Hope Is in the Air

The leaves on the trees are budding out and flowers are blooming.  The weather is getting warmer.  Spring in in the air—and there is hope.  Although we are still in a pandemic after more than a year, we are beginning to turn the corner.  Millions of people have been vaccinated in this country and more are being vaccinated each day.  The number of new cases and the number of deaths is dropping.  We are moving in the right direction.

My husband was vaccinated while I was in North Carolina.  I was lucky to be able to get vaccinated while I was visiting there.  We both were fully vaccinated over a month ago.  I thought we would rush out right away and return to normal activities, but it hasn’t happened that way.  It has been a gradual process.

My husband, the family grocery shopper, started to do in-person grocery shopping soon after being vaccinated.  It is nice to be able to see what you are buying and to have more choices.  Next, we returned to the YMCA for regular exercise.  They have one-way routes, masks required when not on machines, and some equipment blocked off.  Wow, I am out of shape.  I was excited to return to the zoo as a volunteer.  It was great to be able to walk into a store (masked) and be able to choose a birthday gift for my mom.  Just a couple of days ago we decided it was time to step inside a restaurant.  I was tired and I wanted to be served dinner.  We chose the closest restaurant which was fairly empty.  It was great to eat out!

We decided to return to our square dance club even though we had heard that most weren’t wearing masks.  When we arrived the place was packed, mostly with visitors, and only one other couple was wearing masks.  Considering the close contact dancers have, this was not a good situation.  Later, we decided that we would not return until fall.  I told one of the officers that we are both science majors and we follow CDC guidelines.

Speaking of the CDC, they announced yesterday that vaccinated people no longer must wear masks or socially distance if they are outside, unless there is a large group of people.  This was welcome news!

I realize that I have become accustomed to staying at home and sitting a lot.  Going out just once or twice a day is exhausting.  I am trying to ease myself back into activities.  Many things are still closed—our church, for example.  I am still attending lots of Zoom meetings and classes.

Moving back to some sort of normal will be a slow process.  We cannot hurry but must be patient.  More people need to be vaccinated so we can reach herd immunity.  We should take time to enjoy the spring flowers.  Baby steps!