Monday, February 1, 2021

New month and good news

 Happy first of February!

Gratitude is at a high level today...yesterday (Saturday) two wonderful things happened. A friend called to say there's a climic that we can go to this afternoon and get our COVID-19 vaccinations. Another friend of ours had told her about it, who had just returned from getting hers. My friend asked if I wanted to try it. I thought of all the nothing things I was in the middle of doing and said YES!

So we met a few minutes later, I having changed from a long sleeved tee-shirt and sweater to a short sleeved sweater...and my "Connecticut coat." It's a puffy coat of many colors that is for when the weather is in the 30's or below. Anyway we drove through Asheville, and finally found the clinic. Incidentally we wore masks in the car, and I sat in the back seat...about 3 feet from my friend.

We saw two rows of cars in line, and turned in to the clinic where everything was set up to distribute vaccines. A man in a red coat came up to us and said the appointments would be over at 3:30 and if there were enough people waiting, they'd open another container of vaccines and give them out. We were told to drive over to a line of cars going up the street outside the clinic parking lot. We were the 5th car in that line. The man said with two of us we made 8 waiting. 

We waited about half an hour, and enjoyed talking together. Then the red coat man came by and said they were going to be taking us, just follow the car in front of us. We did! And by then there were probably 10 cars behind us.

We filled out the forms on their clipboard. Then we were at the door to the clinic, where a nurse came out, wearing wings! I kid you not! We had our temperatures taken, orally! 

This was the most upbeat nurse I've seen in ages. Well...at least since I was in rehab.

Entrance to the clinic had people coming and going...we didn't even get out of the car.

My friend receiving her shot. She said it was the tiniest needle and didn't hurt at all. I agreed.


That's when it started to snow!

We then drove to the area waiting to be sure we had no side effects for 15 minutes. We were told to come back in 4 weeks about the same time for our second Moderna vaccine doses. We received a paper describing it. (I haven't looked at it yet.)

And then the snow started to fall harder and harder...all the way home, and for at least another hour after we had come home. I thanked my friend immensely, and we called the friend who told her about the drop in clinic. What a blessing...or as I defined it, grace was smiling upon us today! 

Did I mention I got my mail while waiting for my friend to pick me up? In it was my stimulus check. So I'm waiting to go to the bank on Mon. to deposit it. I don't have any extra expenses at this time, but you never know. I feel doubly blessed. What a day!

____________

Today's quote:

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.


~ Derek Walcott




17 comments:

  1. Congratulations. I am still months away. Sigh.

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  2. how great you got the vaccine. :)
    But you still have to be careful and keep distance. :)

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    1. Oh yes! Still planning to stay masked and in as few crowds as I can manage!

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  3. So glad you got your first shot, and so easily.
    Supposedly I will get mine this month. We'll see, grasshopper......we'll see...............

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  4. Good news that you got your vaccination and that it all went so smoothly. Maybe I'm in a minority but I find it difficult to spend the money I have at the moment what with not being able to take a holiday, go to concerts or even take so many days out.

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    1. I am planning to save the stimulus check...for a rainy day? There are certainly not as many places to spend money these days. I'm so tired of these 4 walls!

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  5. So wonderful that your friend called and you got your vaccine! I love your description of it, the tiniest needle and it didn't hurt at all. Roger had the same experience. Yay!! I'm still waiting for mine, but they're not jabbing the 65+ group yet.

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    1. Actually our state has started on "over 65." I never got a chance while it was "over 75". My friend is 81, so I'm really glad she got hers too!

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  6. I am surprised that NC did not publicize when and where to get the vaccine. Here in NH it's all being handled by the state and the National Guard is giving the shots. We had to sign up online for an appointment. What if your friend hadn't told you, how would you have known? So glad she did. Are you spreading the word to others?

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    1. The Dept. of Health is probably run by the county, and lots of counties in Western NC have traditionally had a complaint that they're left out compared to the ones near Raleigh. There are 100 counties in the state. This was definitely a "word of mouth" kind of thing...and neither of us had ever even been to that clinic before...but it was a Health Dept. location.

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  7. What a great day! It's weird when getting a shot is a huge highlight. I'm months away from any vaccine since I'm only 64.

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    1. Well, since I had my heart attack in May, I'm much more focused on health issues. I wish it weren't so. But I can only do blogs, cook and eat healthy, read books, and occasionally take a walk - only so much. What else might there be? Right now I'm seriously wanting some other options!

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  8. Well you started the month off really good. That's great news, we have to wait but don't know how long.

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    1. This was unexpected. I was on a waiting list to get an appointment...and had no clue how long that might be. So having a "drop in" status at a Dept. of Health Clinic was really a nice surprise. So glad for friends who share information!

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There is today, more than ever, the need for a compassionate regenerative world civilization.