After Easter, we had kind of a quiet month. The big thing to look forward to was our friend Ruby’s birthday. Poor kid has now celebrated two birthdays during a pandemic. Her parents rented an inflatable water slide though, and in a year with very little playing in the water, this was A Very Big Deal. Maya played in the water nearly the whole time she was there. Ian played in the water until he was chilled through and then switched to sword-fighting with Herbie and eating WAY too many cookies.
Bouncy water slide! Happy birthday, Ruby!
We watched parts of our garden come back to life, and we also had a few things we just had to give up on. We finally left our palm tree for dead. During its long and neglectful life though, it had established one hell of a downward root system – so much digging! On the other hand, a 15-foot tall bay laurel tree looked deader than dead, and so I finally cut it down. As I was clearing leaf litter from its base, I notice little pink buds. Not long afterward, bright green branches popped out. By now, we’re back to having a small bay laurel bush again.
The little bay laurel that could
Maya made a kente cloth in her art class. They spent WEEKS on this project painstakingly weaving. Seeing a tedious project all the way through can be tough for our girl, and so Maya was quite proud of herself when she was finished.
Starting in March, we were on bluebonnet watch. We drove by our “normal” photo locations. Heck, we even watched the highway medians (not that we were out driving much). Except in a few drainage ditches here and there, we weren’t seeing much. We had heard over and over again that our big freeze shouldn’t have any impact on the bluebonnets. But it turns out our very dry fall probably did.
They spent most of their time catching ladybugs
We were starting to get desperate and began seeking locations outside of Austin. In poking around, we found out that Muleshoe Bend puts on quite the bluebonnet show. A quick hour-long drive out, and we were there. We didn’t have to wait in line, but certainly they were doing a hoppin’ business. On initial glance, it seemed horribly crowded (go figure), but having camped there just last fall, we knew that there were pretty views up ahead and hopefully less traffic. Jackpot.
The kids were much happier here than at our normal spot. Instead of wall-to-wall bluebonnets, these grew in little clumps. Maya and Ian were able to run around between the clumps catching ladybugs and grasshoppers and didn’t have to suffer their parents telling them to be careful not to step on the bluebonnets a hundred times. We cajoled Ian into wearing jeans (which he hates). Maya, you may notice, chose her own outfit. At any rate, the tradition remains intact.
We were there too!
The big news this month has been that Sean and I both received our final COVID vaccine doses. Sean unfortunately was laid up for a few days after his second dose, having suffered a pretty fierce reaction. I lucked out and didn’t have much beyond a sore arm and possible tiredness that could have been blamed on a dozen other things (I’m always tired). We are still wearing masks when we go out, but at least now everyone in the house has had a haircut. We are doing our part to limit COVID spread, and that is a good feeling.
Apparently, there’s finally enough going on that I haven’t managed to be as obsessive about COVID case counts, though I’m watching vaccine percentages like a hawk. For our first vaccines in late March / early April, we had to drive out of town, demand was so high. By late April, we were both able to schedule second doses in town. I hear supply is finally outpacing demand. That is not a good thing if the reason is that demand has slackened. C’mon people, if you’re able, please get your vaccine.
Anyhow, here are comparative numbers from yesterday, since I failed to grab them at the end of the month. I’d like to breathe a sigh of relief, but as mentioned, vaccine adoption seems to be foundering, and the state of things in India is pretty damn scary right now. Percentage of US population that has been fully vaccinated (16.6% as of 03/31 according to the data Google compiles, 34.2% as of 5/08). Travis County – 03/31 79,217 cases and 817 deaths – 05/09 82,901 cases and 858 deaths. Texas – 03/31 2,791,910 cases and 48,252 deaths – 05/08 2,914,504 cases and 50,643 deaths. United States – 03/31 30,460,837 cases and 552,073 deaths – 05/08 32,707,359 cases and 581,752 deaths. The World – 03/31 129,006,800 cases and 2,817,932 deaths – 05/08 157,946,278 cases and 3,288,638 deaths.
