A Full Weekend

Pandemica is expanding her reach.  Before vaccination became available, there were very few choices. What began as restrictive soon became a comfort.  As long as we stayed inside our own personal space (and weren't we glad it is such a nice personal space) we were safe.  

Washing the groceries became unnecessary once the virus was determined to be airborne and short-lived on surfaces.  DoorDash and the grocery stores figured out how to keep us fed; no one came closer than the trunk of the UV or the pony wall at the edge of the courtyard.

There were no sports - to play or to watch.  There were no parties or meetings or appointments to keep.  There was just Pandemic. 

We soldiered on.  What does that call up for you?  I'm thinking of mindless masses walking in formation, following the orders from above, not knowing or caring where we are going or when it will end, just plowing along in an orderly procession, hoping that those in charge know what they are doing, knowing that that hope was futile, and yet carrying on just the same.

We had no choice.  The fox was in the henhouse and the farmer was no where to be found.  Then, Joe Biden was elected.  We started to sleep more comfortably, though the situation on the ground hadn't changed at all.  Once he got into office and things started moving, another kind of anxiety arose, though.  Now, we had to face A Return to the Outside World.

At first it was just an idea.  When we can..... fill in the blank with go out to eat, sit on a friend's couch, hug our kids..... just filled us with joy.  The notion of newness, reinforced when I walked into a Walgreens to get my first shot, was overwhelming.  There was so much where there had been so little.   

Now, there is more.  TBG waits until Wednesday until he passes into Fully Vaccinated Plus Two Weeks mode.  but I am two shots and two weeks plus into our new world. "You are chomping at the bit to get going, aren't you," was his response when we decided to embrace our new reality and invite Not-Kathy and Dr. K over to watch a basketball game.

We've been seeing them - masked and distant and outdoors - all year long, bringing our own cocktails to sit on their new roof deck, watching the sunset and quantifying our illnesses and our losses.  The visits were frustrating but fortifying.  Now, it seemed like we could actually do more.

Following the CDC guidelines, we determined that TBG would be safe, even though he was still several days from completing his two week waiting period.  We called him our One UnVaccinated Person, even though he's so close, and, since we knew that he had be rigorously staying away from pathogens floating in the air and we knew that the other 3 of us were protected by modern science, we agreed to have an in person, indoor, experience.

I cooked.  TBG cleaned.  I forgot that you have to start early if  people are coming over; I was barely out of the shower when the doorbell rang.  The guest bathroom mirror never did get wiped down, but our guests did not complain.  Knowing someone for 40some years adds a layer of comfortable not noticing.

We hugged.  We laughed.  We cheered and hollered and were so glad to have other people to share the joy.  The UofA women crushed UCONN, a result none of us expected and all of us enjoyed.  We ate dinner and dessert and found comfort n the little things we used to take for granted.  Not-Kathy was, as always, freezing in our air conditioning.  Dr K and TBG found that they share a fondness for AT&T's spokesgirl, Lily.  My roses were admired.  It was an ordinary Friday night, one we've reenacted hundreds of times before.

It was the best night of the last 13 months.