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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

I did not join family last year for Christmas. But this year I flew to the Denver area and spent the holiday with my niece's family. It was 3 days of chaos, as I suspected it would be. Most of that whirled around 1.5 and 4.5 year old girls. They both had nasty coughs. My sister caught that bug, too. But no one tested positive for Covid. So far, I have escaped it. Last Christmas I joined 2 friends at the dog park. This year my sister and I went to Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs. It has some amazing rock formations and the Rocky Mountains form the back drop. That's Pikes Peak in the background of the picture I uploaded. I had hoped to learn more about the role this place played in the lives of the indigenous people who lived in Colorado thousands of years before Europeans arrived. But there was no information available at the park and there is little information online. All of the "landmarks" have European-centric names like "Kissing Camels," "Balance Rock," and "Cathedral Spires." In fact, it was 2 white men who named the area, thinking it would make a great beer garden. I'm sure the indigenous people who knew these rock formations had names for them. So, I've made two trips to the Denver area during this pandemic. And now I will make the best of winter and cold and hope the next Covid variant doesn't crash the world. I got my booster shot in August. That gives me 2 more months of what ever protection I have. By the way, most people I saw in a large grocery store in the Denver area were not wearing masks. How sad.