Wednesday February 24, the 55th day of 2021

The big news of the day was Tiger Woods who wrecked his car. He has several breaks in his leg. This could be the end of his career.

It looks almost certain now that we will go through our second straight winter without seeing 0°. The coldest it has been in Clarion this winter has been 3½° (Feb. 8). The lowest temperature last year was also in February, 5½° on Feb. 17. The last time we reached 0° was January 31, 2019 when we bottomed out at 8° below zero. 

Lue went to see her shoulder surgeon. She was hoping that this would be her last trip down to Wexford. While she was there, she showed him her hand where a lump has been growing. She asked if that was related to the shoulder surgery. He said no, but that it needed to come out. So, much to her dismay, she is now scheduled for hand surgery in May with Dr. Buterbaugh.

I, along with others, am scheduled for my second coronavirus vaccine this week (Friday). Due to the interruption in delivery of the vaccine due to last week’s winter weather, those scheduled at the Clarion Hospital on Monday will have to reschedule. Whether or not it will affect us remains to be seen. If the vaccine is not available for our time slot, we can expect to receive an email. The hospital’s website says to check back there often for updated information.

Rick was up today. He took his mother down to see Tenley and Maddox. Rick said he is flying with Drew to Naples this week. Drew has an interview for a job.

I picked Don Dininny around 4pm and we went over to see Craig and Mary McMahan. We visited with Mary for about a half an hour then prayed around Craig before we left. Mary said that Becky was picking her up some groceries and that she and Dr. Tim would be there soon. Shortly after I got home, Becky called and said that as they were arriving, Craig passed away. He is the second member of our church to die of COVID-19.

Today ended the 4th straight week where we failed to reach 40°. This streak should end next week since Wednesday is forecasted to have a high of 42°. The month is expected to end with temperatures reaching 43° on the last day of the month and 41° on the first day of March.

Mars 2020, a Mars rover mission by NASA's Mars Exploration Program, landed today on the red planet. The rover is named Perseverance and the drone helicopter is called Ingenuity. It was launched on July 30, 2020. The goals are to explore the landing site, see if there are signs of ancient life, to gather rock and soil samples that may be brought back to earth somewhere in the future, and to demonstrate the technology for future robotic and human exploration. Perhaps, if they hurry, I will be able to spend the final years in a Mars’ nursing home.