Today is our dog Tinkerbell’s birthday. On my grocery store run, I was able to pick up a few extra treats for her birthday, but I skipped going to the pet store or anywhere else. It was my first time out in about two weeks. I felt like I was moving through some weird science fiction movie. On the road I was the only car. In the grocery story every 5 minutes was an announcement reminding patrons to remain two shopping carts apart. Most people wore a mask. No one looked at each other except to maintain a distance. At the checkout a big plastic plate stood between me and the cashier. At the post office a big sheet of plastic hung between me and the counter. Normally on a beautiful day like today the neighbor kids would be running in and out of the house grabbing snacks and drinks as they headed out to the trampoline. Today when the neighbor stopped by we couldn’t let him in the house. The kids jumped on the trampoline but at a 6 foot distance.
My neighbor celebrated her 8th birthday. Rather than a party, a long line of cars drove down our street honking and handing gifts through the window. We baked some unicorn cupcakes and brought them over. It was fun and exciting, but a little sad. It’s just so crazy that all of this is real. I also know this may just be the calm before the storm. Right now we are all healthy and everyone we know is healthy so it’s hard to understand why we are doing this, but hopefully that just means it’s working. I’m happy to keep thinking everything is rainbows and unicorns for as long as I can.
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