May 2021

Here's a link to all photos and videos from May (If you click on the little "i" (for info), you'll see description notes on some of the photos).

Vaccinated

By the end of May, about half of all Americans had received the full COVID-19 vaccine. I joined that group by getting my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. I felt a bit achy the next day, but overall the side effects weren't too bad for me. I think Becky had it a bit worse when she got her shot. Cases are dropping dramatically and things are starting to feel more normal. It's incredible how effective these vaccines have turned out to be, considering how quickly they were developed and that they are based on new technology that hasn't been used in humans before.  If there's a silver lining to this pandemic, I think it is this vaccine technology because it will now be used for many other diseases out there, including ones we don't know about yet. 

Turning 42

This month was my 42nd birthday, so somehow I have become middle-aged. In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the number 42 is the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything," so maybe there is something wise and magic about this otherwise boring number for an age. Becky made arrangements for us to visit a private park called Boscobel Gardens, which has some nice grounds overlooking the Hudson and forest trails. You'll see several photos of that. We stopped for dinner at a roadside restaurant afterwards. As is often the case, my birthday fell on the 3-day Memorial Day weekend, which we spent at our house in the Binghamton area. It turned out to be a cold and rainy weekend. Apart from enjoying a change of scenery and more space to spread out, we played old school arcade games at Robot City Arcade, we ate out and made some fancy meals, and we got outside to visit parks when we could. Becky got me Jerry Seinfeld's newer book on CD (to listen to on my weekly drives between our house and apartment). I finished Trevor Noah's book on CD she gave me for Christmas, which I really enjoyed.

Other Miscellaneous Notes

We made a trip out to the Orange County Arboretum where all the tulips and other flowers were in bloom. It's quite lovely and there are several photos of that. 

For Mother's Day, I made Becky a pizza with pesto that turned out pretty good (and we called our moms). 

We visited Minnewaska State Park for the first time. It's really big and has very nice trails and scenery. We did a popular trail to a waterfall, and will have to explore more of the other trails in the future. There are no national parks in New York like Arizona and Utah, but this state park is just about as impressive. 

Alex has been into taking a favorite book opened to his favorite page with him wherever he goes again, as you'll see in the photos. This makes picking him up, loading him in carseat, etc. kind of difficult but it's also kind of adorable.  His obsession with taking multiple comfort objects with him wherever he goes is ongoing.

Due to the pandemic, it's been a couple years since we have seen most of our families. But we set plans for a visit to Utah and Arizona before Labor Day weekend, which is when Alex has some time off school, and also after when Becky's brother Nate gets home from his mission (from Brazil/D.C.) and before my niece Isabelle leaves on her mission (to Bolivia). We're really excited for everyone to see Alex, because he has grown so much since our last visit back west. 

My mom had a stroke this month, but fortunately seems to be doing ok. This follows a recent heart attack and surgery that my dad had. So my parents decided it's time to sell their house in St. George, which we've all enjoyed visiting so much over the years. I used it many times as a layover point on my drives between Arizona and Utah during graduate school. With the housing market being what it is right now, they had no trouble selling it and it has been a good investment.