Baker's heartbeat

       Steve and I, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.      It was October, 1989, when husband Steve, my father, Emery Cox and I left an Iowa State Cyclones football game in Ames. The Cyclones had lost, 52-17, to Colorado. We walked back to our car, parked at the Iowa State University Veterinary school, and then drove back to Dad's home in Tipton, Iowa.     That was the last time I saw my father alive. He died of a sudden heart attack a few days later, three months before daughter, Kirstin, was born.     That 6-5, 1989 season was also the last time we had Iowa State football season tickets.       Until 2021.     This year is special. While Steve and I have been to games in Ames several times in the intervening 32 years, we actually had season tickets for 25 years to the University of Iowa games in Iowa City. Virtually all my friends are Hawk fans, as is my husband. I root for the Cyclones bu...

      Grandkids Hailey, Brady and Collin; all three of them had some real oddities during the last school year, or so, in Iowa. Me and Steve, in Charleston, South Carolina last spring.       Do we understand what just hit us?  Maybe not -- certainly not in a historic sense.     I was a child in the 1960s and well remember the terrible assassinations of that decade, including President John F. Kennedy, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, and Sen. Bobby Kennedy, a presidential candidate.  At just 10 years old I knew these killings to be "bad," but I had no clue how they would play out in succeeding years.     I have a hunch the latest crisis -- COVID-19 -- will become the worst challenge our country has faced in modern times.     More than 620,000 people have died of the virus in the United States (4.03 million in the world).      The crisis is ongoing to an extent, partly because some Americans re...

       The basket of masks is located near the back door.  You can't miss it!      I ran errands a couple of weeks ago and encountered confusing face mask-wearing signs at two businesses.     One, at Green Thumbers, a flower vendor, said that masks not necessary inside the store. The second, at the Menard's store in north Davenport, said that unvaccinated persons should wear masks, others need not.     I put on my mask when indoors at both places.     I don't know about you, but I'm still cautious when shopping indoors.       We Bakers have been fully vaccinated since May, and both of us are quite healthy, thankfully.  But this "in-between" time of wearing, not-wearing masks, is problematic.     A smart friend suggested I simply social distance from others, indoors. That's very difficult at a place such as HyVee, the grocery store. I wore a mask when shopping there on Monda...

      I was happy to have finished my first 5K!         That's the 1973 girl's track team at Tipton High School.  ( I'm 4th from right, second row ) Folks at the Gigi's Playhouse Superhero event in Bettendorf.  They were most supportive of runners and walkers!      The June sun was shining, a light wind kept the humidity at bay and I was among a few hundred men, women and children who today (Saturday, June 5) ran a competitive 5K race on the Duck Creek bike path at Veterans Memorial Park, Bettendorf.     This was a fitness challenge I set for myself last year. When that became impossible I made it a priority this year. Regular blog readers will know that some of my main interests include staying fit and gardening. Gardening ( gardensirencall.blogspot.com ) takes priority this time of year.     But a user-friendly 5K,  https://gigisplayhouse.org  was set for June 5 and that race ...

A new pair of Balega socks feel great! Socks in a special drawer: Organized with critters on some styles, other styles for cold weather, half-sized nylon sockies for certain shoes and several pairs of athletic socks.        I've got a love affair going with socks: Clean, colorful, comfy socks.     (This has continued for years, luckily, husband Steve just puts up with it.)     I have a dresser drawer especially for socks and it holds styles for summer, winter, and seasons in between.    Some socks are for around the house but also when we are out-and-about.     Some are for certain shoes. Many pairs of mine are for athletic shoes as I work out five days a week and also plan to do a 5K race. Seasonal pairs are for Christmastime; others have critters on them.     I have socks for when I substitute teach in local schools. I have socks for when we head out to lunch or dinner, usually outdoors somewhere.    ...

       The Bakers took a selfie while on a hike at Scott County Park, Iowa.      It was exactly 14 days ago when Steve and I received our second, and last Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19.     It was six days ago when the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, or CDC, issued a surprising edict from Atlanta: Fully-vaccinated individuals could safely go without masks outdoors and indoors.     So it was that I entered Modern Woodmen Park on that same day, one of about an estimated 40 percent of those at the baseball game so attired. Lots of folks seemed to be immediately comfortable without a mask in mixed company.     I am not.     "I don't change, quickly," I recently explained to Amy, the hair stylist who helps me monthly. We talk about COVID-19 and vaccines a lot, because, well, it's a popular topic of conversation.     Yesterday (May 18) I got my hair colored and cut, and did not wear a ma...

The first thing Steve and I did after getting our second Pfizer shot on May 5 was to buy tickets to a Q-C Bandits game. Here I am, on Thursday, masked up as full vaccination isn't until May 19.      The governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, has the right idea: Earlier this week, DeWine announced financial incentives to those who still have not gotten a COVID-19 vaccine. Residents of Ohio can win up to $1 million after they start the vaccination process.     Ideas like this are most necessary to reach those who are hesitant about actually getting the shots.      Life is getting somewhat easier. Fully-vaccinated individuals now may resume activities they did before the pandemic, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, Atlanta. Fully-vaccinated means individuals have received one of the three recommended vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson) and waited 14 days.     That will be May 19 for us.     ...