It’s been a while since I posted anything to my blog—about five months—so I think it’s about time for me to update what’s been happening these last few months.
Pam, our son Brian (both Pfizer) and me (Moderna) were vaccinated in late February and late March, so by mid-April we were ready to emerge from the self-quarantine cocoon that had lasted over a year.
In mid-April my monthly poker group resumed with all of us vaccinated and it was great to exchange stories between hands about how we survived 2020 and our plans for this summer. A couple of the guys planned to meet with their kids, spouses and grandchildren at the beach during the summer. Several of my friends were booked on a train trip sponsored by AAA through the Rockies, but that was cancelled in June.
Pam and I had planned to go to Europe in 2020 for our 50th Anniversary, but the pandemic blew away that trip. This summer, we discussed a trip to Hawaii, but that state still had travel restrictions for most of the summer. We then planned a trip to New England in mid-July, but a couple of intense downpours cancelled those plans.
Our 22-year-old roof had a serious leak at the rear of our house. We got estimates from several roofing contractors and had the roof replaced two weeks ago. so that was the end of significant trip this summer. We also decided to replace our 11-year-old water heater. Our 41-year-old house is entering its third repair and replacement cycle and we replaced all of our windows last December. We have decided to defer any significant trip to 2022.
We have been able to do some good things this summer including attending a few concerts at Blossom. I’ve gone to six Akron Rubberducks games with my friends. Pam and I have gone to the beach at Vermilion on Lake Erie twice and we’ll to go up there again before the fall weather begins.
And that won’t be long. We’ve noticed that sunset is about 45 minutes earlier than it was on the Summer Solstice on June 21. The leaves on the red maples in our back yard are beginning to turn brown—these are the first to go—and I’ve noticed some leaves on other trees starting to lose their green color.
It has been very warm and humid for the past couple of weeks, but the nights seem a bit cooler, so I know that fall is not too far away. Our lawn cutting service has skipped cutting a couple of weeks in the last month as the growth rate of our lawn slows down.
I was hoping for a more significant emergence from the pandemic this summer, but the distressing increase in cases in recent weeks indicates that this fall will bring more restrictions as the unmasked and unvaccinated get infected with the Delta variant.
I’m not going to say much about masks and vaccines, but in the last week or two, I’ve begun to wear my mask again when I enter a store. I’m over 70 and have several risk factors from COVID-19. But, I also recognize that my vaccine protects me from getting ill or protects me from getting seriously ill if I am exposed to COVID-19.
So, we will muddle through somehow. Pam will be teaching an accounting class online again this fall at the University of Akron and I will be taking an acting class at the Beck Center in Lakewood and taking a couple of non-credit courses online.
I’m also beginning to think about where I will take a winter sabbatical in early 2022, but I am concerned about the re-emergence of COVID in the southwestern states I am considering.
So, it remains a time of great uncertainty. I hope the next wave of COVID doesn’t affect my plans as much as in the past. But, the virus will never go away until the appropriate number of people get vaccinated. And we aren’t nearly there yet.
