V-Day!

 Last night we spoke with Matthew....our newly 18-year-old grandson.  He is pretty cute, and he is the same age as some of the missionaries we work with.  In fact, we have a young Brit who reminds me very much of Matthew.  In just a few months Kimball will also be 18.  How did this happen?

Yes, this is a day when we should break out the Bubbly, but we are saving it for the day we are notified that I, too can stay in UK until September 13.  So today, we will celebrate the first dose of COVID vaccine.  We walked about a mile to the clinic.  My appointment was at 1:10, so we left a half hour early, thinking we might have to search for the entrance or whatever.  It was a beautiful afternoon, after a morning of fog and mist.  It was still pretty humid by the time we started to walk, even though the sun had come out shining brightly, with stark contrasts of shadow and light.  By the time we got there, there were drops of glistening water on SK's eyebrows - not sweat, just condensed water!

How can you resist going into the "Giggling Squid?"

The building is nothing to write home about, but that name!

I think this door and others in this wall are about five feet tall....SK and I would both have to bend down.

We passed by some lovely old buildings and turned into the area where the clinic sits.  The parking lot was mostly empty because there was a long queue of people standing 6 feet apart.  I think there were about 30 people lined up and waiting patiently, each face obscured behind a mask.  As you might guess, most people in the line looked to be in our age group.

SK's appointment wasn't until 2:40, but he insisted on going with me in case I had a reaction to the shot.  Since he was on the schedule the lady who checked us in graciously told him to go ahead and get his vaccination along with me.  We took our passports, our letter accepting us into the NHS, our identification and our expired residency permit card.  

All the lady wanted was our names, which she found on her computer and then checked off...motioning us to one of the dozen temporary clinic shot sites.  What they were actually was a large gymnasium-type room with small desks and three individuals clustered around each.  SK and I both went to one of those little mini-clinics, where one of the individuals also checked our names off on an ipad and asked about six questions (are you allergic to any medication? are you taking a blood anticoagulant?  did anyone force you to come? etc.), one oversaw the operation, and one gave the "jab."

It was such a short small needle, and the jab was over before I had a chance to make a witty comment to the technician! (not that I had any witty comments).  We were on our way in no time.  A man who was directing people told us that we were in line for the Oxford (Astra Zeneca) COVID jab and would not even have to sit around for fifteen minutes.  It is apparently very safe....with next to no side effects.

It seemed appropriate that on our walk to the clinic, we passed the Oxford University Press, as well as other delightfully-named places of business.

All over town you see motor bikes and bicycles, and in some cases, people on foot with these little turquoise-colored boxes.  They work for a place called "Deliveroo and they deliver hot meals to anyone willing to pay to have something brought to their door.  There is always a group of these Deliveroo drivers outside of McDonalds, Pizza places and Five Guys.  When my visa gets approved, we are going to order dinner from Five Guys.

You know I never tire of snapping pictures of our backyard castle.

This is coming the back way to our flat, past the back of the backyard castle.

Just when I think the streets can't seem any more deserted, I snap a picture like this, no cars, no buses, no pedestrians, no bicycles!

When we got home, I joined a call with the sister missionaries and one of our new young adult members, a cute young woman of 18, poised on the edge of adulthood.  She has been accepted at a nearby college for musical theater and will be entering next September.  In the meantime, she is home alone in her room (her mother works, and her sister is not fun)  The missionaries do something I think is wonderful, and that is they continue to meet with new members for up to a year, giving them lessons about the gospel and getting into the scriptures with them.

After that, two of our young adults came by with cookies.  They are so adorable, and it reminded me why we have been so lonely.  They are full of life and I love them dearly.  They brought a young man with them who is being taught by the missionaries.  He is a chemistry major.  I love being able to associate with them.  They said they can hardly wait to get to a time when they can come over, have a meal with us and then watch a movie.

They have lovely memories of eating here and thinking the food was fantastic.  It reminds me of a movie, "Enchanted Cottage" where the leading characters are both either deformed or just very homely, but when they are in their enchanted cottage, they are beautiful.  When young people come here to eat, I think the food must be enchanted!

We had an excellent missionary Zoom call this evening, picked up our weekly groceries, and did a little studying.  Voila!  for V-Day.