And now, this

Hello, my friends, from central Kentucky, where it's a balmy 14 degrees!  We've had rotating bouts of snow and freezing rain and sleet and all manner of weather over the past few days.  Ice so thick on our sidewalk last week that I actually waved off the pizza delivery guy and met him in our garage.  And we have a tall shrub next to our front walk that has essentially drooped in three different directions.  I'll leave it alone until temperatures warm up but I'm not optimistic.

I'm certainly lucky that I work from home when I'm not traveling, and, thanks to COVID-19, I'm not going anywhere regularly.  So on days like this I am thankful I don't have to risk my life to work.

I'm also grateful that we were able to schedule the first dose of the COVID vaccine for my wife last Friday.  We had her signed up with four different entities, I believe, but the change came when the federal government released supplies of the vaccine to several national pharmacy chains, and we were able to get her set up there.  We have now both received the first of two doses of the vaccine, and while that doesn't fix everything, I'm appreciative that we're both that far along.

That was so clear Sunday evening, as I sneaked into my grandson's hockey game, despite their rules that only one adult may attend per participating player.  Our son assured me that no one was checking who was there with whom, so I slipped in just as the game was getting going.  And my daughter-in-law brought their other two kids later on, so I was fortunate to see all of them.  But with masks and keeping our distance, because that's still what we have to do.

Have you seen the children's book that has been turned into a video, with Mark Hamill (you know, "Luke Skywalker" from "Star Wars") narrating and acting out the parts?  Fun and pointed, see it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60lF1bLAWYA&feature=youtu.be

I am also heartened to know that ANOTHER vaccine is on the horizon, as Johnson and Johnson has submitted their vaccine for emergency use authorization by the FDA.  Theirs is a single dose and does not require the deep cold that is necessary to preserve the Pfizer and Moderna (the latter is the one that my wife and I both received) vaccines.  Seems like the perfect solution to getting the vaccine into rural areas and those entities without the equipment necessary to store and handle the first two safely.

So we're making progress, even if it doesn't seem like it.

And while I was disappointed at the Senate's impeachment trial verdict, I wasn't surprised in the least.  But never fear, the wheels of justice are whirring away with multiple states working toward charges or at least full-blown investigations.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get overheated to compensate for my eventual trip into the cold to shovel that driveway!