How time flies these days. Since our last podcast, 8 months have passed! I was just getting the feel for retirement and once again our house is full. Our son, wife and 6 kids moved to the downstairs. They are back from living in North Carolina the past 2 years. Our lives and the world have changed dramatically.

No longer can we cruise into a store, stop spontaneously at a restaurant, walk in for a haircut, or walk around the enormous MOA just for exercise. Prior planning and reservations are now the norm.

How many times have I run into the Kwik Trip gas station for a gallon of milk? In and out in less than 5 minutes. Or stopped unexpectedly at a restaurant in the spur of the moment to get a quick bite to eat? Or had a free hour to run up town to get my hair cut. I do miss those days like most people.

Those days were wiped out last Spring when Co-Vid hit the shores of America. In Minnesota, our state was for the most part shut down. Only essential businesses were allowed to be open. Grocery stores, hardware stores, gas stations, clinics and hospitals were left open. I can honestly say that I am grateful for retiring from nursing right before the pandemic hit. I have had friends and co-workers become Co-Vid’s victims. Some taking weeks to recover, some months. And one that died from the lingering effects of the illness. 

As schools have re-started, businesses reopened and as political rallies with hundreds to thousands of people crowded together have popped up throughout the state, people have let their guards down regarding masks and social distancing, Many have decided that masking and distancing is not needed. Minnesota is again showing the rise in positive tests and hospitalizations. It has been heartbreaking watching as our state has just surpassed over 100,000 cases of Co-Vid and nearing 2000 deaths.

Time will tell how this “new Normal” will pan for all of us. Will we have another state shutdown? Will it go nationwide? Will we just decide to let herd immunity kill off the least likely to survive? WIll more people we personally know die from Co-Vid? So many uncertainties that exist. 

For now, this is one person who will continue to take care of myself and my family. I will wear a mask when needed, I will keep doing my part to social distance when around a group of people. I will keep hand sanitizer in all of the vehicles to use when I leave the stores and safely back in my car. And I will stay close to the proximity of my home state. Will it be hard? Well we have done this for the past 5-6 months and have managed.

Will this make a difference in keeping Co-Vid numbers down and at bay? Probably not if it is just me doing it. But as for me and my family, we are choosing to do our part and mask up and socially distance. I am hoping there are others like us.

And now for some mask etiquette for those who may be just choosing to use a mask now:

If you encounter a person who chooses not to mask, avoid shaming them or muttering under your breath as you pass them. Just turn your head as you pass by and pray they don’t sneeze, cough or snot on you.

If you are wearing a mask, please remember to cover both your nose and mouth. Co-Vid is spread through coughing, and is taken in through the nose. So don’t give it, don’t get it.

If you are alone in your car driving...please don’t wear your mask. You give us a reputation of not being knowledgeable of transmission of Co-Vid.

Masks are only reversible between washings. Don’t breathe in your Walmart outer mask when you go get gas.

And finally...make sure you mask up when you head out to do your duty at the polls on November 3rd. Remember it is your vote and it counts!