The end of the year is here, and a strange year it has been. For me, it has not been a big change in the life I have been living since I retired, but if I were still working, it would have been a big change indeed. For so many others, the world just turned upside down, and not just in the US, but globally.
I feel like I am living in a bubble, but now, the walls are beginning to tighten closer to home. A few people I know have died, some from the virus, some from other issues, but the isolation necessary to keep from becoming infected means not being able to say goodbye or to spend time with others, or even help out if needed. I am of an age where my peers do die, which is just normal, but it is also sad when connections other than a Zoom or a text are not available.
I miss a good cup of coffee and chit-chat at Peet’s! I miss looking people straight in the eye and laughing or getting a hug.
As a result of needing to limit contact with the outside world, a trip to the market is like a major outing. People to talk to! I had my teeth cleaned a couple of weeks ago and it was like a spa day. Yacking with my sister and brother, especially this time of the year, brings back memories from days of yore. Just reading about the thrill of a vaccine – at last – for the Covid-19 virus and the reactions of parents in the 1950s to the polio vaccine is reliving history – so many things to be glad for because of research and science. Little things, big things – our lives are simple, complex, unpredictable, repetitive and dull – but all of these are the fabric of how we define ourselves and our world view. And, we need to find time to think, reflect, be grateful for those around us and our own individual selves. Connections all.
For some reason, while not the dreary parts of Hamlet’s soliloquy, I keep returning to the words:
What piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties, in form and moving,
how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension,
how like a god!
And that is where my world lies – amorphous, strange, exhilarating, unknown – a fragility to be cherished in the here and now.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 