It’s meme time. Here’s one that I have seen pretty frequently since the beginning of the pandemic:
Every time I run across it on some social media site, I find myself nodding. Then, a wave of sadness washes over me. You know most of the time, I am okay with staying at home. I’m okay with not leaving my house to teach, for example. (Even though, I wish that we didn’t have to do distance learning!) I can sleep in longer. Lunches do not need to be made in advance. My clothing choices do not need to be perfect as my students do not see me much. I don’t mind not having to travel for meetings. So on a day-by-day basis, I am okay when it comes to the pandemic. But…the holidays are coming up. The numbers here in Wisconsin are scary bad as the number of available hospital beds shrink to almost none. Then I am reminded that we won’t be out of this isolating situation anytime soon. I haven’t really seen anyone besides my parents in literal months. My social life has been limited to zoom calls. I realize then of all that I miss. Outside of seeing my friends and family in person, I miss the breaks from real life. I miss the escapism that concerts and tours provide.
One week ago, the presidential election was called. I did not have the celebration that I had hoped for after previous wins. Now, I find myself still recovering. In previous years, I had concerts to look forward, to provide me a break, to give me some necessary fun. In 2008, Rhonda and I traveled to the east coast for some shows. In 2012, we began working on the weekend convention that took place in 2013. The last presidential election was followed by some New Year’s shows in Washington D.C. This time? I don’t have any of this to look forward to. Instead, I have months more of isolation ahead of me. I try to take it day-by-day, but this meme captures what pops up periodically. I’m not as okay as I wish I was. How about the rest of you?
-A
