12 Months of Covid

Eerie, unreal, crazy . . .  one year ago those were my words to describe the abrupt and unanticipated changes that occurred early in the pandemic.  Now, what was once hard to fathom has become a way of life.  Problem is, what has become a way of life is about to change.  With the change, I must again recalibrate what is safe and what is unsafe, what precautions remain necessary, and what precautions are no longer required.

I’ve gotten my two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.  Easy enough.  No side effects.  Not even a sore arm.  I’ll trust the scientists and assume the vaccine will protect me from any significant Covid-caused disease.

I am venturing out a bit.  I have been in a couple of stores to buy clothes.  I have taken the cars into the shop.  I have browsed the bookstore.  I now go into the grocery store.  My wife just gave me my final home haircut.  Through this past year she did a commendable job, but next month it's back to my barber.

I expect to do some limited travelling in April to visit family. The CDC has just given the okay to hug the grandchildren.

I thought that getting out and going into stores would feel liberating.  Instead, it has been a bit of a letdown.  I go into the stores wearing a mask and sanitizing my hands. I notice that inventories seem low. I realize that there is still a long way to go before life is ‘normal’. I wish otherwise, but the pandemic is not over.

I am not yet ready to eat inside of a restaurant, but drive-throughs and outside dining are now possibilities.  I suppose, when I get back together with friends there will be few handshakes and we will sit farther apart.  I miss live theater and concerts, but it will probably be a while before I’ll venture into a large and confined crowd of people.  An Alaskan cruise used to be on my bucket list. That won’t be happening any time soon.

I have acquired some behaviors during the pandemic that I expect will continue. For now, I will continue to wear a mask in public buildings. I will continue to regularly wash and sanitize my hands.  I will continue to carefully wash fresh produce. I will continue to Zoom, to bank on-line, and to shop on Amazon.

Some pandemic inspired behaviors I will gladly discontinue.  No more hoarding paper towel and toilet paper. No more obsessively watching the daily Covid news.  No more jigsaw puzzles (at least for a while).

It was 70 degrees outside today and sunny.  I took a long walk through the park. Most everyone I passed smiled and said hello. The playground was filled with children.  My first reaction was a small gasp.  Children have not yet returned safely to school, yet here were so many children without masks, crowded together, sharing playground equipment.  They were running about, laughing, playing and for a fleeting moment life seemed wonderfully back to normal.