Looking around here, it sure seems that it is. Masks are a rarity. Restaurants are packed. Plans are being made. Festivals are being held.
Festivals are the perfect super spreader events. Lots of people, many of whom have traveled from other places to join the fun, congregating and talking and eating and being close. Seems like the perfect kind of thing to avoid, right?
But then there's the Tucson Festival of Books.
It's my favorite weekend of the year. Hours and hours of talks and questions and famous people right there in the same room with me. Books and ideas and those who love them mingle and mix in polite if sometimes disorderly crowds. I run into people I haven't seen in forever; I was really looking forward to that after two years of seeing no one.
I reserved tickets to see Billy Collins (twice) and Alexander Vindman and Viet Thanh Nguyen. I noted, with half my brain, the number of seats in the Ballrooms and auditoriums and classrooms. 600. 350. 110.
I haven't been around 110 people in 2 years (not counting air travel). I haven't sat in a room right next to a stranger (not counting air travel) for 2 years. I haven't gone to an event with more than 12 people (and that was my son's wedding) since March, 2020. And I just signed up to spend at least 4 hours doing just that.
The University of Arizona's COVID protocols, which the TFOB is following, mandate social distancing and indoor masking (N95 or 3ply surgical), but a quick look at the stands in the basketball arena shows just how well enforced those protocols are.
So, I sent off an email, wondering just those things. Would there be mask policing? Were they limiting the number of attendees to allow for distanced seating? Just how safe will I be?
So, no, not really, COVID is not over. It's taken on a different profile, but the question is still the same - just how safe will I be?
We are all so anxious to get back to whatever our normal might have been that it is easy to get careless.
ReplyDeleteAnd we're visiting the grandkids and then the SF kids this month. I really don't want to get sick. I really want to attend. Have I mentioned that I hate covid?
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I have been back to school since October, and I want to continue to be there because the kids and teachers need me, and I need them. So, I am very cautious with where I go and what I do because I do not want to carry the plague to these dear people at Columbia. We got a scare a few weeks ago when Terry's physical therapist tested positive for Covid the day after treating Terry. We both quarantined for 5 days, tested,and were fine. However, that meant I missed a week at Columbia. I was furious that a medical person had been the one to carry this virus, and if Terry had not been wearing a mask, he too could have gotten it. We wear our masks every where and I recommend you continue to do so, even if others are maskless.
ReplyDeleteI'm hanging out with the 5th graders in the garden (see tomorrow's post) and avoiding the little ones. Mask mandate has been lifted in school, but I kept mine on.
DeleteMy heart was so happy, and so were the kids.
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We're still wearing masks here but the mandate will be lifted March 12. Then it will be up to individual discretion. Not sure what I'll do yet. It might depend on some medical reports I hope to get this week. Eventually I plan to return to the soccer stadium with 30 to 40 thousand "friends".
ReplyDeleteYour adventures at the soccer stadium are one of my touchstones regarding reentering public life.
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