1. I’m fully vaccinated! So far, my reaction to the second round is pretty mild, a headache with short boughts of dizziness and nausea, totally manageable and absolutely worth it. I am so grateful to have made my goal: to not get COVID-19 before I had the vaccine or it was no longer a threat. This was my goal way back when this all started, before they knew when or if there would be a vaccine. I know this isn’t a guarantee of anything, but my hope is that it means if I do get sick, I won’t end up in the hospital or die from it, that I’m less likely to infect someone else, and that it’s as safe as it’s ever going to be to visit my family, who I haven’t seen in two years now.

2. Signs of spring. Foxes (Eric finally saw one of the babies this morning), more bird song in the mornings, lingering light at night, osprey out hunting along the river, things turning green, budding and blooming, the port-o-potties gone from the park, and another round of snow.

• 

• 

• 

• 

3. Comfort. Being retired so that my schedule is my own and I can do what I want, what I need for myself; sitting in the infrared sauna with Eric; getting in the pool; a massage; hot coffee with cocoa and tiny marshmallows; seeing a friend volunteering at the immunization center; the kindness and good humor of the other people working there; having Eric with me this time around; my super soft purple hoodie; wool socks; down blankets and pillows; a warm shower.

4. Morning walks. With the two storms we had come through, they were pretty gloomy this week, and it was muddy some of the time so we couldn’t get close to the river for too long. We saw lots of deer and foxes and heron.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

5. My tiny family, tiny house, tiny life. My favorites.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Bonus joy: Janice coming back to the pool, hanging out and writing with Calyx, texting with Chelsey and Chloe’, texting with my mom and brother, cooking (thanks for teaching me the basics, Mom), reading (thanks to both my parents for giving me this), listening to podcasts, watching old episodes of 20/20, naan, sunshine, birds at the feeder, my daffodils about to bloom, acetaminophen, warm water, a big glass of cold clean water, my sense of smell and taste, how soft Ringo’s coat made of stars is, other people’s dogs, babies, all the people working so hard to keep us safe, practice.