Everyone keeps talking about the new normal. What is it?
Nine months ago I retired and began working on the new normal for a retired person. My wife and I created a routine. Breakfast, then a long walk and then we began pursuing our hobbies. I would head out for coffee. Lots of woodworking projects were completed for Christmas.
Our yard required a lot of cleaning up and care. The plants, shrubs and trees have had only minimal maintenance since they were planted. Dead branches were removed. The ruts in the lawn were covered with new material and grass was planted. Day lilies were thinned and divided.
I began taking bridge lessons at Sister Kennedy Place and was enjoying the weekly learning sessions. Eventually I planned on joining the bridge players for more sessions during the week. It was an enjoyable social activity.
I was scheduled to work four more swim meets in the province through the end of May. All were cancelled when pools were shut down.
Then came Covid 19. Sister Kennedy Place closed. Bridge lessons ended. The yard work kept us busy for the first two months. A project for the cabin was completed. The lawn was being cut once a week and lately had turned to brown increasing the time between cuttings.
I received a Kindle for Christmas. I am now reading three books a week.
Three of the committees that I am involved with have continued to meet. All are held at a distance over ZOOM joining people from across the province and district. It is not the same as the face to face meetings. A fourth committee has discontinued meeting entirely.
Much of the shrubbery has turned yellow around the cabin, a signal that the summer season is beginning to end. I put the loss of leaves and changing colour of the shrubbery off to drought. It is happening at a minimum a month too early. As I watched the two birch trees close to the cabin shed their leaves this past weekend, almost a month early, I wonder if this too is a new normal.
My wife has been making additional face masks that we will wear everywhere we travel beginning this weekend. It is the new norm. We’ll have to recognize everyone with their masks on rather than by their face. It will be the new norm.
The plans and templates for Adirondack chairs will be dusted off and cedar will be ordered. We need four additional chairs at the cabin, and they will be built through the winter.
Club invitational swim meets will not take place into the year 2021. Normally I’ll attend four out of town meets in the fall.
Will hockey tournaments begin again this winter? Will walking in the arena be permitted in the coldest months of the year? Will dentist appointments be spaced less frequently? Will more telephone medical appointments be the norm?
In many ways we will remain more isolated. That too is the new norm.
