100.1°

Thursday we got our second Covid vaccine shot. It took exactly one hour from getting in line to driving away. This time, an Orange County fighter, rather than a nurse, administered the shot. I don’t know if that was the cause, but by evening, my arm was really sore. My shoulder hurts all the time anyway, which I am hoping to deal with by continuing my shoulder exercises. They helped my right one which no longer hurts.  I think I did them both in by over-zealous gardening when we first moved to our little house. If a couple months more of strengthening exercises don’t improve my left shoulder, I’m going back to the orthopedic surgeon to see what is the problem.

I digress. My arm hurt like the bejeezus, but I consider it a small price for the relieve of getting the vaccine. Friday morning, we decided to visit Bok Tower to see grasses planted around a bog and a pond, which I learned about at an Orange Audubon Society Zoom meeting. Bok Tower, in my memory, was green lawns and azaleas. Who knew they’d put in native plants. Perhaps we could see which ones to put by our canal and our ditch.

Everybody and his brother was driving on US 27, so it took over an hour to get to the middle of nowhere. By then, lunch was due. We ordered sandwiches from the Blue Palmetto Cafe on the tower grounds and ate them in the bird blind at the pond. A lovely place, but all the grasses were trimmed to promote new growth! Ditto at the bog boardwalk. Ah well, I can read about native grasses online and choose from what’s available at the nursery.

We walked around the grounds and listened to the organist play a concert on the tower carillon. There is a TV projection of him, but we didn’t get to where we could see it. The azaleas were mostly past; the camellias were lovely. I needed to stop a lot and catch my breath. Fortunately, there are benches everywhere. Really delightful.

After a couple of hours, I was beginning to flag. Another slow drive home, and I was ready for a nap when we got there. My temperature was 100.1°. From all I’ve read, there wasn’t any reported difference in reactions between patients who got the vaccine and those who got a placebo. Fevers, sore throats, etc. were uncommon in both groups. So, what the heck? 

This morning, my fever is gone, and my arm is barely sore. Annie did her usually kitty alarm, being a little considerate and not going off until 5:20. I got up, made coffee, fed Annie, and did my Tai chi class. This afternoon, I’m making reservations to visit Mary in San Diego. All is right with the world.