It’s been almost two months since my last entry. I haven’t been writing because I lost interest. This journal was supposed to track my “quarantine experience”. It was supposed to be short-lived. We’d “flatten the curve” (no one’s saying that anymore here), cases and deaths would drop, people’d get back to work.
Life would return to some kind of post-COVID (and post-fire?) normal.
I don’t think I’m going to bother counting the days anymore. If I did, I might be counting through next July (yup — after repeated work-from-home extensions, everyone’s now officially remote through next summer).
Despite the continued shutdown, a new normal has ironically emerged. For me, my new normal means seeing a lot fewer friends in person, but seeing more people I don’t usually see more often (i.e. virtually). Meeting far fewer new people, but seeing familiar people more often.
It also means that, instead of training for massive, organized events, my focus is now on small, often solo, decentralized events. Hiking instead of running. Backpacking instead of large-group car camping. Personal time-on-feet goals and unsupported backcountry adventures, rather than aided, beat-the-clock marathons and ultramarathons.
I sorely miss the “old” normal. But I’m getting used to my “new life,” and I think I’ll be happier the more I try to embrace it. Everything I’m doing now are things I’ve wanted to do. I just didn’t think I’d do them so soon.
