Think, for a moment, how fortunate we are. We are living in a world where, for the most part, we are being urged to stay physically separated from all but the folks we reside with, yet we also live in a world where we can Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime, any any number of other ways were we can still communicate and still see each other. Granted, it’s kinda like watching a prison movie where loved ones are separated by a barrier, talk over a phone, and at the end, put their hands together on the barrier, as that’s almost exactly where we are at the moment. Similarly, just like in many of those prison movies/shows, there will come a time where our “sentence” has been completed and we rejoin those we care about. The problem with this, is just like the problem with that, recidivism. Will the prisoner, when released, take on a better approach and not return to the mistakes that led them to be confined, will WE, when allowed to begin to physically reengage, also follow recommendations and not plow headlong into still uncharted waters with a “gimme, gimme, gimme, me first” attitude to the point where we  break our “probation” (which is what will happen to us first, before full release), and are forced to return to confinement.

My thoughts go to the Mayor in the movie Jaws, who was steadfast in his voicing that the beaches could NOT be closed, even with the clear evidence of the predatory shark still around. How’d that turn out for the little boy on the air mattress? I am so looking forward to being able to dine out again, to sit on a beach and take some sun, maybe even to actually dip into the salt water (I’ve always believed that salt water cures everything, I was the dummy who during the great Labor Day surf in Far Rockaway, would, despite having a 102 degree fever, spend hours in the water back in the “day” and guess what, I’m still typing 55 years later so maybe there is something to that). What I’m more woried about is not a resurgence of the virus, that we can’t control, but a resurgence of the spread due to the “me first” attitudes that some people might have.

I look forward to the day when I can ride in the same golf cart as my playing partner or, even if we walk, shake hands at the end of a round, pick up the ball and toss it to someone else, have a post round libation and a meal, I look forward to hugging my kids and grandkids, all of this is now from a distance and with no contact.

I’m pretty sure we, as a human race, will get through this and it will, in fact, become something that is studied by future generations for a many reasons (hey, we’ve done the logistic curve spread of a disease as a calculus lesson for the entire time I’ve been teaching), what we don’t have either up close or from a distance, is patience.

There is some truth to the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare: Slow and steady, wins the race. Connecticut is sometimes referred to as the Land of Steady Habits, with luck people will take that to heart and will, perhaps by example, show that it can and does work as long as you put in the effort.

Just a reminder courtesy of Mr. Zevon: (with a little adjustment to the last line by me)