Sweet Surprise

When I took the time to look at the miniature cactus on my kitchen window sill a couple of days ago, I noticed that it was about to burst into bloom.  Sure enough, by today, this is what it looked like.  

I haven't posted for a couple of days so I haven't had the chance to express my relief and utter joy that our 4-year nightmare is over.  I spent most of Weds crying as I watched the inauguration and festivities.  

The last few days have been filled with example after example of how people with knowledge and competence that are now running our government will lead us out of the morass that we are in. My days will no longer be filled with outrage and anger at things that I can't control.  I have no illusions that everything will be perfect under the new administration, but I also know that the new government is working for us with the right motivation.  I feel like this tremendous burden has been lifted.  The relief is beyond anything I have ever experienced in my life. 

For whatever reasons, the vaccine rollout in the State of Maryland has been very slow.  I spoke to one person with knowledge yesterday that only about 50% of the essential front line workers at our local hospital have been vaccinated so that tells me that in our county, we have a long way to go before they will get to me.  It feels like the 6 weeks since the vaccine was released have been riddled with problems and it seems that every state's experience is different, with varying degrees of success and failure. I am so grateful that we are headed for an accelerated national vaccine initiative that should eliminate some of the inequities.