It’s now been five weeks since my second Moderna shot so I’m getting more adventuresome.
This afternoon I went to a demonstration at Philadelphia City Hall, led by Jamal Johnson. He’s made the news with his hunger strike to get our Mayor to act on a City Council resolution calling on the City government to do more to stop the gun violence that is plaguing communities here. Every day I read stories of young people and innocent bystanders who’ve lost their lives in shootings. But I was stunned when Jamal called for a period of silence to remember those killed just in this month of March. 114 seconds for 114 people, not to speak of the more than 600 shot. One hundred and fourteen dead, and the month is not even over!
I took a SEPTA bus back home from the demonstration, my second first. I would have taken a bus to City Hall, but I missed it by seconds. I must admit not practicing equanimity and right speech at the driver who ignored my frantic arm waving as I moved as fast as I could to get to the stop. Walking down the Parkway on this gorgeous Spring day worked off my frustration and helped burn some pandemic pounds. Wore masks for both these firsts.
This week marked two other post vaccination firsts. Anne Mei and her partner Katie drove down from Boston to visit for a couple of days. We haven’t seen each other since she left for Boston when the University of Pennsylvania moved her classes online last March. While they were here, we played Go on two evenings. This was the first time I’ve been able to get someone to play at length with me since I became intrigued by the game while watching Counterpart . Needless to say, they beat me both nights, even though they’d never played before. Ah, youth!
My next first will be to go down to Texas to visit my older offspring, whom I haven’t seen in more than two years. Hopefully in early summer when I’ll wish for today’s balmy 81 degrees.