It’s difficult to believe we’ve moved past Memorial Day already. That means the Spring 2020 school semester has finished, and Summer has officially begun, even though from the earthly orbit perspective there’s still about a month to go. In usual times I would have gotten on plane already, probably towards somewhere in Asia for two weeks of fun and galavanting. Of course, that’s most definitely not happening this year; chances are, I’m not flying anywhere for a very long time.
Indeed it’s the coronavirus that have made the turning to Summer such an awkward feeling. It seems like I’ve been in a mode of limbo ever since the beginning of March, when San Francisco announced a shelter-in-place order. As of this writing the order hasn’t even expired yet, which further exacerbates this feeling of disorientation. It’s great that we’ve turned the leaf over on another school year, but there’s really no change in joyfulness, not when we’re still stuck in our homes. What’s the point of taking vacation days when you can’t go anywhere?
That being said, it does appear the quarantine situation in San Francisco is de-facto over, and officially so in another four days on the 31st (unless they extend it again for a third time). Traffic have returned to their normal levels (which is to say, heavily congested), and the streets were mighty rowdy this past Memorial Day weekend. Compounded by a recent wave of excellent weather, plenty of people are so ready for the lockdown to be over that they didn’t wait until the official date. I don’t exactly blame them, though at the risk of virtual signaling, I’ve continued to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.
But I too am ready to go back outside. Cautiously, of course. Four more days to go untilI I can freely take the 911 out for a meditative drive. Four more days until I can freely hang out with my friends and share a meal. Four more days until the extroverts can return to their milieu (that’s you, not me). Four more days until we can see what this next chapter in the COVID-19 saga will look like. I am optimistic.
Waiting on sunshine.