An Attempt at Something Normal.

I’m going stir crazy. Absolutely stir crazy. If cabin fever were measured in real body temperature, mine would be alarming. I want to get out of my house. I have to leave and do something. But I don’t want to get out and do something stupid, either. As much as I want this all to be over, I want it done right… not the way it’s been done so there’s a new surge of COVID-19 cases. I’m not about to “take my chances!” and risk my health or, more importantly, the health of my family.

But this weekend the cabin fever was super bad for all of us, so I tentatively suggested going to find a beach.

I was not optimistic. I was desperate. Beaches seem to be the lowest risk activity, if the proper safety precautions are observed. The closest beach to our home is our town’s tiny lakeside beach. It’s really small. We decided to check it out, fully expecting to find it foolishly full with little to no regard for the pandemic, as so many other places have been.

I was pleasantly surprised.

There was an occupancy limit for the beach, and it was open to our town’s residents only. There were no masks on the beach itself, but everyone was staying well over six feet apart from everyone else. It helped that nearly everyone there were families with children. It felt safe, so we went to the beach.

We got out of the house. We were somewhere else, and it wasn’t a grocery store. We got out and (mostly) relaxed. It was glorious. I needed this, and badly, and I’m so glad I was able to attain some level of release in a responsible manner. We lost track of time and got mildly sunburned. It was the best thing I’d experienced in months.

I want this all to be over soon, but I don’t want to rush to its conclusion. The U.S. has done that already and it’s made things worse. I’m preparing for the increasingly likely reality of homeschooling my son through kindergarten. Thanks to irresponsible reopenings, the willful ignorance of a sizable part of our population, and the blatant incompetence of President You-Know-Fucking-Who, it looks like the U.S. will be in this pandemic for the long(er) haul.

But this past weekend, at least I got to escape to the beach. I’ll take what I can get.