Jennifer and I had friends over for socially-distanced cocktails last Friday. They brought their own drinks and snacks, and we sat about nine feet apart out on our deck. I think we were all a little stunned at just how good it felt to socialize.
I’ve often remarked how fortunate we are that the coronavirus epidemic started getting bad just as the weather was getting good. Though we couldn’t go to dinner or the movies, and had to suspend the neighborhood cocktail party we’d been hosting each month, we could at least get outside. The shutdown would have been doubly miserable if the sense of isolation had been compounded by cabin fever and Seasonal Affective Disorder.
But now I can’t help but think forward to the late fall, when the weather starts to get too cold to spend a lot of time outside, let alone sit on the deck and have cocktails. The virus will still be around, the experts predict, so December, January, and February could be a real trial. Maybe that will be the time to write a book, or learn to draw.
Thank God for streaming.