Sunday, January 24, 2021

So It Goes


As I've mentioned, Olga went through a period a week or two ago where she seemed a little more lethargic than usual. She was still eating well but she just didn't seem to have much get-up-and-go. She was ambivalent about going on walks, for example, which is unusual for her.

So yesterday we took her to the vet for a checkup. She hadn't been in a while and I figured it couldn't hurt. The vet said she seems to be in good health. She did say Olga's joints seem a bit stiff, which we already knew -- she's already taking Metacam, an anti-inflammatory medicine. The vet said we could add another painkiller to Olga's regimen but between my making the vet appointment and our visit, Olga seemed to feel much better -- we went on our normal morning walk yesterday, for example -- so for now we're going to leave everything as is and continue to add paracetamol as needed. I mainly wanted to make sure she wasn't having any kind of adverse reaction to her Metacam.


In the afternoon we went to the cemetery, where we found a patch of daffodils already in bloom. To Olga, they were just another obstacle.


We saw lots of parakeets swooping around. They seemed very taken with the bark on this old dead tree. They must have been eating insects out of the cracks. This tree seems a bit hazardous to me -- it's right next to the chapel and if it falls it looks like it could damage the building. But I guess if the birds are using it as a food source that's a reason to let it stand.

The top photo, by the way, shows a mark on another tree in the cemetery. I don't know what it means but the tree looks like an old one. Hopefully the intention is to preserve it or get it pruned or otherwise looked after by an arborist.

And speaking of trees falling, apparently the winds of Storm Christoph last week knocked over an old willow tree that Dave and I often pass on our walks to and from work. I didn't take that route last week so I didn't notice the damage, and apparently now the beloved tree has been removed. The council says they'll plant something else but it's a shame to lose the venerable old willow. "So it goes," to use Kurt Vonnegut's memorable phrase.

When we got back from the cemetery I had a long Skype call with my stepmother in Florida, who I hadn't spoken with in a while. It was good to catch up with her, though she already knows what's going on with us because she reads my blog. It was mainly a matter of me learning about her activities. She's thinking ahead to cruises she's going to take once the coronavirus situation is past. We all need things to look forward to!

In fact Dave and I need to make some travel plans, too. We have several credits with airlines and tour companies that need to be used. We're holding off until we get the vaccine, but I've been amazed at how many people are still flying internationally. Dave has many students who join his distance learning classes from the USA, the Caribbean and even Brazil, where they decamped with their families over the holidays and have decided to remain while our lockdown is in place. It sort of annoys me that other people are enjoying exotic vacations while we're barely leaving our garden. Am I a chump for being such a rule-follower?

41 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

No you are not a chump. A couple of days ago, one of Shirley's nursing colleagues was visited by the police. They had received a report that someone had been visiting the nurse's family home who did not belong to her household. She admitted this. It was her son who lives alone in a flat in the middle of the city. The nurse and her husband were given an official warning but fortunately they were not fined. Meanwhile, Heathrow Airport greets or says adieu to air travellers who are not staying home.

By the way, I said my walk in "Last of the Summer Wine" country happened some time ago because of a particular blog visitor who enjoys picking on my faults and wrongdoings and is a beacon of holy righteousness in this pandemic. I delete whatever he writes as a matter of course.

Ursula said...

Are you gullible? I don't know, Steve. Just as much as all of us have different pain thresholds (both physical and emotional) we also have different comfort levels as to taking risks. I do take calculated risks. Those I can't calculate I'll avoid. If I go on like this I'll soon sound like an insurance underwriter :)

Would I travel at the moment? No. In the current mode of hysteria borders appear to get closed at a second's notice - and then what? My particular nightmare being stuck forever in Beirut Airport, the most miserable, desolate place on earth. Don't ask how I know ...

Soon there will come a point at which we have to ask ourselves what the aim is. Is the aim to NOT die of the VIRUS or is the aim to actually enjoy life with all the risks it entails? Talking of which, and maybe I shouldn't put this into writing, one risk I will NOT take for the foreseeable future is to be vaccinated by a rushed and largely untested vaccine.

U

Ursula said...

Whichever miserable curtain twitcher reported a son visiting his family should be named and shamed.

U

Moving with Mitchell said...

I wouldn't be comfortable traveling anywhere right now and am looking forward to my opportunity for the vaccine (which now looks like after April 15). I wonder if Olga's old bones react to the weather. (I have a "friend" with old bones who was recently very achy.) Hope she continues to feel like her young self again. And tell her to stay out of the daffodils!

Anonymous said...

We will be looking at travel plans for March and not particularly COVID related as we won't travel overseas, but it will be cooler and the weather more realisable then.

Trees for execution here are marked with a large X cross here.

Blods said...

Shirley’s colleagues can form a bubble with their son who lives alone, unless they have already formed one with another single relative or single parent household. Blods

Bob said...

We're doing the once-in-a-while day trip by car, but it'll be a long while before I get on a plane again. Until then we'll travel in our own area and avoid crowds and close quarters.

Peter said...

Here a yellow paint spot means the Tree Warden has marked them for removal.
As to being a rule follower, no you are not a chump. If everyone was like you (and me) there would have been a lot fewer deaths.

Ms. Moon said...

I'm glad that Olga is okay. Bless her heart- she's just feeling her age a bit. I can certainly relate.
Those parakeets are joyful spots of color, aren't they? I bet their chatter is nice, too.
I hear you on wondering if you're a chump. I see people who haven't seemed to change their lives much at all during this pandemic and some of them are just fine- no virus. I don't know. We do what we must, according to our own internal dictates. May you be able to travel again though, sooner rather than later.

Debby said...

There's a difference between being a chump and being sensible. I think you're simply being sensible. On a different note: Daffodils? DAFFODILS? I've seen pictures of snowdrops. Spring seems to poke its head up pretty early in your neck of the woods. We won't be seeing these things until March.

Anonymous said...

Really glad that Olga is okay. That's such good news and we need all the good news we can get.
I think it is smart and also thoughtful to stay home. Soon the vaccines will be more available and we'll all be vaccinated and thee will be herd immunity and life may return to some sense of normalcy. I'm so tired I'm writing run-on sentences!
So it goes.

Red said...

In this day and age we badly need chumps who follow the rules.

Marty said...

No chump you. I'd as soon string a wire from one skyscraper to another and walk it, as I would get on an airplane right now.
I'm always surprised by the idea of parakeets flapping around in London. Or England, for that matter.

Elle Clancy said...

You are not a chump. You are sensible and thinking of others. Hopefully, the vaccine rollout will improve here in the US. Right now it is a mess. And that is the kindest thing I could say about it.

Sharon said...

No, you are not a chump at all. You are one of the smart ones. It's the one's not following the rules who are causing the spread. I finally got an appointment to get the vaccine on February 5th at 9:45PM way over on the other side of town. And, let me tell you, getting the appointment took 4 hours of battle with the state's website. I'm dreading the drive over there way more than any fear of the vaccine.

ellen abbott said...

my brother-in-law and his wife and kid lived in Denver. his wife decided they were moving to Dallas so that the kid could grow up around his cousins and aunts and uncles. BIL has a dental practice in Denver so he's been flying back and forth every weekend until he can sell his practice. he got covid and gave it to the rest of the extended family in Dallas so no, you are not being a chump. you're being responsible.

too bad about all the old trees.

Margaret said...

If you're a chump than I am too. I've cancelled two trips to New York and a cruise to Alaska. Traveling is too dangerous right now. There are calculated risks and the stupid ones. I don't eat inside restaurants. I haven't had my hair cut for a year. I've been doing only grocery pick up for the past two months. I'm very much looking forward to getting the vaccine although it won't change my behavior much, not for a while at least. Glad that Olga is doing OK. Old age is hard on all of us.

Catalyst said...

No chumps here and it's pretty damned boring. But as old Kurt would say "so it goes". And I say "this too shall pass." Be safe, stay home, give it time, my friend.

Angelicastar said...

I was social distancing before the pandemic. So it's not bothering me by staying home. I was going to the grocery store by 7am this morning and missed it by over sleeping. I will do it Monday morning by that time. More people will be at work and not in the store. My neighbors see me leaving and coming, but then to if I am working in my yard we will talk at a distance. That is seldom though because my son does the yard. I've always lived like this because too many people gossip and keep up mess all the time. That is what some live for and to get away from it, I have always lived like this. I am happy and more so safe by being the way that I am. I still have to go to the doctor, etc. I never could figure out how I caught covid in April. I was doing everything I thought was right.

Ellen D. said...

You wouldn't want to travel now anyway as many places are closed or filled with people who are NOT being careful.
Stay safe and plan travels for the rest of your long life together!

Elizabeth said...

Not sure if it's available or whether you've tried it with Olga, but I hear good reports about the use of CBD for dogs. It's a potent anti-inflammatory, so it makes sense! By the way, the chumps are those who travel for "fun." Don't get me started.

Steve Reed said...

Thanks for the tip! I think you've mentioned that before. I'm not sure how to get CBD here, or if I even can. I don't think Olga is in such dire straits that we need to go that route, but if she gets worse we'll keep it in mind.

Steve Reed said...

Wow! I'm surprised people are being so vigilant (or nosey, depending on how you look at it). I can't imagine people here in London would be paying that much attention to their neighbors. I couldn't tell you whether my neighbors had a visitor or not, and I certainly wouldn't call the cops on them. I had a feeling you were joshing about the timing of your walk. :)

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, that's a good point -- not only do we need to worry about the risk of infection, but also the risk of the travel/quarantine rules being changed and leaving us locked up or out. This is all a matter of balancing risk and reward, isn't it? It's been that from the beginning.

Steve Reed said...

Olga is bad about running through daffodils. I think to her they're basically just tall grass and she likes the feeling against her belly.

Steve Reed said...

I hope you are able to travel in March as planned. Australia and NZ have managed all this so well -- although NZ just had a case pop up, did you see that?

Steve Reed said...

Thanks for the rule clarification! That's my understanding of the rules, too.

Steve Reed said...

Good for you. This is the first time since we moved to London that I wish we had a car.

Steve Reed said...

I don't think they're going to remove that tree. If anything I think it's marked for preservation. But I could be wrong.

Steve Reed said...

I think Olga feels achey when it's cold, which I totally get! It's astonishing what some people do during this crazy time. Some have barely changed their lives at all.

Steve Reed said...

This is the earliest clump of daffodils I've seen. None of the others (including the ones in our garden) are flowering yet, although they have come up and have buds.

Steve Reed said...

And I'm hearing that places like Brazil are actually quite dangerous now, so it astonishes me that Dave's students are staying there.

Steve Reed said...

Amen to that!

Steve Reed said...

They do look a bit incongruous, especially in winter!

Steve Reed said...

It's kind of a mess here too. But it sounds like Biden is trying to develop a more comprehensive planned approach, and hopefully that will help.

Steve Reed said...

Oh good, I'm glad you got an appointment! (Although it should NOT be that hard!) My stepmother has been unable to get one yet, and last we heard Dave's parents haven't been able to get one either. (They're all in Florida.)

Steve Reed said...

Ugh -- well, there you have it. There ARE risks to flying. I know surprising numbers of people who have been on planes with no apparent ill-effects, but who knows whether they're really staying uninfected. They could just be asymptomatic.

Steve Reed said...

We're the same -- we haven't been to a restaurant since last summer, when the numbers were way down, and even that made us nervous. Fortunately I cut my own hair!

Steve Reed said...

Yes, you're right. It's just a matter of waiting it out.

Steve Reed said...

It DOES help when we keep to ourselves anyway, doesn't it? Dave and I aren't the most social people in the world so we're kind of the same way, although I do miss going out to a pub with my friends and coworkers now and then.

Steve Reed said...

Yes, you're absolutely right! And there IS a risk of getting stranded somewhere or caught in a long, unplanned quarantine period.