In the failing sunlight at the end of the day, a possum approaches the tree I’m watching.
It climbs up the trunk onto a large horizontal branch, mostly obscured by the scant foliage in the evening light.
Approaches a large cavity in the limb.
And disappears inside, its rat-tail momentarily still visible.
One might think it’s in for the night, but possums (opossums) are nocturnal, so it was probably just a late day nap in preparation for a big night.
This is what it looks like.
What it looks like when it’s white instead of red, and running around the shallows like a madman.
And what it looks like when it’s scratching behind its ear.
The holiday jigsaw puzzle roars toward completion.
Look. It’s almost done!
It’s a small songbird, but it’s carnivorous. It’s known as the “Butcher Bird” because it catches its prey, normally small mammals like mice or large insects like grasshoppers or beetles, and skewers them on thorn bushes or barbed wire fences to hang there until it’s time to eat them.
I thought this prey was probably a mouse because that’s what they normally eat, but no. It’s a warbler.
It’s eating a warbler!
Count remaining. 221.
This is how it’s being done in Texas. The limited supply of vaccine is available to first responders and anyone over the age of 65 as it becomes available. There were 6,000 doses available today. I don’t know how often that happens, probably not very often, so we took advantage of this opportunity. We had a car-pass, two wristbands, and a registration form.
First, we showed up at our appointed time at the parking lot for the local soccer stadium. (The Toros Football Club)
We stayed in our cars. From there, we were released a batch at a time to drive a few miles to the local basketball arena. (The Vipers) Again, we waited in our cars until they released us to wait outside to go inside.
We worked our way through several lines and checkpoints until we got registered.
Ironically, to get our covid protection we had to do what we haven’t done for ten months; expose ourselves to a bunch of other people indoors for an extended time. In the whole time we were there though, we never saw a person without a mask, so there is that.
Finally, we made it to the floor of the arena where 40 individual stations administered the shots one person at a time.
Then a fifteen- minute hold in the stadium seats afterwards to make sure of no immediate severe reaction, then we’re free.
The vaccine is not without side-effects. Not everyone has them, but we went home and felt pretty crummy for the rest of the afternoon but are mostly better this evening. A worthwhile investment of our time and well-being for the day, for the protection we’ll achieve. After a couple weeks, the immunization will be about 50% effective. That’s a nice risk reduction. After four weeks we return and repeat the process for the second shot. Two weeks after that the immunization should be over 90% effective. A very nice risk reduction. This won’t change our social distancing behavior immediately. There isn’t much data on how long we can expect our vaccine protection to last. We’ll continue as we are and wait for further guidance from the CDC.
