The fully vaccinated no longer need to mask up when they’re out walking, running, hiking, or biking, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
However, if you’re out robbing banks, knocking over liquor stores, or burgling the homes of absent walkers, runners, hikers, or bikers, it’s probably still a good idea to keep your mug covered, regardless of your vaccination status.
You might just get your shots without the fuss of making an appointment, of course. But then life is full of risks, no?
April 27, 2021 at 2:02 pm |
Saw that too and cheered, but do we have to wait for Her Royal Highness of New Mexico to concur?
April 27, 2021 at 3:41 pm |
Mutations, mutations, mutations. Until evidence clearly indicates our immunizations will substantially protect us against a covid variant, and if a number of us wish to interact with those who are health compromised, then throwing on the mask for indoor excursions or in outdoor areas where ventilation is low and keeping less than 10 feet apart is not possible, is still a wise decision. Either of the three currently administered vaccines should protect us from significant hospitalization if a variant is aggressive enough to overcome our now-enriched defenses. But taking the chance at this time, with a large number of people who are either anti, reluctant and /or procrastinators about receiving a vaccine is not worth it. I’d hate to be that “somebody” who (whom?) just happens to fall outside the sixth sigma of projected case curve that will contract the virus after vaccination, and then pass it on. Nope, I’m not going to toss 13 months of patience and perseverance down the drain.
My area just kicked back up into the High Risk status for diagnosed cases. That’s not surprising for a place where the number of lifted modified diesel and 4×4 pickups exceeds the median IQ.
April 27, 2021 at 3:59 pm |
Its way to early to let the guard down. But for a long time I’ve wondered why I need to wear a mask on singletrack when no one is within fifty yards of yours truly.
April 27, 2021 at 5:07 pm |
Yup. I’m in no hurry to go back to what passed for normal before the deal went down. I’m still minimizing my wandering around and about, hitting the grocery every 10 days or thereabouts. The other day, I went to a bike shop for the first time in months, and the manager and I stood around outside, masked, and discussed bikey stuff for a short while. That was a big day out for me.
That said, I drape a Buff around my neck when hiking or biking on singletrack, and pull it up over my snout when anyone gets within 25 meters. I also find a spot so I can step off the trail a few paces. If I’m riding the road I pull it up at stoplights just in case some sneezer in an SUV has his window rolled down.
It’s not the most Bug®-proof mask in the world; more of a social cue that I’m not a self-absorbed douchenozzle. That’s good enough for the great outdoors, as far as I’m concerned.
April 27, 2021 at 7:33 pm |
Yep.

April 27, 2021 at 8:10 pm |
Here’s an interesting back-and-forth among three of The Atlantic‘s people about how introverts and extroverts might be looking at post-vaccine social life.
April 27, 2021 at 8:28 pm |
Only four guys at our jam session today. All of us were at least 3 weeks past our last jab of Moderna juice. One is my bubble friend, and I know the other two and observed their behavior during the last year. We shook hands, sat distanced but unmasked, and played and sang for 2 hours. No one else in the rec center. It felt really strange.
April 27, 2021 at 8:56 pm |
“It felt really strange.” I bet. We chat with our neighbors in the cul-de-sac, at a distance. The kids violate our airspace from time to time, but hey, they’re kids.
Herself has had to go into the lab a few times to address hardware issues, but mostly it’s Zoom this or Skype that.
Me, I blog. Go to the grocery, the pet-food store. Take Mia to her checkups (hand cat to nurse in parking lot, wait in car to have her handed back).
We talk to Herself the Elder on the phone, through her bedroom window.
That’s … about it. Kind of a long year, actually. And I would dearly love a nice long road trip. But the idea of sleeping in a bed I don’t own, eating food I didn’t shop for and cook myself, and consorting with crowds of The Unknown … well, I might need a little more time to get comfortable with that.
April 28, 2021 at 6:57 am |
I dipped my toe in the social pool. I am not even thinking of any social activity with bigger groups that includes people I don’t know well. I am getting tired of doing the risk analysis math every time I leave the house. But, I will do it until herd immunity is reached in the country.
April 28, 2021 at 12:25 pm |
“Let it rain, let it pour, let it rain a whole lot more…” Good for you! We got a 1/4 inch last night, with a few sprinkles today.