Emerging from Pandemic

With both shots behind us – each one of us – we feel more comfortable with our chances to survive COVID. A few more days or weeks will add to that confidence.

So now, what is on my agenda?

First, I want to visit a local restaurant and order a big breakfast! Three eggs sunny side, hash browns, chewy bacon, and a well done English muffin slathered in butter. I have missed this combination meal for over a year, especially the bacon. Moist, limp, chewy and filled with flavor only bacon can release. Wow!

Second, I want to visit a Texas Roadhouse twice. First to have their prime rib dinner. The second visit will focus on a very good steak. The trimmings only need to be a baked potato loaded with sour cream, chives, and butter. Yum! Both of these meals have been lurking in my memory bank for well over a year. Their image is almost so real I can taste the food. Yes, this is on our early bucket list post pandemic.

Third? Visit my kids and their families. We will need to wear masks because they have not had their shots yet. And that is precisely why visiting them are not higher on the bucket list. Their safety is a must.

Fourth, a ride in the country to spy spring coming to life on the hibernating prairie. Stop at a diner for a meal (breakfast or lunch) and then a lazy return trip home. Then a nap!

The simple things we missed in the pandemic are the most valuable now. Always were.

Meanwhile, the pandemic taught us we can survive alone time, quiet time, and limited diets. Family is most important. Reading is high on the list of importance. Discerning fact and fiction is vital for our future as a nation and personal sanity.

The pandemic also told me TV is not as important as I once thought. The binge watching was fun at first, but now I realize how bankrupt most storytelling has been. Cable is not long for our home. Even the news is stale and repetitive.

Time is what I now treasure. Time to think. Time to taste. Time to feel. Time to nap.

The pandemic demonstrated our ability to pivot, change and adapt. It uncovered our inventiveness. It showed us who and what we are. Used to be attending church did this for us. Now? Hmmm. I think we have more strengths deep down to explore and appreciate.

And now we have the time to do just that. Perhaps more of us will discover that we are not what is important in life. Others are more important. Serving their needs is the elixir we have wanted without knowing it.

Now we do.

March 12, 2021