Year and a Day

For a year and a day I have been waiting and on March 16th 2021 I received the second of the required vaccines needed to prevent covid 19. It has been a long strange journey to get here. During this time I have learned about myself and others. 

Last January Jan and I took a big trip to Hawaii. It was great we flew from Tampa to Hawaii in a big plane packed in with a bunch of people we did not know. No masks or excessive hand washing. I'm not even sure we carried any hand sanitizer. While there we ate out at  restaurants and visited sights with lots of people. 

I also just started my retirement in January and had planned to do lots of fun things. I was going to get involved with volunteering in my community. Jan and I were going to travel and see things. Then before I could even get started on March 15, 2020 everything came to a screeching halt. 

Next thing I know we are sitting at home watching Netflix and figuring how to order groceries online. I broke out the sewing machine and using fabric scraps started sewing masks. I remember thinking we could be like this for a few weeks or a month or two. Wow was I naive.

Over the past year I have perfected my mask pattern. I made spring masks, summer masks, Halloween masks, Christmas and New Year masks. I made custom masks for a baby shower and a cute little tiny mask for a stuffed bear. I've made masks for my kids, grandson and friends. I have lost count of how many I have made but I know I am well into the second pack of 100 nose wires as well and the masks I made with a spool of wire. 

Jan has been knitting and trying her hand at gardening. She has knitted several gifts. Jan has several succulents that are really growing. 

Zoom. Before covid zoom was something I did on the highway. Now we were doing it from home. For several months we got together with friends to play games and answer trivia. Jan still gets together with her sibs each week via Zoom. I'm glad I'm retired because I can't imagine teaching via Zoom.   

I keep trying to remember different things I have done this past year and it feels like there is a blank. Then I remember that I spent several months this summer undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer. The treatment filled my days from the end of May to the start of August. I guess if I had to get cancer this was the one to get. Other than the treatment taking time it was relatively easy. But it did leave a big hole in my 2020 summer. But I guess everyone'e 2020 summer was kinda shot.

Toward the end of August we took our first "Trip During Covid" to see Jessica and her family. Jan and I had been thinking about buying an RV and chose this time to try one out. Jan found a 5th wheel to rent for a few days on Airbnb.  

This was fun because the RV was located at a horse farm in Tallahassee. We got up to the sound of horses getting ready for the day. They start early! 

Generally for the entirety of this year of covid Jan and I have had variations of these adventures mixed in with days of staying home and binge watching Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO and Disney. I'm hoping that this will begin to change because of getting my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine last Tuesday. I was fortunate and my Primary Care called to ask if I wanted to get the vaccine several weeks ago during a regular checkup I already had scheduled. I said yes. Then last Tuesday I got my second shot and hopefully in a few weeks I'll be safe to resume somewhat normal activities. Got my fingers crossed!

Update, Editing by Jan Bliss.