There’s a park near where I live that was just a big empty field until the town built a playground in one corner.
The playground made it hard to play any games in the rest of the park — it used to be popular for cricket — but there was a volleyball tournament going on when Suzi and I walked by yesterday.
It looks like there are going to be events every weekend, but would that have been possible even a month ago?
It was about a year ago that Renata challenged people to write about how they envisioned the first weekend after quarantine. …
But that was when it was theoretical … what about now that restrictions are being lifted or could be in the next few months?
Last week, I wrote about realizing I may not be as ready to get back to “normal” as I had thought. Coincidentally, Pea Green wrote about “getting back out there,” and Rosie has realized that the pandemic took away her carefree days.
It was about a year ago that Renata challenged people to write about how they envisioned the first weekend after quarantine. (Along with other things I’ve gathered and written since then, the entries are all on this page.)
But that was when it was theoretical … what about now that restrictions are being lifted or could be in the next few months? (Although that may not be the case for our Canadian friends like Giggles.)
Are people excited? Are they scared? Did they say “to heck with it” months ago?
My sort-of challenge is for anyone who wrote a post as part of Renata’s challenge — or anyone else who wants to — to share how they feel as things appear to be heading toward “normal” … or not.
Do it in the comments, or do it in a post. Just make sure to send me a link if you do.
STUFF I READ
And … since I only wrote one thing last week, we move on.
Thomas continues his series on mental health by sharing his experiences with therapy. He also contributed to T.B.C. with a story about his first time on stage.
Renata has started a new guest post series called “Getting Real,” and the first post is from raising2children about self-acceptance through life’s changes.
According to Austin, Holly broke one of Aaron’s rules.
Jamie wants to know why it’s so hard to do the right thing for ourselves.
Savannah had quite a bit going on in March and April.
Meanwhile, Becky’s busy time is about to start.
Vee does something I used to do, but not anymore.
Sabrina writes about a lost friend.
Lindsay tries to figure out sleep.
We’ve all measured the pandemic in various ways, and for Jackie, one of those ways has been watching her niece’s year-old daughter grow.
Paul has a very simple philosophy on building a football team.
Home learning has actually been good for BereavedSingleDad’s son.
Zoe’s all about simple solutions.
Raise your glasses (and definitely not “you’re glasses”) for a good man we lost the other day.
TWEETS I LIKED
May birthdays are the best.
All too well.
“Counts” is a new one. I am familiar with “public,” although it took me a long time to fall victim.
I got two recently that said “Energy is equal to desire and purpose” and “Emotion is energy is motion.” I was so ticked off.
That is a test.
A Silly Place 
Thanks for sharing, Bill! I’ll have to think about that challenge question 🤔
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That’s the idea … think away!
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Hey Bill! It was Sabrina who wrote about a lost friend this week 😉
But I will answer about the restrictions lifting: I am excited! Honestly I am! I have been following the rules and getting stressed out over the idiots I live with not. They continue to invite people into our home and theres literally nothing I can do about it. Inform the landlord? She can’t stop them. Our lease says no over night guests but apparently that’s illegal to put it in. If I call and report them to our city bylaw, they never come cos it’s just one or two people and they are focused on huge parties of like 20-50. So it’s like, great thanks. I’ll just sit here and be in fear of touching shared surfaces because there’s nothing I can do.
I get my vaccine this week though! First dose. And I’m very happy to be on my way to being protected. To feeling safe in my home and at work. Our government says a vaccine passport of sorts will be used in the future for certain things. We will see how that goes haha
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Oops! Error! I’ll fix that.
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Now that I’ve fixed the mistake (embarrassing … thanks for letting me know!) I had heard things weren’t going so great in parts of Canada, particularly in Alberta because I follow a couple people from there.
I was more excited to get my first vaccine shot than for anything in probably months. My second one is a week from Tuesday, and then I’ll be fully vaccinated toward the end of the month. I don’t know if they’ll be able to call it a “vaccine passport” because there are people here who are going to scream, but I do think there needs to be some way of incentivizing getting shots where getting them means being allowed to do certain things.
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Ugh I am SO ANGRY at the rollout here in Ontario. I get my first on Thursday and my second August 26th…. we have the military here now in Toronto to help out in field hospitals that had to be set up because our numbers are so bad!!! Last spring, our peak was 500 daily cases. At our 3rd lockdown a few weeks ago we were 4000 on average daily?! Its insane!
And no embarrassment! Mistakes happen!
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So is it a supply issue, or are they taking the approach of getting everybody one and then going back for the second?
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Both – we don’t have production in Canada AT ALL so we are reliant on other countries to send us doses, which they do after protecting their own population of course. So our supply is low to start off with and then they want to get everyone their first dose as soon as possible so they have pushed 2nd doses to 4 months in order to accommodate getting most people their first
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Thank you for the mention, Bill! I really enjoy your blog! Yes, I am with you — getting back into the swing of things is going to take some time. But at the same time, I’m looking forward to more days out of the house. Here in Italy things are going really slowly anyway, but today we finally made it back into the mountains after months of travel restrictions. It felt good!
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Must be tough living near those mountains without being able to go!
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Well if things here in Canada ever look like they’ll approach any kind of normal, I’ll be happy to take you up on your challenge. Until then, I’ll continue to stay home.
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Please stay safe lovely. Xx
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Cheers Smell! 💖
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I’m definitely going to have to think about how my answer before is different than reality now. I think I envisioned full gusto jumping back into the swing of things, and now I’m actually cautious and hesitant.
Great post and excellent question.
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Thanks! I have a feeling a lot of people will be in that boat. It’s a bit different when it’s real.
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