I have been trying to write this post for over a month. I started this draft on July 22nd, and strangely, not much has changed.

I keep thinking that I have hit the limit of extraordinary, crazy, surreal, welcome-to-bizzarro-land, New World Order.

And then I am reminded that no; things can and do go deeper down the rabbit hole.

We continue this strange, COVID-19 journey, trying to stay safe and healthy while navigating the work day, and even more distressing; navigating back to school.

We are careful. So careful. Our hands crack and bleed, we wear our masks, and stay away from all but essential activity. We have seen three restaurants in the past six months. Our kids have seen so few of their friends, staying apart and safe.

And now we go back to school. My kids need it. Oh boy, do they need it. My teenager feels this is all designed to crush his social life. He gets the gravitas of the situation, but he is still a teenager. My younger son hasn’t seen more than a dozen people since March. How much of this will inflict permanent change on their development? How will it impact their future relationships? I worry about the long-term affects of these wartime restrictions.

I worry, and I worry, and I worry. And then the worry gets normalized and the past, pre-COVID days get fuzzy. I can already feel how it’s changed my personal comfort levels. Already OCD, I get jumpy when strangers get too close to me, unless they too are wearing a mask. I am now firmly compulsive about washing my hands. I no longer seek out the company of other people, save a small handful.

And then I watch the news and shake my head at the party-goers, the Wreck-beach goers, the drum circlers. I get COVID-fatigue, I have it too, but why on earth wouldn’t we all take this few months, (a small drop in the big picture, really) to really, really try to make a difference?

All I can do is continue on, keeping my circle safe, and hope that the New World Order lets up a little bit in the not-too-distant future.

In the meantime, be calm, be kind and be safe.