Luck of the Irish

Goin' Green at Imagery

Our 55+ community has been very conservative with events in light of the pandemic. We were fortunate to have not one but two St. Patrick's Day celebrations here, and the weather cooperated so they could be held outside. For the first event we had a man playing a guitar and singing, along with a lady playing bagpipes. A local Irish dance school offered up traditional Irish dances, and a food truck kept us from going hungry. 

Yesterday's event had entertainment by our own local disc jockey. He played Irish songs, including sing-alongs, and asked some Irish trivia questions. The dance school sent a different group of girls to show off their skills. Another food truck was here for that event, though no corned beef and cabbage was to be found. That was okay with me, as I'm not a fan.

Today St. Patrick's Day 2021 closed in a big way with the appearance of a beautiful rainbow over the lake out back. I didn't see a pot of gold, but to be sure it was a glorious sight!

rainbow over Mountain Island Lake

Jim's Shot in the Arm

Bojangles Coliseum

Jim turned 65 earlier this month, and I was able to schedule his first Covid-19 vaccination on March 6th. He was not able to get an appointment where I went until mid-April, so I went through a neighboring county to sign him up. The vaccines are being given out in multiple locations in that county, but his was at the Bojangles Coliseum. It is not set up as a drive through, which is unfortunate, but inside the building people were spread out and masked. He checked in, filled out a form, and was quickly taken back for his injection. Fifteen minutes later we were on our way home. His arm was a little sore the next day, but he had no other side effects at all.

Like me, he received the Pfizer vaccine, so the wait between shots is 3 weeks. He will return on March 30th for his second vaccination. I think we will rest a little easier once we are both fully vaccinated. We have been super careful in our activities, but not everyone has done the same. So you never know where you might be exposed to Covid. I have to say, it has not been too much of a hardship to stay at home when we can wake up to views like the one we were treated to this morning. Heaven painted a canvas in our backyard.

sunrise on Mountain Island Lake

Covid-19 Vaccine #2 Update

 

a new dawn

It has been three days since I received my second dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. As with the first shot, the injection site was sore for a couple of days. Saturday morning when I woke up I felt a little nauseous and I thought, "Uh oh!" Vaccine side effects generally start within a day or two of receiving the shot, and are most common after the second shot. But once I got up and had breakfast, the sensation went away. As I mentioned after the last shot, the tetanus and shingles shots that I have received in the past were way worse than this one in terms of side effects.

Perhaps we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So often through this pandemic it has seemed as though we we sensing some light, but then something came along and made the tunnel longer. But it does appear that we can be cautiously optimistic this time.