One year later . . .
Some anniversaries are worth celebrating. Some, well . . . not so much!
Who’d have imagined a year ago, that we’d be marking (can’t say “celebrating”) a year’s anniversary of pandemic lock-down, and still living with nearly the same restrictions!
Did we get to celebrate St. Pat’s Day yesterday? Have we been able to make travel plans for Spring break? Have we still been wearing masks and social distancing? Is our border still closed? Do we have live concerts, theatre, religious services, cinemas, night clubs to attend?
Yup, a year later, not much has changed.
But some things have.
We can go shopping. We have hockey (and football, basketball, soccer, curling . . .). We get to eat out from time to time. We’ve transformed much of the job market to work-from-home, with more flexibility.
And, we have vaccines.
We can criticize the federal procurement strategy, and the roll-out strategy. We can criticize our agencies for taking so long to approve vaccines that other countries approved much earlier. We can grow impatient as we await our turn.
But, a year later, we’re in a lot better shape than we were when we were first locked down. Our most vulnerable, those in long-term care and of advanced age, have been vaccinated. Extreme illness connected with covid has dwindled (not a single death in BC Tuesday despite over 500 new cases).
It could be a time of optimism. Of viewing the glass as half full, not half empty.
Add to that, the glorious weather we’ve had the first half of this month, the extended daylight after changing our clocks last weekend, the onset of spring this weekend, the anticipation of planning a less-restrictive summer than last year (and, perhaps, even some international travel in the next six months).
A year later, a-six month forward-looking window seems a lot shorter than it did a year ago, even six months ago.
Hopefully I’m not delusional like I was a year ago, but I think the next anniversary of this scourge will be one to not only mark, but truly celebrate what we have survived.
Seven years later . . .
Do Google and Facebook keep reminding you of these anniversaries, too? I don’t know who gave them permission to scrounge up photos we took “X” numbers of years ago on a certain day, to remind us of our past lives.
But St. Patrick’s Day always reminds me of another St Patrick’s Day, now seven years in the rear-view mirror.
Without too much detail, I was in Las Vegas, on a “sort of” business trip (aka, entrepreneurial venture, capitalizing on my doppelgänger opportunity). I was certainly not aware of how big St. Patrick’s Day would be down there, what with the craziness of the occasion itself, augmented by spring break fever and March Madness (basketball).
It’s some of the craziest crowds I’ve ever been in. It stands in memory as a stark contrast to our current situation.
And reminds me that life somewhere between the two extremes, is a pretty good place to be.
At least, that’s how I see it . . .
