All of a sudden, I feel like things are on the upswing. Here in Vermont, the birds are chirping in the morning again, which is such a welcome sound after a long winter. I heard a woodpecker banging away on a tree yesterday. I think skunks are coming out of their hibernation, one sprayed right outside our barn, and I could smell it in the gym, which I never thought I would be happy to smell.
The days are noticeably longer and will be even longer after we “spring ahead,” turning our clocks ahead one hour on Sunday morning. Since January, the snow that has been on the ground is finally melting with the sun higher in the sky and warmer temperatures. Yesterday, it smelled like spring now that areas of dirt are being uncovered.
I was able to sign up for my first vaccine on Monday morning as a 55-year-old with health risks. I never thought I would be so happy to have just turned a year older! I go on March 17 and feel some sense of relief just having the appointment; I was experiencing vaccine envy like many people are.
I can’t wait until anyone can sign up to be vaccinated here in Vermont and not have to wait for their age bracket. It’s like trying to reach a carrot that’s being dangled in front of you, so close but still out of reach. I think that time will come very soon since there is now a third vaccine available.
People went from doing toilet paper math to calculating when they will be getting their second shot. Then they add two weeks and have the date they can hug and see other fully vaccinated loved ones and friends again, without masks.
I am planning on returning to the Saturday Saratoga Farmers Market next Saturday, March 20. I haven’t been to the market since right before Christmas when the Covid numbers began spiking not only in Saratoga but here in VT as well. I’ve missed our customers, other market vendors, and staff so much.
It’s been a year since I taught my last real belly dance class. Now I feel extremely hopeful that we will all be back to class without masks and not afraid of each other anymore soon. I can’t wait to dance with my dance sisters and to be able to open our Wednesday night classes to the public once more.
Every year I look forward to spring and do a happy dance when the flowers start popping up. After an entire year of hell that everyone has endured, all the little things on my journey this spring seem to be a little brighter, greener, more beautiful than before.
So happy you will be receiving your vaccine soon. Having received my first I can say that the lightness and relief that comes with are wonderful. Like you, we’ve had skunks spraying a bit. Being on the way Northern coast of CA we don’t have winter like you but when breeding season is coming around we smell those skunkies often!