We’re nearly done with 1/12 of the new year, I hope everyone made good use of it. I’ll get my second vaccination this week. I guess it’s a booster shot, getting me that last little way to 95% effectiveness. I think that’s a fair contribution to the common good. I’m a tiny bit apprehensive about that second shot. I’ve heard stories. But hearing stories is a good way to work oneself into a tizzy about nothing and with nothing really concrete to go on, I think I’ll just relax in the knowledge that two weeks after that second shot my immune system should be energized enough to fight off the new virus.

Just in time for Valentine’s day if I only had a valentine. Oh, well. I can do what I did in grade school and send all the kids a valentine. Of course, my most lasting memory of the day comes from 1953, when I was in first grade. We lived in Fallbrook, California. On the 11th, my grandfather died in San Antonio. We bundled up to head east for the funeral and I had to take my valentines over to a neighbor in the apartment complex where we lived and ask if they would take my valentines to school for me. I think I cried at their door. I never had much of a taste for the holiday after that, until I got married, and even then, that first big memory wore heavy on the occasion.

But enough with maudlin memories. There’s rain this morning but the sun will be out later. I’ll probably go out in it. Take a walk. Soak up some vitamin D. I may wear my mask the entire time, however, because the cedar pollen is out and my last two or three walks have led to some serious congestion. I can do without that. Although walking around a neighborhood with my face covered, feels a little nefarious. In this area, however, it’s unlikely anyone seeing an older white guy walking around, even with a mask on, is going to think much about it. So, pollen filter it is.