My Pandemic Life at the Educational Park Moderna shots received with my husband At the new track facility in my hometown Built, never used as lockdown began First use? CERT volunteers open doors Vaccines from orthopedic surgeons! My second shot given by a young physician. The educational park holds multiple schools Next to this new track facility, now open When I was in a sixth grader only One school on the hillside as cows grazed . I pondered what my grade school self might Wonder seeing this future, 57 years onward. How shocking ? Two shots saved our lives With a year old pandemic sweeping by Catching over three million souls In a wake that also bred mistrust Honoring the flag ? Are you right, left? Ruby shot Oswald but Floyd dead on our screens Fifty plus years ago displayed fallout shelter Placed in our town square - what a sight It might all end in a second, no notice Try hiding young heads under school desks? Now years later masks are new shelters Injected vaccines saving lives cascading past. The educational park holds old memories: A line drive to my eye while pitching A softball to a friend, knocking me out I learned that epsom salts work well I see girls in skirts galloping across fields If not jumping ropes we warred in dodgeball My half-foot shorter eleven year old self Could not see her future husband running An outdoor track to complete a virtual 5k We had run so many BAA marathons Patriots Day ‘21 we donned running gear As golden hued forsythia lit the hillsides. The pandemic issued in unique moments So our 5k, of multiple track loops beckoned Us on that Patriots Day weekend fully Bright sun blinded us,dark clouds arose As first light sprinkles of refreshing rain Turned to hail stones as we ran for our jeep Educational park was named for a neighbor Voted “First selectman” he selected this land The cows moved on, buildings now bearing Names of farmers who worked the hillsides And one field bears a classmate’s name Who was a town coach, his name also honored. We also walked loops circumventing the park Daily with springer alert to resident ground hogs The pandemic has made our routines range local Discarded light blue masks, newly strewn refuse So many seasons passed yet i see my younger self While ahead my husband watches new forsythia bloom.
April 27, 2021
So, I had one of those "BIG" birthdays this past week, one of the milestone ones that end in a "0." Nearly two years ago when we were just beginning to understand what "social distancing" would require of us, I told my family "...well, in two years when I have my 60th... we will have a huge party and make up for all of this isolation..." Never would I have thought that we would not be able to celebrate in a "normal" way now. Before we heard of Omicron or knew how this newest variant would once again turn our lives upside down, we started planning two celebrations: one with my extended family several hours from here, and another -- a birthday lunch -- with my girlfriends here in town. We're all triple vaxxed and leading cautious lives, but I couldn't see holding an inside event with my dad (88) and mother in law (96) and other older relatives as well as young people who work outside the home, and my friends here were also dubious about meeting and eating inside, so we decided it just made sense to postpone. Initially, I thought maybe if we all did rapid at home tests first, we could go ahead, but more and more the limits of those tests are becoming apparent (too many false negatives). So, we've rescheduled both parties for March. And if that is not possible, we'll do it next January! I mean who says you can't celebrate big birthdays in "off" years. This state of pandemic cautiousness can't last forever. Despite the need to cancel the planned events, I had an absolutely lovely birthday and that is is most important thing. I felt enveloped in love and friendship. People called, texted, sent cards and flowers. In the morning, several friends and I took a long walk along the river. We joked about how covid had taught us gratitude --- I was grateful that my birthday was the warmest day in a stretch of 10 very cold days...where it would have been uncomfortable to walk for so long. And my husband and I even found a restaurant with a very well heated patio for a delicious dinner. All in all, it was a wonderful birthday.
January 20, 2022