昨日中午時分，邊上的朋友告訴我說，附近有一個不需要登記預約可以直接過去打疫苗的臨時場所。我猶豫片刻後急急忙忙出了門，沒有喝水沒有吃午飯, 12點20分左右到達一個parking  lot, 然後走向那邊搭著帳篷，旁邊停靠著一輛大bus的空地，自覺地加入了稀稀疏疏的排隊人群中。後來聽說工作人員都是義工，他們正在午休，要下午一點才開始打。就這樣站在加州三月毒辣的陽光下，一站一個多小時，期間我脫下了外套罩在頭上。排在前麵的也正好是個中國人，她身旁還有一個馬上要高中畢業的女兒。兩人開始聊起天來。她可以算是新移民，才來五年不到，不會英文，不會說也聽不懂，要她女兒幫忙翻譯。後來交談多了才知道，我們居然是一個教會一個小排的，隻是我現在不去了，新人都不認識了。

 

匆匆忙忙的，也沒想起拍照。下麵這張還是朋友告訴我時送過來的。

 

 

中午一點以後，後麵的隊伍越來越長，等填好表格，簽了免責，量了體溫，血壓，心跳，聽完一些instructions，再遞交表格，讓義工登記進電腦，一切就緒後，我往前走了幾步排在了一輛大bus台階下，等裏麵的人打完出來。一兩分鍾後就輪到我了。我走進bus, 剛擼起袖子在指定的位置上坐穩，一個手拿細細長針戴口罩的義工就走了過來，消了消毒，一針紮了下去。紮下去時倒是沒什麽多大感覺。出來後， 排在我前麵已經打了疫苗的那位中國人一臉困惑地對我說，胳膊上什麽感覺也沒有，都懷疑那人沒有給她打，會不會就貼了張創口貼上去了事了。她說的那麽肯定，我隻好讓她把創口貼掀開來讓我看看。仔細看了看胳膊，上麵好像是有一丁點紅點，不明顯。 看來針很細，她又太緊張了。

 

打完疫苗已經兩點多了，本來要求坐上15分鍾才能離開。因為惦記著要回家上班，我隻坐了五六分鍾就匆匆起身回家了。結果，回到家中才發現防疫卡上的名字寫錯了一個字母，不知道打第二針時能不能改回來。據說以後可以拿這張CDC的防疫卡去辦疫苗護照。具體情況不知道，反正現在還回不了國，中國尚且不認我們在美國打的疫苗，但相信情況都在變化中的。

 

到了晚飯時分，打過疫苗的那隻胳膊開始疼起來了。從小到大打了這麽多疫苗，不記得有哪一次會疼到抬不起來胳膊的。看來醫藥的發展，人類以毒攻毒的技術也在加劇。不過因著胳膊疼，某人親自下廚，親自洗碗，把廚房水槽台麵洗了個底朝天。我趁機誇他呀，說，洗的這麽幹淨啊，從此以後能不能天天洗啊。某人答曰，可以，但是有個條件，晚飯要少做，少而精:)) 

 

今日起來胳膊依然抬不起來，故此每天左右手交換打乒乓球的活動，今日隻得有勞右手了，連拋球這個動作都是一隻手獨立笨拙地完成的，掛下來的左胳膊直直的，不敢動彈。某人見狀，把他的左胳臂插入褲兜中，說要公平地和我這個"獨臂老尼"決一此戰。今日外麵氣溫高達80多度，在七十多度的室內揮拍，沒揮幾就出汗了，不過運動要的不就是出汗嗎?

 

也不知道兩人這樣在家上班的日子還有多久，已經聽到可能要回去上班的風聲了。如果真是如此，我一定會懷念這一年多在家上班的日子的。

 

三月的最後一天記此，時光太匆匆!

 

Nine selected spring pictures were posted on Wechat Moments on 3/29.  I purposely pointed out the striking contrast between the last two pictures:  a bare slope taken in this March versus the same slope clustering with vibrantly blooming lupines shot two years ago.

 

3/27/2021

 

3/23/2019

 

 

A friend of mine living in Florida asked me why there is no flower this year.  I explained that unlike many other places where spring may never fail to bring forth new life and abundance, our spring hinges on much last winter’s rainfall.  Our mountains are green for about a month or so before the meagerly stored water under the surface ground dries up.  The ensuing heat and drought only hastens the return of dull valleys, where only drought resistant plants or deeply-rooted oaks survive the rest of the seasons.   When there is a copious rainy winter, the decade-long seeds could be shaken up from their dormancy in the underground, and in turn ushers in a rich spring.   2016 was a good year, as I witnessed, when even the flowers in the desert like Death Valley were in its rare spring super bloom.  But more often than not, we are faced with lean years, when the limited rainfall stunts the growth of wild flowers and oats, and to survive they have to race against nature to seed for the next generation. It is a test of resilience.

 

3/27/2021

 

對比3/23/2019 同一個山頭，遠眺同一個山頂

 

3/27/2021， 當然還是有些草的。

 

 

This is the shade we rested under after a sweltering hike in the sun.  While we were enjoying the breeze there,  from the empty trail appeared a young man and his unleashed dog. The dog was panting hard, its long tongue hanging down outside  the mouth. He disobediently walked off the trail towards us, defying his owner's instruction of "no rest". But that resistance only lasted for seconds before the dog trudged back to the sunny trail towards its next stop.  Leashed or not, the dog is at its owner's hand. If I were the owner,  I would have let the poor dog rest in the shade:))

 

We met the new neighbor Paul on the driveway last Saturday as we were driving home from the hike. He was on his roller skates, with a helmet and knee pads tightened around his head and knees.  As he walked out of the then Tom’s garage and approached us, my guess that he is the husband of C whom I talked to a month ago faltered. Somehow I cannot match his young-looking face with C’s winkled one. He stopped to introduce himself that he is a nurse and that he is C’s husband. Then he tried to explain to us that to be on roller skates is to maintain his brain elasticity, as he is sixty years old this year. We both wowed, and in unison, complimented him for looking so young.  But was it the reason he told us his age?

Yesterday afternoon, I got my first shot of Pfizer vaccine at a temporary walk-in site, after waiting in line and going through the process for about two hours. Last night, the left arm was so sore that I cannot lift it to cook or to wash. Luckily the soreness abated after 24 hours with no other immediate side-effects or symptoms.