Odd place

 It's an odd place to be - getting to the other side of COVID.

1 year ago, when I chose to retire 

rather than work every day in a tertiary level Trauma Center,

it felt right and prudent to hunker down;

forays into the outside world were, for the most part,

highly debated and generally curtailed.

I had to go out for groceries and sometimes doctors appointments,

but even the majority of those were virtual visits -

although don't get me started on the absurdity of a Rheumatologist 

trying to decipher the level of RA swelling 

by looking at hands held up to a computer camera!

Zoom meetings with my movie group,

Zoom church 

and more Zoom meetings to deal with ongoing church business

consumed more time and energy than I knew I had to give

but at least it broke some of the isolation.

Puttering in the garden,

reading,

crafting,

watching TV,

playing with my camera,

sitting outside on the deck

and driving around 

looking at urban art

are the activities that have sustained me.

 

What I thought of before as a small life became even smaller.

Obviously my income took a BIG hit,

leaving a full time job

to live on Social Security and retirement income,

so I was glad to have a reason NOT to travel

since I couldn't afford it now anyway.

And a year passed;

more or less comfortably;

with the bemoaned 'new normal' becoming more routine every day.

And, now, "opening up" is on the horizon.

Yes, there are virus variants;

Yes, there is still the need for social distancing and masks

and yes, I will still be taking all those precautions

that have become second nature,

but the possibility exists for a broader level of activity

and now I'm left to ponder -

Now what?

What, if anything, will I do differently?

There's a Memorial service in Chicago for a nephew who tragically died

and I'm grateful we'll be able to gather together

and remember better days with David.

I'm also planning a trip this summer to see my oldest, living in Taos

assuming the state (NM) opens back up and lets people in.

Other than that, I'll probably be doing exactly the same things

that I've been doing for the past year. 

Funny to think my 'retired life' is the very definition of 'quarantine';

like I said, its an odd place to be.