April 20, 2021

I’m heading in to get my second Pfizer shot later today. NT Times says the U.S. population has 29% fully vaccinated and 42% at least one dose. My wife is off on her first trip (Florida, Covid hot spot!) in over a year. She has an astronaut friend (Go Megan!) flying up… to the International Space Station later this week and gets to wave to her across the launch pad. She was super nervous about the trip even with one vaccination shot in her arm.

We got to go visit my parents in Portland. Most adults had at least one shot so it was more hugging for sure. It meant a lot to my frail mom to get big hugs from her grandkids. I like seeing her laugh and be so happy to have us all around. Even seeing old neighbors who my parents have lived next to for decades felt great out at a block party on the street. The drive was still hard to find a bathroom open, and the restaurants are still mainly doing take-out, but it was such a nice way to spend part of Spring Break.

I don’t know what changes will stick around society due to this pandemic. Likely gyms will keep some online option because it seems like they can have more members participate. Also seems like education will use some form of online learning. There will be more pandemics in the future, though no one knows when. I’m curious if humans will ever remember what we learn over the generations. We have collectively short memories. But we’re good at adapting. And we’re good at finding joyful little moments amidst challenging events.

April 24, 2021

So, second shot went fine. They greeted me at Kaiser Renton campus with smiles and no lines. Everyone was professional and whisked me through. I received a sticker with a timestamp so I had to sit until the time matched that on the clock–fifteen minutes–to see if I had a reaction. All was well so I went to the car and drove home.

Carolyn is still her trip. Her friend is up and away. We didn’t think Carolyn could pass up the opportunity to go since she had to miss Megan’s last launch when Carolyn was pregnant with our number two babe. (Megan was on the team to go fix the Hubble Space Telescope. I got to go watch that one, along with our then two-year-old and that’s another story). So despite much anxiety over the decision to travel to a state that is experiencing a rise in cases (with a Republican governor who hasn’t followed CDC guidelines) she went to see old friends and experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

After I came home, I cruised through the rest of the afternoon and evening. I told the kids that they might have to step up the following day–check up on me, feed themselves, watch the cat, etc. I started to feel tired that afternoon so I thought I was going to skate through with no symptoms. But ten hours later felt achy with fatigue. Slept about 12 hours on and off like the low-level flu. Binge watched Ginny and Georgia on Netflix in bed while the kids did NOTHING. They saw it as an opportunity to get on Xbox and tv shows while I was incapacitated despite my fatherly hope for empathy for my single parenting situation. I didn’t get mad until early afternoon. First, I acted tired and sad, which worked pretty well. Then I had to lose my shit and get angry because sadness inspired nothing. The burst of father fury finally did it because they made me a juice and cooked dinner and cleaned up the kitchen.

Luke said, “I never knew you guys did so many dishes. I finish some and more would just show up.”

Welcome to adulting, kid. Welcome to adulting.

Now, headlines in India and Brazil, and other parts of the world COVID is wreaking havoc. There are still states in our nation that are fighting fourth surges. Their hospitals are full of younger people now, too. My circles are starting to get second doses and feel like we’ll be able to do small gatherings soonish. But the world is def not out of the woods. The kids are worried about Mama bringing back COVID and that they won’t be able to return to in-person school. She’s quarantined in the TV room (maybe the basement?) and eating by herself. It sucks for all, but we aren’t sure how else to keep the school community safe if she picked something up AND the kids have sports with strict rules as well. You have to make sacrifices for the good of the populations of your communities if you want to have any semblance of “real life.”

I’m tired. Didn’t sleep well after picking up Carolyn and was wheezing. Not sure if the respiratory stuff was from third-day post 2nd dose COVID vaccine, or a cat hair down my gullet, or the blooms of Spring. It’s beautiful though. Now off to run kids around for the day’s sports.

The manuscript is in better shape than it was a few weeks ago. My add of appropriation talk and colonization unit seems to be working. The jury’s out, but I hope I can bring an element of social justice to add to the discomfort of my main character. Probably too much detail for here, but that’s where my head is at.

April 26, 2021

I went out and had “a beer” with an old friend last night. We decided on Pike Place Market because it is between us, he in Queen Anne and I in Mt. Baker neighborhood. I decided to bike commute over there. It felt wonderful to be OUT OF THE HOUSE with no one asking me for anything. Carolyn is quarantining in the basement so she can’t do much but we decided the kids likely won’t die so we left them to fend for themselves. It’s added an extra workload on me dealing with kid requests, which I’m kind of burned out on if I’m honest, but here we are.

We met down at the new market extension section at a brewery called “Old Stove.” We agreed that the name would better fit an old, creaky place with an… old stove like Edgefield’s McMenimans Red Shed (this felt like Metal and Steel). But I wasn’t nitpicking if I could be out laughing with a friend after a year on lockdown. Sheesh. The beer was tasty. The clam chowder was good. There were a few too many people for my liking and that’s been the conversation lately–that it’s going to take some time to get used to being in public places with… the public. My buddy is more sure of himself as he’s been past his two vaccination shots for a while now. But I’m still gun shy. Didn’t like being in small spaces even with a mask on as we walked through to the beautiful open deck at the back. The Market is going to be beautiful once they connect the old section to the waterfront. It’s been a long time coming. I wrote a picture book about the history buried in a narrative, but that is sitting in a draft folder somewhere.

Hopefully, I didn’t catch anything. Hopefully, Carolyn didn’t catch anything. We’re being more careful than some for sure. I guess my first shot gave me 70% protection and I’m almost a week past my second shot so I’d think my immune system is churning with something that can do battle in those innards of mine. Going to send my manuscript to a few readers now. It’s time to get some feedback and see how my words flap in the wind of brains besides my own.

Kids are so done with online school, but especially the graduating eighth grader. Being home for online school after being on campus for a couple weeks is torture for him. He loved seeing friends and teachers and he’s the introverted one. I feel for him. I’m not looking forward to summer, actually. They are going to be antsy for friends and we’ve been around one another all. the. time. forever. It will be interesting.