Sunday was a beautiful day, probably the best so far this year. So, we drove to Forest Park for our walk. Unfortunately, half of Saint Louis was of the same opinion and had already gotten there first. We ran straight into a huge traffic jam around the zoo, which took us easily half-an-hour to get out of. But eventually, we extricated ourselves from the mess and headed to the empty quarter of the park, the southeast side. There we were mainly successful at avoiding the maddening crowd. We spied the pictured Red maple blossoms on the golf course. Didn’t see much wildlife, because there were too many people in the park. Now Sunday was the most beautiful day so far this year, but today is Monday at it looks even better. We are breaking out the bike for the first time in almost a year. We were going to ride yesterday, but with the crowds that would have been too much. Today will be much saner, quieter and a much better day for us to get back on our bikes. Time to pump-up those tires.

Last week, we got the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Of the three Covid shots that are available, this one has less of a stellar reputation than the other two-dose varieties. It is only rated 66% effective at preventing a Coronavirus infection as compared with 95% for the Pfizer and Moderna varieties. These statistics have led some doubters, like the mayor of Detroit to shun the J&J vaccine in lieu of the other two types. Even though medical experts advise people to take the first shot offered, like we did. These numbers though don’t tell the whole story. The J&J vaccine is newer than the other two and was tested and shown to be effective against some of the new Covid variants that have arisen since the other two went through trials. No one ever takes last year’s flu vaccine. Most importantly, the J&J vaccine has been shown to be 100% effective at preventing hospitalizations and death, which are the most important things. So, I’ll leave vaccine envy to those who have not received any vaccination and not worry about which shot I got. Eleven more days until immunity.