On Tuesday, it’ll have been two years since Beth, Kyle, and I departed for two weeks in London and Paris.
If we were leaving this week, the trip would not be happening, and we would have missed the once in a lifetime opportunity to see some American Idiot steal 2 mugs from a Starbucks at Montmartre. On Tuesday, no trips of a lifetime will commence, weddings won’t happen, no funerals either, the music has died, and there’ll be no Stanley Cup Playoff games.
So how are you doing? What have you missed or will be missing? I know friends who have children in the graduating class of 2020. We’ll mail your diploma, kid. Weddings seem mostly off, but that goes for divorces, too. Imagine being one of those couples. Oh, and note to self, don’t die. Well, not if you want guests. I just heard COVID-19 took a cousin of mine. His brother wrote, “We can’t do anything for him right now but will have some sort of celebration of life later in the summer when this clears up.”
“…later in the summer when this clears up.”
Yeah, I’m thinking not.
I have tickets to see Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and David Crosby in NYC on June 5th, followed by a ballgame at Yankee Stadium the next day, but those aren’t happening. I have no idea when I’ll be willing to engage in large dense crowds like that, but it won’t be before we have either a vaccine that prevents COVID-19 infection or an anti-viral that stops it. Without that, going out in public is like playing Russian Roulette. Yeah, the odds of catching a bullet are low, but if you do it could be game over.
I took myself out of play in early March and have been very cautious. I’ll continue to be, though it’s easier for me than most. I still have a job and can work from home. I’m very fortunate. Some people have neither the time nor privilege to binge-watch Netflix or write blog posts. They’re in bread lines. Still, the “Liberate whereverthefuck” crowd infuriates me. Sure, liberate the FoxNews-watching stiffs to go back out there to get the economy going again. The dead from that right-wing promotion will receive the usual “thoughts and prayers” from the folks who suck dry the collection plates of capitalism. Fuck that.
“He who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day;
But he who is battle slain
Can never rise to fight again.”― Oliver Goldsmith
I have a lot of plans for this summer that involve either travel via airplane, or being in huge crowds watching musicians and sports. My belief is that these things will not happen this year. My mindset and expectations have changed, and continue to evolve every day. Instead of thinking about what I cannot do, I am trying to focus on what I CAN do, how I can do it safely, and how I am going to keep myself occupied. It is a challenge, but it can be fun. In the midwest, we have lots of open space with few to no people. I can camp. I can fish. I can swim in my back yard. I can shoot target practice with my slingshot. I can ride my scooter if I can get it running. Tuesday is gone, but wednesday is still here.