RHYS BOWEN: Ten days ago I got my second vaccine shot, so by the end of this week I should be safe to venture beyond the confines of my own home for the first time since March last year. Actually that’s not quite true. I have been to the supermarket during senior hour, at seven thirty in the morning once a week. We walk twice a day in local parkland. I’ve actually braved the post office when I’ve had to send off books. But that’s about it.
So no lunches out, no evening restaurants, no theaters, museums, bookstores. Nothing that makes life rich and exciting. We’ve had take-out from a few restaurants but on the whole we’ve found it disappointing as it’s usually cold by the time we get it home. And most of all no meals with family and friends—indoors at least. We have dared to meet from time to time outside on my balcony or patio. But at distance, with masks and no hugs.
And in our professional sphere we’ve missed book launches, book tours, conventions, fans, fun lunches, late night chats with friends in the bar. I know it’s been the same for all of us—a long, boring, worrying slog with no end in sight. Until now. Later this week I am heading to Arizona. We haven’t been able to spend our usual winter at our house there, so I’ve missed drives into the desert, meeting friends at favorite restaurants and especially barbecues in my daughter’s backyard and the twins school activities. So I’m so excited to be with them again. Clare and Tim have both had their shots so I’m hoping for lots of hugs. And also looking forward to seeing our granddaughter in a leading role in the school musical. After a year of isolation and learning from home, the kids have finally gone back to the class room. TJ is wrestling and Mary Clare is singing and dancing. I’m so happy for them.
And I'm daring to dream about travel again. This is the first time we haven't spent the summer in England and Europe for many years and oh, how I miss it. But I've tentatively booked a cruise for NEXT spring. Fingers crossed.
Okay Reds, Where do you stand in the vaccine line? And what will be the first thing you do when you are finally free to spread your wings again?
LUCY BURDETTE: We are very fortunate to have both shots under our belts. That means we are going out to dinner tonight (outside, I still won’t eat inside) to celebrate a friend’s birthday (they are vaccinated too). So thrilled! And we have plane reservations at the end of March to go to CA and finally see the grandchildren. That all could change in a minute if the virus ramps up, of course, so we stand nervously ready to pivot. And I’m working to help some other elder friends who aren’t Internet savvy find their shots. Sigh. The system was broken before it started.
JENN McKINLAY: I’m at the bottom of the list for a vaccination, I’m afraid. I’m not old enough or essential enough -- darn it! But Arizona does seem to be rolling them out swiftly so my hope is that I’ll be vaccinated by the end of April. I sincerely hope so because I have a lot of research to do for my book set on Martha’s Vineyard, and I really need to do the boots on the ground walking tour of the place to get it just right.
HALLIE EPHRON: I’m finally scheduled for my first shot. My intrepid daughter spent two and a half hours on line battling with the scheduling system and finally scored an appointment for me. I’ll drive about 40 minutes to our local football stadium to get the first dose, then wait and go again for the second one, and then wait… what are they saying, 10 days to develop full immunity? But we’re not planning any trips or events, not until we see the numbers that are going down stay down.
I think the roll-out is going to accelerate quite a bit and certainly they’ll fix the registration systems. I’m optimistic. And dying to see my grandchildren.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m in Jenn’s group - neither old enough, nor essential, nor (thankfully) do I have any comorbidities. My poor daughters are desperate to see me vaccinated, but frankly, I’m fine - I work from home anyway, and I can continue with Zoom church and Netflix instead of movie theaters for the foreseeable future. I’m hoping maybe sometime in May? June?
The travel that’s most tantalizing isn’t my own - I’d love to have the Sailor and his girl visit this summer. She’s already had the vaccinations (works in the medical field) and the Navy is prioritizing getting its people immunized. (Which is an interesting topic, because I’ve seen nothing about vaccines for the Armed Forces in the public discourse.)
I can spend another summer socializing outside and staying six feet+ away from my friends. I just want to get to summer - at this time of year, it’s very hard to imagine it will ever get here.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: We are now more than two weeks past our second shots. Rick has been able to make plumbing supply runs to the hardware store (masked, of course) without worry, so we were very grateful for that after the storm here in Texas. I've done little errands, just popping in a few places for this or that, which I would not have done pre-vaccine, when pretty much my only outing was a weekly senior hour grocery trip to Trader Joe's. It felt enormously liberating just to do some ordinary things. I think we will be gradually ramping up our expectations. A haircut (yay!!! After a year!!) An outdoor lunch with my daughter! A dash in B&N to pick up a British home magazine! But I'm not ready to contemplate travel until a lot more people are vaccinated and the numbers are down.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Jonathan has had both shots---hurray, and it is such an amazing relief! He had absolutely no side effects. Not a shiver or even one moment of discomfort. It’s so reassuring and it feels like I am a thousand pounds lighter. In two weeks, he’ll be back in court, and that'll be incredibly weird. He now has a dentist appointment too, and I said--I’ll go with you! He said--why? And I realized, we have not done anything separately for a year. What a transition.
As for me, I’ve had my first shot, no side effects. And, if all goes as planned--please cross fingers for me here in Massachusetts, which is ridiculously disorganized--I’ll have my second one on March 9.
And let me say, how weird is it? That we are living in a time where the universe says: Okay. You won’t die IF you get a shot of something that will save you, but MAY make you briefly sick and unhappy, but in 12 hours you’ll be fine, so--will you do it?
And of course I will, with endless delight.
RHYS: So who else has had their vaccines? And what does everyone dream of doing first?
