MONDAY MEANDERINGS

 Interesting comments on my Masked Man post of yesterday.

At first the number of people still committed to wearing masks regardless of dropping of mask mandates was overwhelming.

But then late in the day it changed a little bit.

However I'm convinced and have gone back to wearing my mask in public places and continuing with caution.

Today we got our second booster shots.

That's four vaccinations we've now had for Covid and, so far, we've been fortunate.

Neither of us has succumbed to it.

And neither of us has had side effects, other than feeling a bit weary for a day after the shot.

Well, heck, I feel weary most of the time any way!

I had an interesting conversation about side effects with my pharmacist.

I told him that neither of us has had side effects and he said that's not unusual.

He said they seem to be dependent on the strength of one's immune system.

Younger people have a stronger immune system that tries to fight the foreign invader (the vaccine) while older folks like yours truly have a weaker immune system that doesn't try as hard.

Hence the side effects syndrome.

Meantime, Spring Fever has set in for SWMBO.

No, not the kind of Spring Fever that leaves one listlessly staring into space.

This is the kind that fires up her Project Mode.

The other day she went out to a couple of stores and came home with two 25 foot garden hoses to replace the old, heavy 50-footer, and three bags of rubber mulch.

She was disappointed to learn that one of the new hoses wouldn't reach the bird bath so the two were spliced together and, though lighter in weight, are just as long as the previous monster.

She's now talking about getting a six-foot hose to tack onto one of the 25 footers.

As for the old hose, several ten-foot-lengths have been cut out of it and wired together to be used as a sort of dam, the purpose of which is to keep dirt and eventually the rocks from washing down off the slope in the corner of the yard during our infrequent rainfalls here in Arizona.*

The rubber mulch is also designed to help.

How about that?

It looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Still some tinkering but Judy the Designer has got a nack.

And I only had to do a little scut work.

* You DID hear that Arizona is in the midst of a record drought, didn't you?

MASKED MAN

 Mask mandates are coming down all over the country and with two vaccines and a booster, with another one coming soon, I'm feeling more relaxed about not wearing a pandemic mask.

Actually where I live I'd say the majority, possibly the vast majority, of residents never have worn a mask.

The percentage of people who've been vaccinated just recently hit 70 after hovering at 69 percent for months.

But I have been faithful to the scientific guidelines and have been going into stores looking like a bandit for months.

Actually I guess I could say "for years".

And, actually, I guess I could say "an aging bandit".

But lately, with even the President frequently going out without a mask, I have doffed mine too.

Except at medical offices.

They still require them.

Even if you're just there to deliver or pick someone up.

Like I was the other day waiting for SWMBO at a medical lab.

It's not particularly flattering.

But some of my very near and dear relatives would say, "You ought to see him without it!"

Like the comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to say, "I don't get no respect!"

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Well here it is at last.

The last day of March.

And the end of a gruelling month that just seemed to stagger in this year 2022.

But it also brings us to the end of another week and a chance to lean back and LAUGH A LITTLE!

Okay, folks, those are the jokes.

Now have yourself a very, merry weekend.

And always, always, always remember to keep laughing.

Oh, and that statement at the top of this post . . . it's wrong.

It's actually April 1st today and I knew it all along!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

BIRTHDAY BLUES

 

THOUGHTS

 

It's a bleak morning out there with rain showers forecast off and on for much of the day.

But my mood is much better than yesterday's.

Sunday evening I forgot to take my "night pills", which include a couple of supplements which help me to sleep.

I was troubled by insomnia until about 3 a.m. when I realized what I'd done and gulped them down.

Of course it takes an hour or two for them to "kick in" so it was well toward morning before I caught a few hours of sleep.

A two-hour afternoon nap helped somewhat and then making sure I took the pills last night eased me into the arms of Morpheus.

I've been using that expression, the arms of Morpheus, for decades now and I just thought to Google it to see how it's defined.

It was as I thought with one slight adaptation.

Morpheus was the Greek god of dreams, a son of Hypnos.

Hypnos was the god of sleep.

But "the arms of Morpheus" is correctly used to mean sleeping.

So there you have it.

Your daily lesson in Greek mythology.

Or just another few minutes reading a silly blog post.

Ho-hum.

Time for a nap?

You can thank me later.

CATCHING UP

 

An outing!

Our first cultural immersion in I don't know how many years.

We went to a piano and strings concert at Yavapai College in Prescott yesterday.

The musicians were exemplary. 

Their leader, James D'León has been playing piano since the age of 4 and is a touring Steinway Artist.

His first violinist was Grace Nakano, the assistant Concertmaster of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, a lovely native of Japan who played with great emotion.

Also performing were second violinist Laura Cásarez, also from The Tucson Symphony; Ruthie Wilde, the principal cellist with the West Valley Symphony; and Kimberly Sullivan, the principal Violist with Arizona Philharmonic.

I liked the entire concert but I think my favorite piece was the Scherzo: Allegro by Brahms.

So to come down from that excitement we went to Murphy's Bar and Restaurant in Prescott for a drink and a shared platter of mussels in a garlic, butter and white wine sauce.

Heaven!

And a perfect day.

Oh, that picture at the top of this post?

I just wanted you all to know I'm not taking you for granite.

(Ba-Da-Boomp)

RANDOM PHOTO

 

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