Yesterday was a wonderful Mother’s Day. After waking up with coffee and yoga, and opening a gift from my husband (a 3 record Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue set) we went over to our oldest daughters house for a Mother’s Day brunch. There were 13 of us: two daughters; two son in laws; five granddaughters; and one of my son in law’s parents. We hung out for the whole day, eating, drinking, watching the kids play, taking a long walk around the neighborhood. I also spent a long time time chatting with my two sons, one in Chicago, one in Rhode Island. I’ll be seeing them soon also. Thursday my husband and I are getting on a plane for the first time in one and a half years and flying to Chicago. This summer we will fly to the East Coast. It’s a special kind of happiness to spend your day like that, a deep contentment that feeds your soul for a long time afterwards.
The day was especially sweet in contrast to the situation a year ago. We did spend the day together, but under a lot more constriction and tension. An in person celebration was at my request, the only gift I wanted. None of the farce of Zoom. But getting together required negotiation. Was everybody comfortable with this violation of “shelter at home”, the most bizarre definition of illicit behavior I could possibly conceive of? They were, but in varying degrees. We needed to stay outside and fortunately the weather cooperated, warm, sunny, and beautiful. We ate foods that didn’t need to be shared–mini quiches, rolls, and the like, which struck me as ridiculous (and was later proven to be so), but whatever. We didn’t touch–except for one stolen hug at the end.
The lockdown –which was supposed to “flatten the curve”–was a failure. There was no discrimination between legitimately high risk situations (congregate living settings, large indoor gatherings requiring travel, crowded bars, etc)and small personal get togethers. Virtually nothing was done in that three months and the endless “stage one opening” that followed–to alter societal institutions or medical practice to get a handle on the pandemic. In the winter we were hit by a way worse surge and an even more draconian incursion into our personal social interactions. Meanwhile incredible economic and psychological damage was done which will take years to work our way out of.
Now, thanks to the vaccines, some build up of natural immunity, and hopefully more science outweighing panic (adequate ventilation, anyone?), we are on our slow way out of this disaster.
But I didn’t think of any of this yesterday. I was just in the moment. Be happy.
This entry was posted on May 10, 2021 at 6:16 pm and is filed under another day in dystopia, cultural commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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wendy's opinion on just about everything 
Mother’s Day
Yesterday was a wonderful Mother’s Day. After waking up with coffee and yoga, and opening a gift from my husband (a 3 record Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue set) we went over to our oldest daughters house for a Mother’s Day brunch. There were 13 of us: two daughters; two son in laws; five granddaughters; and one of my son in law’s parents. We hung out for the whole day, eating, drinking, watching the kids play, taking a long walk around the neighborhood. I also spent a long time time chatting with my two sons, one in Chicago, one in Rhode Island. I’ll be seeing them soon also. Thursday my husband and I are getting on a plane for the first time in one and a half years and flying to Chicago. This summer we will fly to the East Coast. It’s a special kind of happiness to spend your day like that, a deep contentment that feeds your soul for a long time afterwards.
The day was especially sweet in contrast to the situation a year ago. We did spend the day together, but under a lot more constriction and tension. An in person celebration was at my request, the only gift I wanted. None of the farce of Zoom. But getting together required negotiation. Was everybody comfortable with this violation of “shelter at home”, the most bizarre definition of illicit behavior I could possibly conceive of? They were, but in varying degrees. We needed to stay outside and fortunately the weather cooperated, warm, sunny, and beautiful. We ate foods that didn’t need to be shared–mini quiches, rolls, and the like, which struck me as ridiculous (and was later proven to be so), but whatever. We didn’t touch–except for one stolen hug at the end.
The lockdown –which was supposed to “flatten the curve”–was a failure. There was no discrimination between legitimately high risk situations (congregate living settings, large indoor gatherings requiring travel, crowded bars, etc)and small personal get togethers. Virtually nothing was done in that three months and the endless “stage one opening” that followed–to alter societal institutions or medical practice to get a handle on the pandemic. In the winter we were hit by a way worse surge and an even more draconian incursion into our personal social interactions. Meanwhile incredible economic and psychological damage was done which will take years to work our way out of.
Now, thanks to the vaccines, some build up of natural immunity, and hopefully more science outweighing panic (adequate ventilation, anyone?), we are on our slow way out of this disaster.
But I didn’t think of any of this yesterday. I was just in the moment. Be happy.
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This entry was posted on May 10, 2021 at 6:16 pm and is filed under another day in dystopia, cultural commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.