Living in Strange Times [OPINION]

Without any promises or guarantees, it looks like we might be making it through the first wave of the pandemic. And hopefully, there will not be a second.

School is out for the summer, which is a relief to many parents and the majority of students. Now everyone can take a short interim break before panicking about what classes might look like next fall. And according to the governor, more businesses can reopen, which means more folks can start the process of getting their lives back to normal. Who would have thought normal could have seemed so appealing?

All that being said, we’re still a long way from going back to normal. I recently decided to venture out of my house for the first time in weeks and brave a trip to Wal-Mart. And was quite relieved to see that pretty much everyone inside the Wal-Mart had a mask or face covering of some kind, which made me feel at least a little better about going out and shopping again.

Something struck me as I was listening to Governor Abbott’s address on Monday. He said we must try to “co-exist” with COVID-19. This disease is not going away anytime soon, but hopefully, we are over the worst of it. The number of cases are starting to level out, and in some places, have started to decline. And with summer right on our heels, many doctors and researchers have pointed out that hotter temperatures make the disease spread more slowly. If that’s the case, this will be the first time in my life I’ve ever prayed for a hot Texas summer.

The pandemic has been good for some things. In the last couple of months, a lot of families have adopted pets. A huge number of home improvement and gardening projects have been completed, and we’ve spent lots of time with the family. We’ve binge watched all those shows we were hoping to see, and have been left a little disappointed by the amount of time we will never get back. Some of us even learned how to cook and met new friends, though admittedly setting the kitchen on fire probably isn’t the best way to meet people. (Thank you, fire fighters!)

We found out that even during a quarantine life goes on, both the good and the bad. It’s been an experience, and quite frankly, one that none of us wants to repeat. I think what we really need now is a hammock, a margarita, and a shirt that says, ‘I survived 2020.’

The problem is, we aren’t even half way through the year.