Gradually Opening Up

Today I went into Michaels, searching for a perfect match to an unnamed skein from my stash.  My search was fruitless.  My visit was instructive.

Once again, I left the thing I needed the most at home and had to return.  Once again, the parking situation flummoxed me.  I ended up in  Curbside Pick Up #1.  I left the UV there and went inside.  I couldn't see around the two giant trucks bracketing my little space; backing out would have been perilous.  That, at any rate, was my excuse to myself.

The truth is that I was anxious to get it over with.

There were no bins of discounted items outside the store.  Everything else looked just like it did a year ago.  Uninspiring kid crafts were 50% off, mildly more interesting ones were 40% off.  There were neon Crayola crayons and signs announcing KITCHEN and FAMILY, signs whose obviousness have always disturbed me.  I was tempted by the colored pens and the crafting paper, but I restrained myself.  

There might have been a shopper or two in the store with me.  I saw only worker bees, who scurried out of my way whenever I approached.  The yarn aisles were blissfully empty as I compared my remaining little ball of pink with the samples in their bins.  I found the yarn, but not the color.  

I felt up a few other options, but restrained myself.  I perused the kid crafts once again, saw that there was a line at the cash registers, and left.

It was less terrifying than yesterday's sojourn in the grocery store.  I sanitized my hands and removed my mask and listened as NPR reported on the new and improved statistics on transmissibility and severity of disease for the mRNA vaccines.  

It was a good day, a harbinger of things to come, I hope.