Short post today. But do you ever just think about how bizarre the last couple years have been? This is completely about the ‘rona, and the world that has evolved around it.
Every now and then I’ll wonder how the conversation would go, if my parents were to magically come back from the great beyond and I had to give them a quick rundown on what all is happening.
ME: “Well dad, about a year after you died some jackass in China ate a bat and now we’re on our 10th wave of a new variant with the US now having around a million new infections daily. But only around 2 thousand people in the US are dying per day now so it’s not as bad as it was this time last year.”
<<Long. Pregnant. Pause.>>
DAD: “Son,” sounding just like the academic Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, but also with the clinical edge of a career-long physician. “Is ‘ate a bat’ a euphemism?”
MOM: Also a physician, but having spent much of her career in the public health departments, would have come to a succinct conclusion far more rapidly. “Ducking idiot!”
On February 29th, 2020, Leap Day, Atlanta hosted the time trials for the US Olympic Marathon team.
It was hella cold that day! But also, the people you hear talking behind me in the video had mentioned they did not think the Olympics would happen because of the new virus hitting the scene. I scoffed at them, to myself.
Later that same day the then US president had a news conference, while we were still watching the race, to let us know the US had just had its first fatality.
I’d decided in late 2019 that I needed to sell the condo in which I’d been living for the previous 18+ years. It was time. So I put it on the market in late February. I expected it to take a while to sell, so I went on a two week backpacking trip on the AT starting at Springer. I left maybe on March 12th.
So there I was on the AT, and it was a super sucky experience. I was ascending Blood Mountain in a fog with a steady and cold rain, and I was soaked to the bone. It was also quite windy. So I decided to turn on my phone to see about getting a room for the night – Something dry and warm. I had around 80 text messages and voice mails waiting on me, the take home being someone submitted and offer on my place for asking price with a closing in two weeks. So with Ron Browns help, if you know you know, I got back to Atlanta the next day and hustled through the process of moving. Just under three weeks later I moved into my new place.
There was this great burst of energy to get the two places closed, and to move. But after that, pretty much nothing. So I had to find things to do. We all did.
We all came up with things to do, to occupy our time. A friend of my started a side business with her friends selling meat pies. Another friend, since they can’t travel abroad, has visited all the National Parks and is starting on the bigger state parks.
I bought a car, after 11 years of living without one, so I could explore further away from my neighborhood. I’ve explored kayaking at the NOC:
I’ve been camping in the mountains numerous times. I’ve section hiked. And I’ve even been able to work in two trips.
But this coming Tuesday I am pushing an envelope. I will be starting an improv class. It’s a ten week class, and if nothing else comes out of it then it will at least give me something to do for the next ten weeks. But this does indeed fall under the category of bizarre things we’ve done to occupy our time during these covidie days.
I’ll keep you posted.
But what bizarre things have you all done to keep yourselves busy?
#GenX #Retirement #Adventure #GenerationX #Covid #NOC #NantahalaOutdoorCenter #Kayaking #Improv #StirCrazy
Will's GenX Adventure 