It takes practice. I have not had enough.
Just today, I stopped by Grandma's Garden to water the newly planted baskets without wearing my mask. I entered through the back gate, thus missing the signs on the front door reminding me that We Wear Masks at Prince. There were no scholars on the playground or in the garden with me. I turned on the hose and was gently sprinkling the baskets when a timid voice said Hi, Grandma Suzi.
I turned, I smiled, and I quailed. The child was at the gate. My mask was in my car. I explained why she couldn't come in, repeated it to the younger boy who came a minute or so later, and got out of there as soon as my task was done.
I sat in traffic going across town to Scarlet's house for mah jongg. I sat in traffic coming home to swim with TBG a couple of hours later. Heavy traffic around lunch time was not unusual in the Before Times. When I ventured out a year ago, I was struck by the empty streets. Today, the traffic was a surprise, reminding me that vacationers are returning (and driving without paying attention to where they are going) and workers are back in offices.
NPR was talking about a remake of Music Man opening in the Winter Garden Theatre this fall. I began thinking about taking FlapJilly and her mom to The Big Apple for a girls' trip...... and smiled. I haven't planned ahead in a very long time.
The Pilates Diva and Little Cuter made the same point recently - there is no reason to revert to all our pre-Pandemic craziness. If we need a break, we should take it. Why feel pressure to over-perform? Sometimes, just getting through a day is triumph enough.
That was all excusable during Pandemica. Why should we stop taking good care of ourselves now that the world is reopening? Spending a whole day reading a book was a fabulous way to pass the time when there was no one to visit and no place to go. Now that the world is loosening up, why is that same activity less valuable?
Maybe this post needed a different title? What's Normal Going to Be? seems a bit more appropriate.
I think there were some good things that came out of the pandemic -- no need to jump in the car and run to the store for a single item, more time to read, to care for the house and yard, clarifying who and what is important in our lives, being more present to those we were able to see even if just on a video call. I'm willing to bet it will quickly fall by the wayside for most of us.
ReplyDeleteI think we are still a long ways from the old normal. Maybe we will just have a simpler normal.
ReplyDelete