Musings On The Return To Normal

A work in progress.....

 The news has been brighter of late. Not in terms of luminosity, but in terms of what many might think of as 'good'. News that more people are getting vaccinated, more venues are opening up again, and people are eager to go do the same ol' things that they used to do before the most recent plague hit. 

I think a lot about these things on my bicycle rides. Maybe it is my own fault, since I ride mostly alone. I have a lot of time to think about things, to meditate, and to just listen. What do I listen to? Well, what I hear is a world that isn't all that interested in going 'back to normal'. 

When the pandemic hit, I rode through the country thinking about all the dark news that was coming down in those first few months. The fear-filled days of March, April, and May when we didn't understand what was happening and no one knew what was going to happen. Of course, I felt the weight of it all, but as I rode, I looked around at a world that didn't care about any of that. It was operating as if nothing had changed from late February 2020 to the Springtime. And it isn't 'going back to normal'. it just "is". 

Meanwhile people are gushing about being at events, going places again, ditching the 'mark of the plague', those pesky masks, and declaring that we will soon be 'back to normal again'. Yeah.......whatever. But you know, there are some things I wish we would have learned while we went through those darker days. Things like it was great to not be rushing off somewhere. It sure was nice to not hear automobile traffic 24-7. The air was cleaner, the world was quieter for a time, and we paid attention to one another a bit more, (maybe). But I feel like all that is being dusted aside with what was bad about 2020. 

Meanwhile the Sun shines just like it did last year. Are things brighter, are they returning to 'normal', or are we just blinded by the what we are calling "light"? I don't have the answers. I guess I'll just keep on riding and thinking.....