Wednesday, December 2, 2020
The Mineral Wells Library is closed to the public again. Porch pick up is available but you must make arrangements in advance. We checked out Falling Skies on DVD. I’m not a real fan of sci-fi, but I noticed Steven Spielberg produced the series and decided to check it out. If you liked Walking Dead, you might enjoy this. We started the second season last night. It aired for five seasons. Ray, Matt and I all love it.
Palo Pinto County has had 1265 positive cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths.
Tuesday, December 7, 2020
We’ve had some excitement around the ranch lately. Last night the power went off for a little over an hour. We lit all the candles and oil lamps we found, and today they are still cluttering up the house.
A few months ago Matt and Ray started selling grass fed beef locally. Ironically, today around lunch time, a meat truck was rear-ended by a petroleum truck and crashed through our front fence. We weren’t keeping any animals in that pasture and no one was hurt. But traffic was slow for a while. Fences and vehicles can be repaired. We are blessed.
It seems once again the COVID-19 numbers have been tweaked. Today’s records show Palo Pinto has had 1190 confirmed cases and 35 deaths.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
The FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 yesterday. Hospital workers will be the first to receive the shots. The media reports we should continue wearing masks and brace ourselves for many to be sick this winter.
It rained yesterday and a cold front blew in today. The high was 54 degrees.
Palo Pinto County reports 1474 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 41 deaths.
Sunday, December 13, 2020
This morning was a cold, rainy, and dreary, and Ray woke up with a fever and sore throat. Perfect weather for lying around the house. We watched church on YouTube. When he was awake, he wore a mask and collected log-in and password information for me on any accounts I don’t usually access. It needed to be done anyway.
He worked overtime at the rodeo events for the last two weeks. Las Vegas refused to host the nationals this year due to the Pandemic and Fort Worth jumped on the opportunity.
A COVID-19 test is scheduled for him in the morning. The fire department has access to tests with immediate results.
Monday, December 14, 2020
Rapid test for COVID-19 was negative on Ray. False negatives are common on this test. He did a saliva test that takes 3 days for results. The fire department doesn’t want him back at work before saliva test results are in. He swears he has Corona Virus, but he’s no longer wearing his mask and his appetite has not been affected. He coughed a little this morning and slept most of the day. He ran a low-grade fever off and on.
Thursday, December 17, 2020
We got Ray’s test results this afternoon. He tested positive for COVID-19. He still has no respiratory issues, just slight fever and aches.
I was surprised at the positive results. I’ve had a fever off and on for two days, and some random joint pain. If Ray hadn’t been ill and the thermometer had not been on the counter, I probably wouldn’t have taken my temp. If this is Corona Virus, I’ve had worse jet lag. But I’m thankful we all experienced mild cases.
Matt woke up with a fever and slept most of the day.
Over 3,000 people in the U.S. are dying from Corona Virus every day. Palo Pinto County has had 1601 positive cases and 41 deaths.
Friday, December 25, 2020
An RV bomb exploded in Nashville around 6am this morning. Twenty buildings were damaged and three people were injured.
Matt was the sickest one of the three of us here at the house. He was glazed over and lethargic for almost two days. None of us reached a temperature of 100. Guidelines we found on quarantine time recommend ten days from noticing symptoms. Ray’s time is up, but Matt and I still can’t leave. Ray drove our Jeep to town and one of Matt’s friends saw it and asked why I was out spreading COVID-19 since I usually drive it. Matt explained that Ray drove it to run errands, and we had a good laugh.
We’ll see Stephanie and Hayden on Sunday for the first time in over two weeks. It doesn’t feel like Christmas. It just feels like another loss. 2020 has been full of fear and loss. Loss of friends, loss of freedom, loss of holidays due to fear. Fear of contracting the virus, fear of spreading the virus, fear of losing friends and family.
Palo Pinto County has had 1727 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 44 deaths. Texas has had 1.66 million cases and 26,879 deaths.
Monday, December 27, 2020
The last few days were beautiful, but today was cold and cloudy. Our quarantine ended Saturday. Stephanie and Hayden ate dinner with us last night. I went to Aldi today. It was my first outing in over two weeks. And Ray is back at work. We were all ready to get away from home and each other.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Palo Pinto County are up to 1739 and deaths are holding at 44.