Unhunkering

In addition to the triathlon on my calendar, there's also a family gathering. My father-in-law is turning 80 and we are planning to celebrate in person. Even though I am fully vaccinated now, I am still feeling some reluctance about shifting back towards normal. I thought to myself, "Maybe it would be motivating to put a post-grading treat on the calendar. Like a pedicure!" And...nope. I don't feel relaxed about indoor activities. Or at least new indoor activities. I'm fine in the office. I'm fine at Mass. I won't want to eat inside a restaurant for a while. Our gym membership is frozen and I don't really see myself going back there any time soon.

All of this hunkering down has had an effect on the kids too. We went to a favorite restaurant on Sunday, and sat at a rooftop table in beautiful spring sunshine. But one of the kids was really uncomfortable with eating out as a family for the first time in a long time. We could say "outdoors, plenty of space, very brief contact with anyone outside the family," but it didn't really seem to sink in.

I guess two more months gives us time to figure out more about what vaccination does and doesn't mean, and for this nasty spring wave to recede from our part of the Midwest. Maybe even Stella can be vaccinated by then. I guess it makes sense that things would remain a little strange as the pandemic abates in the US. Probably in 5 years I will read this post and say to myself, "Huh, that was a long hard weird season and it's nice that things are normal again." Let's hope so.

I am all ears if you have stories to share about things you are doing or not doing, or if you have decision-making algorithms that help you figure out what's next as we lurch toward normal. ("Decision-making algorithms" -- that probably means "Bearing, are you reading this post?")