime readers will recall my many long rides with Blue.

Cliff, our son, and Arick, the resident grandson on the place, got one of my husband's two recently purchased tractors in good shape to use or sell yesterday... the 1650 Oliver.  Cliff has owned several Olivers through the years.  This one was in better shape than most of the others were when he bought them; it has very few small dents and excellent tires.  Trust me, that's rare on these old tractors.  Those big tires do not come cheap!  The fuel tank wasn't on it when he brought it home, but that was no problem except for the fact that it had to be cleaned out; Cliff took it somewhere to get that job done.  Usually when our son visits each July, there's some projects the three of them can work on together; since this one is done, they have started on my favorite, the big White tractor.  

I took a notion the other day to get some June-bearing strawberry plants.  Greenhouses and such don't sell plants this time of year, as far as I know, but there were several sellers on Ebay.  I ordered 25 plants and have been tilling up a spot for them little by little.  At this time of year I will have to water them a few times, but it will be worth it next spring when the you-pick places are asking $5 for a pint even though you are doing the picking yourself.  I will laugh myself to the kitchen, take a couple of Tylenols, and rejoice.

I've heard many people all around me talk about the racoons getting their corn, but I've never had it happen until now.  The corn isn't quite ready, but I found an ear at the end of the garden with the husks pushed back and the tiny kernels chewed on.  From what I've heard from others, I imagine that's the end of my sweet corn; time will tell.  

This year stayed cool for so long, the tomatoes are slow to ripen.  I've eaten about three cherry tomatoes; that's it!

I'll be back to share pictures and stories of our very noisy celebration on Tuesday or Wednesday, I hope.  I hope all my friends online had a great Independence Day.

Peace.