that pandemic life

we've been living the pandemic life for about six months now, and while our pace of life is a little slower, in a lot of ways things aren't all that different from before. donald works at the hospital two or three nights a week, and jack and i spend most of our days hanging out at home. while we would certainly prefer to be going on adventures and spending more time with friends, overall being at home still feels pretty normal.

but there are many things we've become accustomed to over these past six months that are decidedly not normal. we wear masks everywhere we go and everywhere you look there are signs and floor stickers reminding us to stay six feet apart. grocery stores are well stocked again, but paying with cash isn't always an option due to a national coin shortage. we can't visit the library in person, so we reserve our books online and pick them up curbside. getting takeout food doesn't feel as risky as it once did, but actually eating inside of a restaurant is a rarity for us.

schools are a mixed bag. many districts have some form of in person learning, while others remain fully virtual. churches are able to hold services, and we've been a handful of times, but it isn't at all what we're used to. while there is some comfort in actually sitting in the sanctuary as opposed to watching online, and a welcome feeling of community with those we see on a sunday morning, things are very obviously not as they should be. the lights in the lobby are dim. there is no nursery or toddler room for jack to explore. there are many faces we don't get to see and our beloved lakeland lunches have been confined to zoom or the occasional socially distanced park visit.

there are stretches when we're at home for so many days in a row that i kind of forget how different everything is [except when all the pools were closed this summer...that i always remembered]. but there is no arguing that we are living in strange times.