I find myself in a Friday night position that I haven't seen in a very long time. I got done with work, Diana has gone off to work at the performing arts center, I'll make some dinner for myself and Simon, and then, I dunno, we'll hang out. Tomorrow we'll visit a theme park. Last weekend we went bowling. My upcoming time off will not involve looking for the most isolated possible place to travel to. Basically, it could be any weekend in 2019.
For now, at least, I don't take this arrangement for granted. One year ago today, we were watching Covid cases and hospitalizations quickly get out of control here in Orange County. As you know, it got much worse, and the only reason it ever got better was vaccines. Meanwhile, we endured the most incapable national leadership in my lifetime, making the pandemic response worse, and eventually instigating insurrection and trying to overthrow our democracy. What a shit show.
Things still range from bad to worse in a lot of places, so I am happy to embrace and cherish the sense of normalcy that we're enjoying. There are still some gaps here and there, mostly the fact that we can't vaccinate the kids yet, and travel is still weird at best, but the baseline of seeing my darling wife able to work in her service job again, and the tourist lifeblood of our area starting to flow again is a big deal. Just walking into a restaurant or grocery store without a mask, not having to deal with that risk, is something I take seriously.
I hope to make this weekend count.
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