Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Governor Abbott lifted the mask mandate. Beginning next Wednesday, March 10, people and business owners can choose whether or not masks are required. This caused controversy with school procedures. Each district must decide how to handle the mask issue. Teachers are now able to get the COVID-19 vaccine. I fear virus numbers will increase but many people refused to wear masks all along.
We’ve had beautiful, spring-like weather for the past few days.
Palo Pinto County reported 2774 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 67 deaths.
Friday, March 5, 2021
I went to the movies last night for the first time since 2019. I watched The Little Things. It’s a crime feature starring Denzel Washington. He played a cop. The beginning was a little weird/underdeveloped, but once the story grabbed me, it never let go. And I loved the ending.
Monday, March 8, 2021
The spring-like weather continued, and we had a rough night. Ray couldn’t sleep, and I dreamed I was being chased by pipe-bombers. This likely resulted from watching the Murder Among the Mormons docu-series on Netflix. But I googled “meaning of dreams where you’re being chased” and learned it can be linked to running away from something in your daily life. That’s me in a nutshell. I’m in denial and trying to escape everything.
Palo Pinto County reported 2781 confirmed COVID-19 test results and 68 deaths.
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Ray’s quail for the farm came in the mail this morning. They are so tiny and cute. They’re slightly bigger than a quarter. I enjoyed watching them learning how to eat and stumbling around after being released from the postal mailer.
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Today was our second day of vacation in the hill country. We were shopping at a Farmer’s Market in Cedar Park, TX when Matt called to tell me three stray dogs had attacked and killed my old cat Tonto. She was 19 years old, slow, and nearly blind. I will miss her. A stray cat had been hanging around, but he got hit on the highway recently. Now I’m a cat lady with no cat.
Fortunately, the dogs didn’t get any of the livestock.
There’s a restaurant we like down here called the Gnarly Gar. The structure’s built on a dock on Lake Travis. Boats can sail up to it, and last night while we were eating a lady fell off a boat while it attempted to dock at the restaurant. All the waiters rushed over and helped her out of the water. It was pretty exciting.
In the hill country around Austin and Lake Travis masks are prominent, even at outdoor events.
Friday, March 19, 2021
We had a great vacation, but it’s always good to be home. Matt cared for all the animals and even cleaned the house before we returned. He’s bottle feeding a young lamb. She is so cute and soft. The quail have tripled in size and are mostly feathered now.
Austin news reported a new strain of COVID-19 at UTA. Although we didn’t go into Austin’s city limits, I will wear my mask at church and shopping this week since we were out around people and in restaurants much more than usual this week.
President Joe Biden is taking credit for 100 million shots. He made a campaign promise of 100 million shots before his 100th day in office. He met that goal and will announce his new goal next week. Ray and I are scheduled to receive the Johnson and Johnson single dose COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday the 23rd.
Monday, March 22, 2021
Two dogs from the pack that killed our cat were back today, and they killed a chicken. Matt asked Ray to pick up some shotgun shells on his way home from work, but Academy was completely out of ammo. We are unsure how long there’s been a shortage.
A gunman killed 10 at a supermarket in Boulder, CO today. It was a little unsettling to hear about this on the news since I’d been out shopping most of the day. The shooter was 21 years old.
Today was our 35th wedding anniversary and Ray took me out to dinner at Al’s Italian Restaurant.
Palo Pinto County reported 2828 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 70 deaths related to the disease. Texas has given 9.73 million vaccinations, 3.19 million are fully protected.
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
I started working at the Center of Life Resale Shop today. I’m now a member of the Texas workforce and wondering how I’m going to manage keeping up my writing momentum. But I need to be working. Organic feed is expensive and hard to find.
Ray and I got our COVID-19 vaccinations today. The Johnson & Johnson version was not a painful injection at all. We joked that now that we’ve been “chipped” we can just think about something and the online ads will start popping up. Ray had a headache most of the evening and blamed the shot. I hope I don’t experience any side effects since I am babysitting a one year old tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
I woke with a 100.8 temperature which is higher than when I actually had the virus. I had muscle spasm-like pains randomly throughout the day and was so tired, but I was able to keep the baby. She’s a sweetie.
Thursday, March 25, 2021
I’ve had two dreams since receiving the shot. Tuesday night I dreamed I was bit by a rattlesnake. Our children were young and it seemed like there were more numerous than two, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to shuffle them in the car so I could drive myself to the hospital. In last night’s dream, I had an evil spirit inside me. I’m pretty sure I’m dealing with some underlying fear about a toxin inside my body. It doesn’t help that the injection site feels like a small knot and is still sore, or that Ray and I keep referring to it as “the chip.” We were both more tired than normal this week, but I blamed some of my fatigue on my new job.