Old is new again

It’s time to do something new on this page. Actually … something old.

For those who have been around me for more than a few years, you’ll probably understand that I’m longing to get back to the days of yore, back to writing pieces (“columns,” I still call them, as I did in my newspaper days) about … whatever.

The desired result will be more frequent posts, more diverse topics, and – this is a bit new – shorter articles. Like this, for example.

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We’ve been shot!

Leah and I received our first COVID-19 vaccinations last week. We will get our follow-up Pfizer shots in a couple of weeks.

To us, that means we’ll feel more comfortable returning to summer jobs this year. While we will continue taking safety precautions (for our sake and for the safety of others), life should be less tense. The prospect of again hugging friends and relatives seems nearer.

But there was a more immediate payoff we were not fully expecting.

There was a deep sense of relief.

It’s been quite a year, beginning with us canceling a long-planned trip with six friends right on the cusp of the outbreak. We lost our summer employment, haven’t had services in church, haven’t been in a restaurant, had friends and family get sick … and lost some to the disease.

We hope this is just the beginning of a rolling wave of welcomed normalcy, such as strolling through a supermarket, Leah reading labels and me calculating cost-per-ounce, squeezing cantaloupes and chatting with strangers.

What’s your status? If you’ve received the vaccine, did you have similar feelings? What are you most looking forward to resuming? How do you expect things to remain different?

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As we go along, please comment and make suggestions. Even those not immediately acted upon often produce fruit over time. Let’s enjoy this ride together.