To the Editor,

We were driving along a golf trail in the deep woods of Texas when one of the grandchildren yelled, “Look, a tarantula!” Of course, we stopped to look at this amazing and somewhat terrifying creature about the size of a large man’s hand. The boys held a stick in front of the spider and it reared, putting up its front legs as if to box us off. The encounter made me think of keeping such things out of my house. Would I want a tarantula setting up residence in my home, laying its eggs, and multiplying in a corner cabinet?

I would imagine your answer would be the same as mine: a resounding “no”. However, we are doing exactly that with covid. This invasive virus is simply looking for a host, a place to set up housekeeping, multiply, and if it’s really lucky, to mutate into a bold new killer. It is a creature that wants to continue to exist and it needs a home. It doesn’t care if the host is democrat or republican, the color of the host’s skin. Nor does it care if the host is rich, poor, old or young.

So by not taking the free vaccine we, humans, are continuing to host a virus that at its least will slowly fade into history...or maybe, it will mutate into something new.

Sharon Dieckmann
Innsbrook