Chestatee River 2021

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Kendall and I wore the same sunglasses
The whole Krewe + a dog named Penny
Video highlights, 2021

Notes on our North Georgia kayaking adventures:

  • For kayak rentals, we use: Appalachian Outfitters. This was their Lower Chestatee River trip. Dahlonega is close enough that we do it as a day-trip — drive up, paddle, eat lunch, and drive back. We usually strive to be on the water by 10am (arrive at A.O. by 9:30a).
  • Don’t forget the sunscreen, water shoes and a change of dry clothes.
  • After getting off the river, we enjoyed lunch at: Yahoola Creek Grill (get the fried green tomatoes! And a grouper sandwich!)
  • Kilwin’s in downtown Dahlonega solved our after-lunch dessert cravings (and fixed us up with iced coffee for the ride home).
  • And he was closed when we got there, but if you’re downtown early enough, stop by Brad Walker‘s pottery shop. It’s one of my favorites.

If you enjoyed these photos, you can check out previous years’ highlights here and here, or here.

From My Heart ❤️

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Today I worked 12.5 hours.

The first 5.5 in a covid vaccine clinic. The second 7 hours in an urgent care.

In the first half, I celebrated with patients who will never (or never again) catch Covid. In the second, I picked up my stethoscope to listen to the lungs of a 40yo F with Covid-pneumonia.

I want you to know, dear reader, that when I urge you to get vaccinated, I am not a shill for big pharma. Bill Gates has never cut me a check. I’m not a sheep. And I’m not saying these things because it’s my job.

I’ve been up close and personal with this virus for over a year now. And now, I’ve seen these vaccines up close, too. Not only did I receive both doses of mine, but I’ve given them, I’ve monitored patients who’ve just received them, and I’ve offered education about them — over and over again. I’ve watching in awe as 1,000+ patients are vaccinated in a single day.

From my heart, I believe these vaccines are safe. From my heart, I am afraid of what covid can do to your body and of the many things we still don’t know or understand about this virus.

From my heart, I believe getting vaccinated is the best choice. For you, and for our world.

Vaxxed, 12/23/2020

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One of the very best days of 2020 was the day I received the first dose of my Moderna anti-covid vaccination.

Are you ready to move ‘up and out’ with me? Let’s bring about the end of “Covid Times” together. Video evidence below so you can see the exact moment when I received my vaccine. So happy!

Insta Story of Covid Vaccine Dose, leading the way as a healthcare worker in ‘Phase 1A’.

Summertime in the Days of Covid

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These are strange times indeed, and strange times sometimes call for strange measures. Here’s a look at our socially-distant summer adventures in the days of COVID-19.
social distancing

Carol Anne wields her social distancing aid, the pool noodle.

mother and child with mask

A.’s first Mother’s Day.

paparussandgrandbaby

Papa Russ loves his buddy.

summertime in covid
family covid times
outdoors is safer than indoors
broken tent

Broken tent, still safe.

outdoors
roses

Pharoah’s Roses

puppy drinking water

Otis getting a drink.

grandmama and baby C.
josh outside in summertime
raven the dog
little girl shooting

Bella girl learning to shoot.

baby boy outside with grandmama
kilgore fam
instant memories

Instant memories of a memorable summer.

polaroid photos mother and child
outside during the summer
    Imagine you get a call three days from now. It’s a family member who woke up with a cough and fever. With your heart in your throat, you think back to the event over the weekend — was everyone exposed? What about the one with asthma, was he exposed? What about our father, was he exposed? Did we make a choice that may cost us big time?
 
   …These are the thoughts I don’t want to think. If someone comes down sick, I want to feel confident that we took appropriate precautions to make sure there was no spread within the family. I want to be confident that we didn’t stick our toe over that line.
Our system may not be what you need and that’s ok. But I’m glad we have a system. We have a plan. And if that phone call comes in 3 days I won’t have to worry about the rest of us, just the one that is sick.
 
“POOL NOODLE RULES”
 
All visiting occurs outside. Every family member has a mask and a pool noodle. If you get any closer than pool noodle length to another family member (outside your immediate unit) without a mask, you get whacked with the pool noodle. Masks may be removed (for eating, drinking, etc) as long as you are >1 pool noodle away from anyone outside your immediate unit.
 
Additional stipulations:
Handwashing and masks are required at the food table. Please wipe designated bathroom with Clorox wipes if used.
Stay safe in these crazy days, friends! 

Strange Times

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These times are odd, make no doubt. Here’s a few images to look back at someday and marvel at.

The curve we hoped to flatten
We cheered for the USNS Comfort arriving in NYC.
Soldiers in Israel wear masks.
As do dancers in Shanghai.
A German doctor poses nude to protest a lack of PPE.
A nurse in an N95 counter-protests the anti-lockdown mob in Denver.
We started wearing masks for errands.
And bought stamps when the post office was failing.
We learned about “ground glass opacities” which became synonymous with “positive Covid”.

And we thought the scare caused by SARS-CoV-2 would be over in mere weeks. There was still a lot to come. We did some things well, and will look back with shame on other choices we made as a nation. We didn’t have much information yet, but isn’t that always how these things are destined to go?

Keepin’ Bees in the summer of ‘20

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Some things don’t change, even in pandemics. Like the way beekeeping makes me smile. 

beekeeping in masks for covid 19 times
beekeeping summer 2020
beekeeping 2.0
happy bees
dads top bar hive
queen cells

Queen cells!

boxing up bees

Boxing up a frame with the queen cells to send to Carol Anne’s hive.

box of bees

Packed and ready to go to a new home!

beekeeping

A box of bees with their new Keeper.

A hive check in May 2020 revealed some queen cells on 2 of my frames. Carol Anne’s bees recently swarmed, so we packed up one of the frames to send to her house to live in her Langstroth hive. Hopefully they can create a healthy new hive!