…we’ve been planning what we’d do when this pandemic is over. I kind of thought it would end one day, just like that, and we’d all drop our masks and go to a movie together.
Silly me.
Instead, the pandemic is ending in stages — as it started, though we didn’t know that at the time. At the time, it felt like everything just stopped, on a dime. In fact, the virus had been around longer than we imagined.
So. When it’s safe, what is the first thing you want to do that you haven’t done during the pandemic?
I’ll start: Brunch. In a restaurant with truck-stop coffee. You?
meet friends and walk to a local restaurant on a Friday evening, have a Cosmopolitan or two, pick the one thing on the menu I would not make at home, and walk home.
I finally got my overdue eye check yesterday and now need to pick out new glasses. I hope they let me bring someone. I can't see what frames look like on me with no corrective lenses in them. I'm not 2 weeks past vaccination until tomorrow. Still, over the past week, I've been inside stores more times than in the last 12 months before. Things looked different. And it was like my sense of smell in the grocery store was heightened. I didn't expect that. Maybe I'm too used to my home smells. We've had no bubble, so hugging our parents & adult kids (all vaccinated before us) was at the top of the list. Over the weekend, we'll hug my inlaws (all vaccinated) and finally sit inside with them. Tomorrow I head to the hospital for an appointment, and I'll feel more at ease and completely focused on protecting the people around me. The shift for me is not splashy or celebratory, but I feel hopeful and more at ease, at least to start. I do miss a good brunch & coffee though!
I know. 😔 Plus, we still have a long way to go. For the last few weeks, at the request of a friend, I started posting vaccination statistics. This was this week's post. Personally, I'm looking at the world.:
% of population who has had at least 1 vaccine / has been fully vaccinated as of 4/8/21.
World: 5.1% / 2%
US: 33.5% / 19.6%
CT: 40.6% / 24.9%
MA: 40.1% / 22.9%
NY: 36.2% / 22.6%
Estimated Herd Immunity is 70%-85%. (Fyi... herd immunity varies by disease. So we can only estimate for COVID-19 at this point.)
I have hit retail therapy online in a way that is kind of horrifying. In the last few weeks, I realized that only on rare days does a delivery truck NOT stop at my house. So I quit.
As the mother of someone who does professional haircutting, I've watched her struggle to make ends meet, cut hair on the sly at great financial risk if caught, visit peoples' homes to fill their needs, etc. Today's stylists and barbers already maintain ultra clean and steril conditions. To have been kept from work for so long has taken a tremendous toll on the profession and individuals who depend on the income. I'm glad you have missed a good, professional haircut and it will be the first thing on your list. Tip extra well! 🥰 And thanks.
meet friends and walk to a local restaurant on a Friday evening, have a Cosmopolitan or two, pick the one thing on the menu I would not make at home, and walk home.
That sounds about perfect.
I finally got my overdue eye check yesterday and now need to pick out new glasses. I hope they let me bring someone. I can't see what frames look like on me with no corrective lenses in them. I'm not 2 weeks past vaccination until tomorrow. Still, over the past week, I've been inside stores more times than in the last 12 months before. Things looked different. And it was like my sense of smell in the grocery store was heightened. I didn't expect that. Maybe I'm too used to my home smells. We've had no bubble, so hugging our parents & adult kids (all vaccinated before us) was at the top of the list. Over the weekend, we'll hug my inlaws (all vaccinated) and finally sit inside with them. Tomorrow I head to the hospital for an appointment, and I'll feel more at ease and completely focused on protecting the people around me. The shift for me is not splashy or celebratory, but I feel hopeful and more at ease, at least to start. I do miss a good brunch & coffee though!
Precisely the same reaction. It's not the confetti I expected it would be, but then, I never thought there would be this much loss.
I know. 😔 Plus, we still have a long way to go. For the last few weeks, at the request of a friend, I started posting vaccination statistics. This was this week's post. Personally, I'm looking at the world.:
% of population who has had at least 1 vaccine / has been fully vaccinated as of 4/8/21.
World: 5.1% / 2%
US: 33.5% / 19.6%
CT: 40.6% / 24.9%
MA: 40.1% / 22.9%
NY: 36.2% / 22.6%
Estimated Herd Immunity is 70%-85%. (Fyi... herd immunity varies by disease. So we can only estimate for COVID-19 at this point.)
Shopping at Dollar Tree. I haven't shopped at Dollar Tree to pick up things I don't really need in over a year.
I have hit retail therapy online in a way that is kind of horrifying. In the last few weeks, I realized that only on rare days does a delivery truck NOT stop at my house. So I quit.
Meet with some friends we have longed to see in person for such a long time. This may include a pub, too. Lordy, I hope so!
The common theme here is food. And pubs.
Professional haircut.
As the mother of someone who does professional haircutting, I've watched her struggle to make ends meet, cut hair on the sly at great financial risk if caught, visit peoples' homes to fill their needs, etc. Today's stylists and barbers already maintain ultra clean and steril conditions. To have been kept from work for so long has taken a tremendous toll on the profession and individuals who depend on the income. I'm glad you have missed a good, professional haircut and it will be the first thing on your list. Tip extra well! 🥰 And thanks.
That’s a great point. The times I’ve wandered out, I’ve tipped high because I can and because others may not be able to.
I work the same way. Tip high because next time, I may not be able to. Thank you, Susan.
That sounds like I’m bragging. I didn’t mean it that way.
Lord, yes.
(Though I saw a photo of one of your homespun efforts and it was quite fetching!)
Browse a bookstore for hours.
That was such a luxury and I never understood that.
A quiet, late afternoon, weekend lunch at a local pub followed by a nice walk home. Thankfully, a few of our favorite local places have survived.
That sounds about perfect. My local pub has survived and I am so grateful for that.