In November 2020, after graduating from real estate school, and being pretty much “done” with the pandemic, I started an AirBNB search for properties, in or around Key West. The general idea was to stay for a week or so during Valentine’s Day 2021. I would be retired from Career A, and not yet full-steam ahead into Career B, so it would be a nice break. The other “belief” was the pandemic would be under control and travel would be back to normal. This would also give us time to find in-home care for Lisa’s mom; at 92 she does pretty well but we cannot leave her alone for extended periods. The vaccine was getting closer too, so I felt cautiously optimistic. As the weeks rolled on into 2021, it was becoming abundantly clear that unless a Covid miracle appeared soon, we wouldn’t be going anywhere (this was a personal choice). The plan was dropped, replaced by the reality of staying local for the time being. As we all know now, 2021 was every bit as shitty as its predecessor year, and while things did start improving, (from a pandemic standpoint) and people were able to start getting out again, by the New Year, we were headed for the toilet again. I mention this because for Christmas, we received a gift of roundtrip airfare to Miami and 10 days at Lisa’s sisters condo in Key Biscayne. Granted, this is not Key West, but it is a “Key”, and a nice one at that! So a year after our original plan, we are going to Florida. I am very aware that Covid numbers are as bad as 2021. The lines for testing can be hours long, the hospitals are at capacity (again) and people are still arguing about masks, and now ironically, vaccinations too. The other painful similarity is no one can agree on a plan forward—still. I suppose the primary difference for me now is that while the pandemic landscape appears eerily similar to exactly one year ago, the difference is I have been vaccinated. Perhaps the biggest change, the one that really allows this trip at all (aside from any restrictions I have no control over) is that I am coming to terms with Covid life in all its shapes and variants. I am begrudgingly adapting to this new normal because I have no choice—unless I want the life of a hermit. I do have a question: If (or when…) I get Covid, or am exposed, how long is the quarantine. Is it 5,7,10 or 14 days? Just asking.

Debating it.

Both of my sons are deep thinkers and not easily swayed by popular opinion. They research opposing sides of an issue to help gain knowledge to make an educated and informed decision which they will easily share with me if asked. In my case, because of a previous medical reaction to the seasonal flu shot, their concern regarding Covid is very personal, and I appreciate—and respect their insight. My youngest in particular has been digging deep into various articles, podcasts & videos trying to make as educated of a guess as possible. I don’t think ”guess” is a fair word here. Educated yes, but guess is just that, a guess. Opinion maybe or perhaps belief is a better word—either way, I listen to him with greater attention and give his perspective more weight than most simply because he absolutely has my best interest at heart. To this point, while he trusts my judgement, he was of the belief I had put way to much stock into the vaccine’s effectiveness, basically thinking I was immune. Why else get a booster, right? Extend or prolong the immunity must be the reason. The following is my true opinion. I believe being fully vaccinated improves my chances if I do catch Covid by lessening the potential for serious/deadly consequences. It does not make me immune, or mean I will never get it. I can still catch it so I can still transmit it. That is what I believe. I find the furor over masks kind of comical. I wear one because I don’t want to catch it and possibly pass it along to my 93-year old. If you want to chance catching it, knock yourself out. My control over the situation is to mask-up, so I do, whether you ask or mandate it makes no difference. This situation reminds me of when my kids were little and just starting pre-school. They would often come home with a cold and/or the flu. We felt bad. Generally the prescription was rest and homemade soup but occasionally it required a doctor’s visit for an antibiotic. The good news was that when they started kindergarten they had already built a pretty strong immunity to many varieties of illnesses. Unfortunately, the kids just entering the system struggled for years because they had rarely been exposed to groups other than family and were always catching something. We have a situation now where we are creating a generation that will suffer for years dealing with the childhood malidays their bodies didn’t get a change to adapt to. All that being said I wonder when the 4th shot will be universally “encouraged”? And what about the 5th, 6th so on and so on… I still expect to see a flu “cocktail” in the future too that includes booster mixed with whatever flu variant is in fashion. Factitious perhaps, but at this point, I really don’t know at what booster number I’ll just walk away.

Empty shelves and rising prices.

Shopping in our local grocery store lately has been an unwelcome throwback to March 2020. There is an ample supply of toilet paper this go around but fresh produce is running low with many empty bins. Brussel sprouts can stay M.I.A. but radishes and cabbage, say it isn’t so! Continuing our journey up and down the aisles, canned goods of all contents and sizes are missing too. This one has been interesting, at least for me. For some reason I am drawn to those empty spaces and have started reading labels of adjacent items still available. One 8 oz. can of canned mac & cheese had 79% of the daily recommended sodium intake! 79%! At least this epiphany took my mind off the missing veggies… Which brings me back to my original question, should I be concerned? Not sure. Like probably everyone else, I grow weary hearing about all the shortages, staffing issues and supply line issues. How did everyone run out of product and labor at the same time? What is the connection between radishes, canned food, microchips, building material and a person capable of answering a phone? At this point money is the only common denominator I can determine. Funny, mid-pandemic my greatest concerned was my perceived belief that there would be little or no new content on TV because of the pandemic and the inability to gather for filming during lockdown. Fast forward to today and there is no shortage of anything to watch on TV yet seemingly everything else in the world is on backorder.