Socializing - Lite

 March 22, 2022: 

Friday evening at 5:30 pm, Doug and I stood in our driveway with four of our neighbors drinking a refreshing adult beverage. I had invited my neighbors, residents of the six homes that share a driveway and some common garden areas, to celebrate a rare sunny and warm Friday in March. Truth be told, we don’t usually socialize together. We meet once in a while to decide on the gardening, fencing and lighting that we share, and we are cordial, friendly as neighbors ought to be. But most of our socializing is built upon our own friends and family, beyond our nearest neighbors.

Friday was different. Even in the absence of decisions to make about our shared space, we needed to check in with each other, but in a completely different way. I did not offer my guests drinks or appetizers. Instead, each of us brought our own glassware and drinks, BYOB. And we stood in a broad circle, six feet apart from each other, as scientists and our governor have instructed us all to do, so as not to infect each other with the coronavirus, so as not to infect each other with the coronavirus, just in case we have contracted it.

Such is the only in-person socializing we can safely do during the health crisis, which has spread from China to nearly every country in the world, with most cases to date occurring in China, Italy, and the US. Several additional countries — Spain, Germany, France, and Iran are catching up quickly.

News sources report more than 32,000 coronavirus cases and 400 deaths in the US. Worldwide, there are more than 300,000 cases and 14,000 deaths.

What was your first attempt at socializing after the initial coronavirus closures?
I live in Seattle and have time to think. Muse, even. Retired from research consulting and report writing, I now write about family history and life around me.

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