The corn dog from the Roseville VFW was good but an MN State Fair pronto pup would’ve been better. I was sad the 2020 MN State Fair was canceled, however, I was not crushed. It is a shame the vendors lost income, but in fact, it saved me a couple of hundred bucks. I miss the “Great Minnesota Get Together”, however, canceling the fair made sense.
The reality of this pandemic is the virus is highly contagious, spreads mostly through the air between congregated people. In America, over two-hundred thousand died, five times that number were hospitalized, millions got sick, millions were asymptomatic and yet the vast majority of us are yet to be infected.
Not enough time has elapsed to know how long immunity continues post-infection. Vaccines are being developed although none are yet proven to be both effective and safe.
Assuming a vaccine is developed, it will take many months maybe years to ramp up production and to twice vaccinate the over seven billion people on earth. Add the reality that many might refuse to be vaccinated and God alone knows how long we will be fighting COVID-19.
Most people wish life would soon get back to pre-pandemic normal. Being honest, I can’t remember any “normal” time in my entire life. In my life experience: more days than not, unexpected shit happens, we react, and then tomorrow comes. Then, as often as not, during the next day, the unexpected shit once again happens.
In reality, this new coronavirus is not the only threat we all face. Forces known and unknown are always threatening our lives and requiring us to adapt as best we can. Cancer, auto accidents, diabetes, illness, overwork, lack of sleep, and oh so much more besides COVID-19 also threaten our well being.
We wear seatbelts, we filter our water and we wear warm clothes on cold days. We wash our hands, we have sewer systems. The list of ways we react to threats to help our chances of survival is long.
Almost always as we react to a new threat, real or imagined, it is first awkward and controversial. Then, over a period of time, our adaptation becomes second nature (normal). Some people will still not wear a seatbelt but most of us click it on without a second thought.
Right now, most people, including me, think social distancing and wearing a mask is required to reduce the threat of COVID-19. We also wash our hands, get checkups by a doctor, periodically change our sheets and you get the idea. Each day we do our best to assure we see tomorrow. Sure we can take some risks, but most of us know tempting fate is not a good long-term strategy.
A meteorologist responding to a question about bad weather said; the weather is what it is. Judging the weather to be good or bad is more about your circumstance than about whether the weather is good or bad. Snow makes driving difficult but snow makes cross-country skiers smile.
People are social beings. The negative consequence of social distancing is real. It goes against our nature. Yet congregating in close quarters such as in concerts, churches, sports, weddings, funerals, and the like are not a good idea during a pandemic. You might not get sick or die but you might well spread the virus to someone who will.
One thing I know for sure, life will never return to a pre-pandemic normal. Life always evolves. Normal always evolves. Who knows what concerts, weddings, sports, and the like will evolve to. I am actually looking forward to seeing how it all works out.
Weddings are a good example. Over the past several decades I attended dozens of weddings. Each wedding was different. Some big, some very small. In back yards, in big cities, on farms, in small towns, in big buildings, in churches, in small banquet halls and, you get the idea.
I saw a bride ride into a wedding riding side-saddle on a white stallion, while a gospel choir sang under an ancient oak tree. At another wedding, Linda and I were the witnesses and only guests. Each wedding is unique. There is no normal wedding. The thing is, in the end, the status of the couple was: married. Whether the wedding was lavish or in a judge’s office during a coffee break, once it is done, the couple is legally married.
Weddings during the COVID-19 pandemic can happen. The wedding might be different than the couple originally thought but no wedding is ever normal and virtually all of them are memorable in their own way.
I miss concerts but at a recent distance get together, one of our friends played the guitar. You can’t beat live music. Our little mini-concert was every bit as wonderful as I could imagine.
Where is this normal to which so many of us refer? Working or learning from home was not the norm, yet there are many who love working or learning from home. On the other hand, for some, working or learning from home is not ideal. Doing the best we can with the hand dealt is the best we can do.
Normal is changing like it always does: shit happens, we adjust and move on until some other shit happens. That’s life. Like the weather, life is not bad or good, life is what it is. Whether it is good or bad depends on how well you adapt to it.
The closer you look the more you see.