Languishing

 A year into the pandemic and a term was coined by the New York Times to describe how many of us are feeling: LANGUISHING. Many of us "feel somewhat joyless and aimless."

Ah, the relief at having a word to describe how I feel and to know I am not alone has pushed me towards a new feeling: BUTTERFLYING, as coined by a friend.

Being fully vaccinated, watching the local COVID cases drop, and getting together with friends again has led me to feel as if I am escaping from the 2020 cocoon. 

It feels nice.

Add in perfect spring weather, surrounding myself with people who have similar feelings, and I feel a cure for languishing is on the horizon.

Then I hear from a friend not as fortunate. Up in Canada friends are starting to receive the first vaccine and are being told they'll have to wait a few months for the second dose. This approach has been very successful in England. May it be just as successful in Canada.

For those of you reading this who are still languishing, hang in there. It can get better.

UPDATE: The day after I wrote this in May 2021 the CDC announced those who have been fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks! That is a huge psychological boost.

Mothers Day 10K

 

Local racing is making a comeback. 

Two years ago I ran this same 10K Mother's Day race in the rain and the mud. This year I seriously debated whether or not to run it again. I signed up for it in 2019. This past year I have kept up with running 5Ks in my neighborhood, but a 10K race is (by nature of its name) twice as far.

I was really tempted to skip it. As my day was off to the wrong foot, I was even more ready to turn around and go home. I didn't put the cap securely on my thermos, so it leaked tea all over my sneakers (which I was running too late to put on before the drive) and my gaiter, and I scraped my mirror on the Washington Crossing Bridge (I wish they would use the traffic light and make that a one way at a time bridge).

Modifications had to be made including wearing masks at the start and finish (but not during the race) and each one of us receiving our own start time too avoid clustering at the front. It is amazing how that little change messes with the psychology of running. Makes it feel as if you are running by yourself. Much less passing and jostling for place. They also did away with water stops. The plan was to have a pump with water at two places, but that was scrapped when they broke the spigot. Instead they had jugs for us to refill. As it was a cool day, I did not carry water on the route.

We were reminded that two years ago it poured during the same race, so we were ahead of the game.

The course is basically the same as their 4-mile Tomato Soup Race, but with an extra spin through the Spiral of Death. Most of the course is along the tow path.

I went into this with the game plan of running the first half, and walking the second half. By the two mile mark, though I found myself power walking. Ugh. Then running. Then walking. Without a schedule, though. Motivation was waning.

I made the turn around at a clock time of 40 minutes (a chip time of 37, still slower than normal for me). 

Mostly ahead of me (sometimes behind me) was a woman I could hear cheering for the other runners. At one point I saw her stop. There was a blue heron in her way on the path. We both stopped to take pictures. Don told me later when he sees a blue heron on a ride, he knows he is going to have a good day (self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps?). 

The same race also had a 10 mile component (so very glad I did not sign up for that!). I noticed before the turn around that there were not too many 10K runners. I actually had a shot at getting an award. I kept a close eye on the "competition." I could not pass the woman ahead of me (turns out she was in her thirties, so not competition). Just behind me was a woman power walking with her husband. 

They provided me with the motivation I needed to scrap my initial plan and keep running!

I finished before the couple! Turns out they were in their 60s, so not really competition, but it worked nonetheless.

When I crossed the finish line (wearing my mask) the EMT ordered me to take off the mask until I caught my breath. I heard him tell others the same thing. 

At the finish line was water -- good thing given how my day started.

I stuck around for the awards ceremony and was pleased to hear my name called for third place (for my age group -- the race third place person was about half my speed).

Looking at the stats later, I beat my real competitor by three minutes. So, yes, I was third out of four.

I also learned only 87 of the 210 people who signed up for the race showed up. In two years, plans change, plus they only sent out the reminder a week ahead of the race. This past year has felt like at least five years have passed.

In the end, the heron was right: it was a good day.

Six Hundred Days Later -- Trenton Thunder

Trenton Thunder had their home opener on May 4, 2021 as the Buffalo Bisons (the AAA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays) -- six hundred days after they closed the 2019 season as the Yankees AA team.

As the man in front of us said, "it is starting to feel more normal."

Starting with only able to sell 1,400 assigned seats in a stadium that has 6,150 seats (plus more people when they include standing room only), it felt empty. Last year when they hosted the high school tournament they only sold 500 seats a game, but as they were unassigned seats, people clustered together. Shh! Don't tell the Governor! Would have been hard to pull that off for the opening game since Gov. Phil Murphy was in the stands with us three sections away.

It was nice to be back.

Some notes for years from now when I can't remember this logic:

1) Last year the Yankees decided Trenton Thunder would no longer host their AA team. The "why" is murky, I believe an inadequate playing surface was mentioned, as were some other insults, followed by the usual non-excuse excuses, such as we need less minor league ballparks.

2) That left Waterfront Park (now Arm and Hammer Park) without a team.

3) Enter the Draft League -- a new league comprised of mostly post-high school students who did not make the minor leagues, but still want to hold onto their dreams of playing pro ball.

4) Waterfront Park was designated the first Draft League location.

Here is where COVID comes into play.

1) The border between Canada and the United States is still closed, meaning the Toronto Blue Jays cannot host other teams because those players cannot cross the border. Making the Blue Jays homeless.

2) The Buffalo Bisons stadium (in Buffalo, NY) planned to do major renovations this summer and were going to be homeless.

3) At the end of March it was announced the Bisons would move to Trenton. They'll be the Trenton Thunder while home, and the Buffalo Bisons while on the road.

4) The Toronto Blue Jays will continue to play in their Spring Training location in Florida while construction continues. When construction is done, they'll move to Buffalo. (I so wanted to write shuffle off to Buffalo, but didn't want to be too corny.)

5) When the border reopens, I believe Toronto will stay in Buffalo and the Bisons will continue to stay in Trenton.

Meanwhile...

1) The Draft League is still on and set to start in a couple of weeks. They still need a home, likely a local college.

2) The Draft League will be called Trenton Thunder.

3) So, on any given day this summer, there will likely be stats for two different Trenton Thunder games in two different locations with two different rosters.

Clear as mud, right?

As for the game, experts said the playing was much better at the AAA level. I noticed a couple of bonehead moves.

1) The short stop fielded the ball with the bases loaded and seemed utterly confused about what to do with it, allowing at least one run to score.

2) The pitcher was hit in the back by a line drive. Should pitchers know to keep their eyes on the ball?

Thunder won 6-1 against the Worchester Woo Sox.

Fireworks set to the lamest soundtrack ever (15 second snippets of Springsteen and Bon Jovi songs) followed the game.

Tulip Festival

The pandemic has led to a surge in outdoor activities -- or at least sharing outdoor activities on social media. This was the case with the Holland Ridge Farms Tulip Festival. The more friends who posted pictures of going to the farm, the more I wanted to go. Turns out the farm is only 30 minutes from my house, even though it felt like a different world.

I ended up going on April 29 -- the farm was only open a few more days. Even when I went, the flowers were all open, and there were many bare places. The next day was a horrific wind storm. I wonder how many stems survived.

It was still lovely. I noticed many multi-generation families -- from babes in strollers to grandparents and great-grandparents, many of Indian descent. There were also teenagers creating TikTok posts (or so I assumed from what I saw). Me, all alone, was an anomaly. 

After I shared a picture of myself at the farm, two friends reached out to say they are working the tulip festival. The behind-the-scenes scoop is this is three weeks of all-hands-on-deck work followed by a quiet week, then they play over and mulch the remaining flowers, try to recover as many bulbs as possible, and plant sunflowers.

The all-hands-on-deck repeats in the fall. I promised one of my friends I'd return for that fun.

The $13 fee gets you in the door (or, on the farm). You pick as many as you want, and pay $1 for each stem. I opted for 13 stems in various shades of pink. It is easy to get carried away, but they take up more space in a vase with their thicker stems then say roses, so choose carefully or you'll have vases of tulips all over your house.

Of the thirteen stems, only 12 survived to the next day. I'm enjoying them while the last.

"Post"-COVID Firsts

Thirteen and a half months into the pandemic, I daresay we are starting to see signs of a post-COVID world. Each week is bringing new "firsts" to our lives.

First visit to a nursing home: CHECK!

Last weekend we drove to Boston to see Don's 104-year old Aunt Elva. Aunt Elva's nursing home was wisely closed to outsiders since March 2020. In late-April 2021 they lifted the restrictions to allow visitors who are fully vaccinated, who request a visit in advance, who then wear an approved mask, have their temperature checked, and fill out a health questionnaire. Once all that happened, we were cleared to go upstairs for a visit.

First hug to a non-person in my bubble: CHECK!

On the way up to see Aunt Elva, we stopped off in Sturbridge, MA to see my not-cousin, Barbara. Okay, "not-cousin" is not the exact correct term, but she started out as New Cousin Barbara (NCB), so that is not exact, either. Her grandmother (Elizabeth) was adopted by the former wife (Dora) of my great-great grandfather (FW) after she remarried the love of her life. I am descended from one of Dora and FW's children (John FW), but NCB is related by blood to Elizabeth and her family. 

I digress. When I saw NCB for the first time in nearly two years, I asked her if she was vaccinated. She said yes, so I reached in for a hug. She exclaimed this was her first hug since the pandemic, so we asked Don to take a picture. Come to think of it, it was mine, too!

We had a great four-hour visit with NCB, Mark, and Brett. That's another one -- first non-masked outdoor visit.

First in-person WINK service: CHECK!

Technically we had our first in-person WINK service in the fall, then during Advent Don and I were in person while the rest of the service was being live-streamed, but two weeks ago when we met in person in the church parking lot, it felt like a first, especially since a week later it was repeated. (WINK=Worship in a New Key -- our usual worship service)

First friend over for a meal: CHECK!

I have had a few friends over for fire pit chats, but last night we had a meal with a friend in our back yard. It was odd -- we had to clean the house, pull weeds, plan a meal around someone else. It was also wonderful. We caught up with Tracey, a friend of Don's from college. This led to our second hug.

First funeral: CHECK!

This one is a lot sadder. Today we went to the funeral for a friend's son who was killed by a drunk driver. It is of note because it was the largest group of people we have been with in over a year. I counted 22 tables of 10, plus at least a hundred people around the perimeter of the room, plus more on the balcony. All masked, all respectful. It was still jarring to see that many people in one giant room. This led to more hugs, making me realize we are moving towards human interaction again.

The list would be longer, except that as soon as government restrictions have lifted, I started to do things again. I've been getting my hair cut and colored since last summer. We've been dining indoors since last fall. I have been dining out with select friends. We've been back to live theater. I've returned to working in-person (never really stopped). We've continued to grocery shop in-person. I walk with a vaccinated friend with wearing masks. We stayed in a hotel in Ohio in October, and again last weekend. We've been to NYC. We've been to an amusement park (looking forward to returning to a Disney theme park someday).

All along I've tried to make wise choices, and have made some others would disagree with, in the end I received the vaccine before I caught COVID (still have not caught COVID, and trust the vaccine, but don't want to jinx anything), so my risks worked out.   

This week we look forward to our first minor league baseball game since the pandemic. I wonder what our next first will be.

Stay safe. Keep wearing your mask. Keep washing hands. Keep staying out of people's personal space.