Creeping Back to Normal

Spring break crowd in Miami (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

I would really love to say that America is creeping slowly, slowly back to normal but, hey, we have Spring Break and stupid people to thank for the fact that it’s not.

In fact, it seems like every time the country starts to get ahead of Covid-19, we have a holiday or other event that leads people to ignore the safety precautions and jump into a big crowd. Because, of course,Covid-19 won’t happen to them and, besides, they’re immortal.

Then they come home and bring the virus with them to infect their family members, classmates, co-workers, fellow shoppers, and anyone else in their vicinity. Hello, Spring Break; goodbye Grandpa. Oops.

Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa have probably gotten the vaccine and are building up the immunity young people think they have naturally, but don’t. I’m beginning to think that we should prioritize vaccinating 16- to 25-year-olds against Covid-19 because we don’t yet know how to inoculate them against immaturity and poor decision making.

The March 2021 Transition 

March 2021 came in like a lion and is going out like a lamb. Thank goodness. Here in New England, we’ve had a month of some snow and not enough rain, strong winds, and colder-than-normal temperatures. We’re ready to put away the fleece and wool until fall, break out the tee shirts, and clean up the garden.

We may have cold winters but New England is fortunate in that we have no raging wildfires, few hurricanes, only occasional flooding and almost no tornadoes. We gripe about the weather but, really, we live in a pocket of relative stability when it comes to both weather and geology. I like it that way.

The biggest threat looming on our horizon exists at the shoreline. Many New England cities, like Boston, grew up around ports and a sea-level rise of 20 feet–what’s anticipated if the Greenland ice sheet melts–would be catastrophic.

Roundup of March 2021 Posts

Suze and I wrote a steady stream of posts in March 2021 on our usual variety of topics. The farther we get from the work world, the fewer posts we write about business and technology. I suppose that’s normal, given that we write about our lives and interests. Besides, the business world hasn’t been it’s usual self in the past year, what with people working from home, stores closing their doors and restaurants going out of business..

So here, organized by topic, are the posts we put up in March 2021.

Boston and History

• Boston’s Streets and Common Occupations — Aline

Health and Safety

• Vaccinated and Ready for the Real World — Aline
• The Meaning and Practice of Self Care — Susanne

Lifestyle and Culture

• On My Mind: March 2021 – Susanne

Science and the Environment

• The AMOC and Climate Change – Aline
• Asteroid Fly-by and Other Sightings – Aline
• Looking Up to Asteroids and UAP Data — Aline

Spiritual

• Say Something Nice: a Lenten Redux — Susanne

Movies and TV

• Pandemic Watchlist Season 8 — Aline

Women Challenging Change

• Woman Game Changers — Susanne
• How Women are Doing in Women’s History Month – Aline

Moving into Spring

April has arrived, bringing warmth and sunshine, daffodils and hyacinths, baseball and the promise that travel might actually resume before winter. I’m still waiting to hear about the resumption of tours in Boston. I think that outdoor walking tours will be perfectly safe as long as the tour guide has been vaccinated. I have and I hope that everyone who wants the vaccine can get it soon.

Leading a tour in Copley Square for Boston By Foot

Bus tours present another challenge. Where I previously thought nothing about sharing a bus with 50 passengers and a driver, I now feel more cautious. At any rate, I can’t see bus tours starting up again until fall at the earliest. But when they do, I’ll be there.

It’s been over a year and we can’t get back to normal—and normal travel—soon enough for me. Still, I’ll wear a mask, practice social distancing and take no chances until the world has gotten back to normal, whatever that may look like.