Okay. Right now, a little energy surge that is going to enable me to get this dispatch written. Must be because I just drank a lot of water. When I’m outside, I get focused on task at hand and I forget to drink. In the winter, water freezes, so every so often I go inside and get a drink. But If I’m exercising horses, I often fail to do this.

My energy could be flagging because I had my second Covid vaccine at mid-morning. Could be psychological. Then again, I could be experiencing symptoms, a sore right deltoid muscle for sure, fatigue, perhaps. In general, being outside in the cold does seem to tire me out. And keeping lazy horses moving takes a lot of energy.

Raudi supervises the unloading

It was like Déjà vu All over Again, Again, and Again. Pete drove and I accompanied him to the Chickaloon Native Health Center. Like before, the temperatures were in the 20s and it was overcast. There was also, like before, a heavy dusting of snow on the distant peaks. And the Matanuska River – the ice flows are now holding their own. It was snowing. We repeatedly commended ourselves for having gone to Anchorage yesterday because today we would have had to deal with snowy driving conditions.

The Chickaloon Native Health Center is, without a doubt, the best place in the whole world to get vaccinated if you are human. If you are a dog, the best place is inside Zach Kaiser’s Mobile Moose van. There are never many people there, and the staff is friendly and attentive. They are now doing vaccines in what usually is the exercise room – it has large windows in which the sun streams in on a nice day. Today, the sun was a fuzzy orb in the gray, overcast sky.

We filled out our paperwork in the main waiting area and then were ushered into the vaccination area. Pete sat in one chair and was vaccinated, and I sat in the other and was vaccinated. I asked and was told that the two nurses were administering 15-20 vaccines a day. The two were genuinely happy individuals who were enjoying interacting with the patients.

We had to wait 15 minutes, just like the last time, just in case we had any adverse reactions to the vaccine. There were none, so we were allowed to go home.

The return trip was a scenic as the trip to the health center. Pete dropped me off in the driveway and headed off to school. I spent the afternoon exercising dogs and ponies. This was just like the last time, though I think that now we have more snow.

The dogs and ponies were all glad to get out onto the trails. We now have to cross a berm going into the Murphy Road Trailhead and one coming off Jim’s Road Trail. This, I think, is good for the horses. Hrimmi balked a bit returning home, but I held out my hand and she followed. Raudi did not hesitate, but, sad to say, she did a full face plant on the steeper Jim’s Road Berm. Poor thing, she was okay, but I did feel bad for her. We’ll see tomorrow if she hesitates going back over it.

My arm is now sore, and I am tired. Hooray for water, so often undervalued.

Next: 50. 2/19/21: Sicker than a Dog