90 minutes to no vaccine

[asakiyume]

I was so proud of myself yesterday when I jumped at the signal from the Massachusetts Twitter bot that lets you know when vaccines come available. I got one for me! And then one for Wakanomori, for today .... But his was in Great Barrington and mine was in North Adams... which are both about 90 minutes away. Self, if you are going to jump on vaccines, maybe jump on ones that are just a little bit closer?

But what was done was done, so we both gamely set aside pressing work and drove into the Berkshires--him to the south, me to the north. I saw many interesting sights** on my way, but pressed ahead, not stopping for photos, as I was on a mission, and in this manner got to my destination. And! the doors! were! locked! No one was about!

I looked at the reservation again. It was for THURSDAY. Ninety minutes for nothing, and now another 90 minutes back. At that moment my phone rang. It was Wakanomori. His appointment wasn't until Saturday.

Friends, pay attention when you fling yourself into booking a vaccine.

I canceled the Thursday booking. I don't feel like another three-hour round trip drive, especially as tomorrow is supposed to be chilly rain. I will fling myself at more proximate vaccine opportunities.

**However, on the ride back I was able to photograph almost all the wondrous sights I had seen on the way over. They included:

-- A quite large rock, contemplating its field. If you've read Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower, it looks like how I imagine the protagonist.



--Some very fine cattle, with magnificent horns, chilling:



--A rocket ship, because why the hell not, I guess? Don't look too closely at the message on the rocket.



Best of all, though, was a sandhill crane who sauntered across the road in front of me, elegant as you please with his handsome red mask and his fine legs. Sadly he did not wait around for my return journey to be photographed, but I found this photo, taken by Steve Heaslip for the Cape Cod Times, showing essentially what my crane looked like, though mine was walking in the opposite direction:



Here's the pond he came from:



A cool thing I saw but didn't photograph:

--a massive tractor-trailer that had splashed across its length: TRIBE EXPRESS: A NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN OWNED BUSINESS. So that's pretty cool.

Something I learned: Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, MA. Not North Adams, but Adams. But you want to know who was born in North Adams? Me!

It was a pretty blissy day, really, considering that it included three wasted hours and no vaccine.

Comments

[mount_oregano]

Well, you made lemonade out of a lemon, even if you didn't get your Fauci ouchie.

[asakiyume]

Yeah, thinking about it after a good night's sleep, it was like I was offered a banquet that at first I wasn't capable of truly appreciating because I was so focused on my goal. But by the trip home, I was beginning to see what a beautiful day I'd been given.

I didn't say so in the entry, but the *light* that day was amazing. The clouds were dark but the sun was bright, so in places new yellow and green baby leaves were positively glowing against the sky. And the mountains--going to North Adams, you pass by Massachusetts' tallest mountain. It's a tiny thing compared to a mountain in the Rockies, but still impressive when you're driving by.

I wouldn't have chosen to take a drive that day, but I'm lucky I got to.

[amaebi]

Just think about a top-level diplomat derailed at a state banquet by the gems that are pomegranate seeds....

[minoanmiss]

*hugs you ssympathetically*

[asakiyume]

*appreciates*

[rachelmanija]

How aggravating! But hey, you got a rocket ship and a sand crane.

[asakiyume]

Yes! Real treats. Definitely worth a missed vaccine, all things considered.

[anna_wing]

It wasn't a wasted day, it waa a day on which you went out into the countryside to take photographs! And yes, that rock is perfectly convincing as a god...

[asakiyume]

Exactly! It just took me a few minutes to come round to that way of thinking of it.

[wayfaringwordhack]

Now of course I want to know what the rocket says. :P. Too bad you drove all that way without getting what you wanted, but gorgeous and interesting sights galore: All was not it vain!

[asakiyume]

Hahaha, it was someone's equivalent to a presidential election lawn sign, if that maybe helps you guess.

[amaebi]

I was going to ask delicately if it were a campaign message....

[asakiyume]

And Now You Know.

[wayfaringwordhack]

LOL

Got it. :P

[cmcmck]

Great pics!

I'm glad that even in our little rural town, the local surgery does the jabs, so we can walk there!

The advantage of being a small country!

[asakiyume]

Yeah, the UK has been very impressive in getting vaccinations out to people!

[mallorys_camera]

Please get vaccinated. I wanna hang out and look at Wakanomori's Dremel. 😊

[asakiyume]

Oh I will, I promise. Just not in North Adams. How far away did you go to get yours?

[mallorys_camera]

Well, initially, I was gonna drive to Binghamton! 'Cause I really, really wanted to be vaccinated.

But Mr. and Mrs. Neighbor Ed volunteer with the local county vaccination drive, so on that fateful night they had one extra dose from a vaccine vial that either had to be used or get wasted, they called me.

So, I ended up only having to drive four miles. 😊

[asakiyume]

Score!

Well, I've decided I'm not driving more than an hour, and preferably no more than 30-40 minutes (which is how far away the mass-vaccination site I'm on the wait list for is).

[osprey_archer]

Aww, that's too bad! But at least you did have a beautiful day for the drive, and saw a sandhill crane and a wonderful shadow cow.

Good luck finding a new vaccination opportunity closer by!

[asakiyume]

Thank you!

[sartorias]

Well that's a big pain, but I'm glad of the photos! What a gorgeous crane!

[asakiyume]

It wss like seeing a mythical beast--a real marvel.

[larryhammer]

Friends, pay attention when you fling yourself into booking a vaccine

Word to the wise.

[asakiyume]

Live and learn--I have definitely learned!

[evelyn_b]

I hope your next vaccination journey has an actual vaccine in it! But I'm glad you got to take a nice drive and see a majestic crane.

[asakiyume]

I'm setting parameters on my vaccine searches--no drives longer than 45 minutes one way! But it was worth it for all the great creatures and landscapes I saw, for sure.

[(Anonymous)]

I think my friend saw that crane yesterday, unless there are two in the Berkshires!
And I completely agree about The Raven Tower

[asakiyume]

I have never seen a crane in real life before! So wonderful. (And both alternatives--either that we saw the same one or that there are blessedly more than one in the Berkshires--are wonderful)

So glad you agree about the book!

[westerling]

Oops I just posted anonymously because I wasn't signed in. But my friend saw the sandhill crane yesterday I think, and I agree about The Raven Tower (what a great book).

[asakiyume]

No worries! I unscreened it!

And three cheers for The Raven Tower!

[ladyherenya]

That does look like the rock from The Raven Tower! Since it is (almost exactly) two years since I read it, now I'm wondering -- does it look like the rock because it matches what is depicted in the book? Or does it match what we, as readers, just happened to imagine? Either way, it's a cool thing to spot.

[asakiyume]

It's been about as long since I read it too, and I'm wanting to go back and read the description, so I know too, whether it's "big rock" in the general, or if there are particulars that make me/u feel that way.

I think part of it is that it's a big rock sitting apart from other big rocks (as opposed to, say, in a rocky outcropping on a mountainside ... though come to think of it, this was in hills, and all of Massachusetts is rocky. Massachusetts is basically a pile of rocks, and where there aren't rocks, there are marshes and bogs. Well that's a slight exaggeration, but only slight.)