Pre, Post and Perspective: The Pandemic in the Rearview Mirror

I had tea with a dear friend this week. It was lovely — so nice to share this ordinary, yet extraordinary event. It had been a while. 

In the "Pre-Pandemic" era, this wasn't unusual. Delightful, always, but not unusual. We often sat for teatime tête-à-têtes. Pleasantries such as afternoon chitchats were curtailed when our BC Health authority declared, amid the third wave, "No socializing with anyone other than members of your own household." This circuit breaker worked, restrictions are lifting, vaccines are proceeding apace, and so, our teatimes are back on. 

"Post-Pandemic" brings a new topic of discussion. Zoom confabs are trending away from, "What are you watching on Netflix?" to, "What are you looking forward to next?" Traveling? Seeing family? Going to a show? Getting back to "pre-pandemic" normal? 

My friend and I even talked about the future, as in, "Putting Some Perspective on the Pandemic." It isn't quite "history" just yet. And I don't suppose we'll know how to regard it in retrospect until it's officially over. What does "Pandemic in the Rearview Mirror" look like for you? A.) Simply awful, B.) Not all bad, C.) Okay, really, or, D.) A bit of all three? 

I checked D. The Mr and I have been fortunate. We have stayed safe; as have our loved ones. Lockdowns and restrictions were inconvenient, but didn't present any real hardships for us.

I did have a quick flash of, "Holy Moly! Has it been 16 months? What the heck have I accomplished?" I decided to cut myself some slack. Some days, unloading the dishwasher seemed like too lofty a goal. Mostly I carried on with mundane activities. I kept busy, but not BUSY. 

I decided to chronicle my activities from March, 2020 until now. Here's my pandemic report:  

Baked a few dozen banana breads. (Didn't start a sourdough starter.) Lingered over breakfast most days. Solved upwards of 400-crossword puzzles. Assembled 10 jigsaw puzzles (a new thing for the Mr and me). Identified at least 42 bird species that visited our backyard feeders. Learned how to tell the difference between a House Finch and a Purple Finch (not a cinch to name a finch!) Joined in on Zumba classes via Zoom. Researched ancestry.com back to the 1700s. (Discovered I have really boring ancestors.) Cooked new recipes. Planned menus. Wrote grocery lists for the Mr who did all our weekly shopping. Cloroxed things. Puttered in the garden. Kept up regular emails with a couple of good friends. Chatted with others via Messenger or Text or FaceTime. Watched all of "the curling" on TV. Gave up wearing makeup. Let my hair go grey. Went on Sunday drives. Walked on beaches. Admired flowers. Posted photos on Facebook. Binge-watched so many excellent series and movies.

Absolutely, it's going to be great to get out and do stuff again. But, looking back at this period in history, as we will, I hope to remember a time when our pace relaxed, the Mr and me; when being busy doing next-to-nothing was exactly what I needed to do; when we celebrated the ordinary. When tea with a friend was a special event. May it ever be so.