Day 15 - Mask mandate RESCINDED. We do NOT need to mask indoors.

B. an I went on a Moon Hike this evening, sponsored by the Santa Clarita Library…

“The BA2 are coming!  The BA2 are coming!” In Britain, the case rate per 100,000 residents is doubling, from 395 to 694 infected patients; in the EU, the rate has risen from 764 to 872 cases, per 100,000 residents. It’s still many times greater than what we’re currently seeing in California, but the US tends to follow the UK by a couple of weeks.  

A review of my fellow Americans’ poop shows that more than 1/3 of the CDCs wastewater sample sites across the country depict rising Covid from 3/1/22 to 3/10/22, even as reported cases have stayed near a recent low.   Wallowing in poo is really the only thing the CDC ever got right – the “Wastewater Monitoring Program” actually works... 

But that’s not the most important headline today!!  This just in!!: New data suggests that the J&J vaccine is as successful as the Moderna and Pfizer MRNA vaccines in reducing hospitalizations and deaths! The NY Times reports that the J&J actually kicks ass!  Go Team J&J!  Recall that I’m a J&J vaccine recipient. I did my research, took a calculated risk, got the one-and-done in April 2021, and escaped unscathed, sans blood clots. Nine months later, I contracted Omicron and lived to tell about it. The MRNA vaccines [Pfizer and Moderna] do not work well against Omicron…J&J does, according to the NY Times.

3/18/22. Friday 

9:30-10:30 – I’m up so I go downstairs to say good morning to the dog. She rolls over on her back so I can rub her tummy and I sit next to her for kisses and cuddles. I’m not in any great hurry so I can spend more time with her this morning. Eventually, I cue her to go outside and we head for the patio. I wait for her to go potty and we return inside: cheese for her, coffee for me.

-Kitchen duty.  I do the dishes, clean the kitchen, and drink my coffee.

10:30-1:30 – Blog posts and I eat my leftover poke from Geoffreys.

1:30-2:00 – I upload my blog posts.

2:00-2:45 – I change into my painting clothes and finish sanding the last plank of my pallet. I listen to Martinis and Your Money.

3:00-3:30 – I do a 15-minute Insanity Max – Ab workout.

3:30-4:00 – I wipe down my bathroom and tidy my room.

4:00-5:00 – Shower. I sit in the shower and ice my eyes. Lotion. Light make-up. I put on my hiking uniform. I listen to Film Week on Air Talk.

5:00-5:30 – I prepare bags of snacks: cheese, walnuts, and apples.

5:30-9:00 – B. arrives and we drive to the Harvest Moon Hike, sponsored by the Santa Clarita Library’s One City, One Book, which happens to be The Nature Fix. This hike is at “Golden Ranch – Open Space”, and I’ve hiked it before with my Tuesday hiking group - it’s close to a 90-degree incline and I fear that the regular civilian population will have to tap out, this hike is that difficult. Library staff, a yoga instructor, and a group of civilians convene at the bottom of the mountain, and free snacks and water are distributed. There are also three hiking guides, dressed professionally, in black hiking attire. Nobody is masked, but we’re all outside so it doesn’t matter.

-B. has no problem with the hike and we eventually make it to the top, where the views are incredible…you can see most of Santa Clarita. B. packed a tarp and I brought my yoga mat, in preparation for this event, and all of us set up shop, rolling out our blankets and mats in preparation for the guided meditation from the yoga instructor as we wait for the moon to rise. There’s a problem with the yoga instructor’s microphone and most people can’t hear her, but B. and I are sitting close enough so that it’s not a problem.

-After the guided meditation, B. and I lay on the tarp and wait for the moon to rise. For the next 30 minutes, it looks like this is not going to happen. It’s very dark and I’m wondering how we’re all going to make it down the mountain safely, with no light source, although I did bring a flashlight. The moon slowly starts to rise over the mountain.  It’s huge, full, and orange, and lights the way. After the moon has risen, we all walk slowly and cautiously down the mountain.

9:00-9:30 – Driving

9:30-11:30 – B. comes in for a couple of hours and we talk politics. B. leaves.

11:30-12:15 – Nighttime routine. Bed.