In the last few of my daily blogs, I find myself reflecting a lot about the time that was and the time that is. And I keep coming back to the fact that the time that IS right now is pretty weird.
It’s weird for the fact that it is starting to feel more “normal,” but what the heck does normal mean now anyway? I find myself in more places with little or no masking going on with grown ups, and being fully vaccinated, if the kids aren’t around, I am feeling less spooked about it.
And that is part of the dichotomy for parents. On my own is one thing, with my still unvaccinated kids, it’s another. It’s like two separate existences running parallel.. Two things that don’t belong together just casually being in the same space. Pandemic precaution occupying the same space as post-pandemic joy. It’s a strange juxtaposition, not unlike typewriters in a fake river.
Typewriters are awesome. Little creeks are awesome. You just don’t often see them together. And that’s kind of how things feel now. Lots of good, but also just something odd and surreal about it.
On Sunday, we got to go over to the house of some dear friends and have brunch. It was the first time we’d all been together since before the pandemic, and it was really, really nice. Conversation, company, the kids were playing nicely together…all the things that we missed so much in the last year.
And that evening, Erin and I actually got to have a night out with another set of parents that are friends of ours, without kids. We went to a nice restaurant and then to a cool little eclectic bar, where we saw the fake creek and the typewriters. It was so much fun, and so much like the before-time.
But of course, it isn’t the before time. It’s something else and I don’t think we fully understand what it is yet. I think it’s important as we move forward to not lose sight of where we’ve been, and also have respect for the fact that it’s a basic movie formula that there’s always a scene where the heroes celebrate victory, just before the monster comes back out for one final battle.
I am not being pessimistic, and I sincerely hope we are on the exit ramp from COVID. I am trying to enjoy the little moments as they come and bask in the things we used to take for granted, like the company of good friends.
It’ll be a challenge for a while for all of us to get a grip on what normal feels like now. We’ve all been through a lot, to be sure. I suppose we’ll all have to figure out where our comfort zones are. For me, it was nice being out a little with friends. I even got over my fear of touching surfaces enough to check out this kooky old phone booth in the same bar that had all the typewriters.
Phone booths take me back to another time. But like most things nostalgic, they don’t really have a place in the real world of today. Much like the pre-COVID time, it’s good to fondly remember, but the reality of the now is something new we have to build.
