Hello from the still-largely-shutdown garbage fire that is 2020. (And I say this having had a MUCH BETTER year than many people.) Here’s how the summer’s been going:
Pretending Things Are Normal
Massachusetts is currently in “phase 3” of reopening, so like we have indoor dining with social distancing and I think gyms can be open, but there’s no way in hell I’d go to one.
I DID go to Rudy’s with my mom the other day though. We went right at 5:00 when they opened and got a drink but brought the actual food home to eat. I felt pretty safe… they have two of their four booths open, five small tables in the main dining room, and then two of the four mini-booths in the smaller back room and a couple makeshift tables right at the front are for people just getting drinks. So we had the whole back area to ourselves, and no one was in the main dining area, so we were very spaced out from anyone else, and you keep your mask on till your food arrives.
I wouldn’t want to go during peak hours or stay long enough to eat the whole meal there. I get anxious when there’s too many people around. But even with being careful, I feel guilty whenever I do something remotely social, like I did something wrong or *deserve* to get sick because I had a drink indoors and got a haircut (which I did on July 3, for the first time in almost a year and a half).
Socially Distant Holidays
I had a very good July 4 weekend, which is funny because smaller holidays like New Year’s and July 4th had historically been sad days for me. There were no Boston Pops fireworks this year obviously… they rebroadcast clips from previous years. But July 5 was one year since I first met Dave, and late at night on July 4 we went outside to make a fire in his fire pit, and this happened:
If you like it then you shoulda etc. etc. etc.
I have no idea how to even begin planning a wedding when people are not supposed to gather in groups for the foreseeable future. But it’s not something I want to delay TOO long because I would like to have kids and I’m kind of old. And it’s not like I NEED to be married before kids… it would just be easier to tackle one big life moment at a time. Also my grandmother is 86 and I don’t want to delay things longer than I need to. But I realize that all of these things are very good problems to have, especially in a time that is so isolating and full of uncertainty for so many people.
Being a Playwright When There’s No Theatre
The theatre camp I was writing plays for was officially cancelled. At first they were going to try doing it virtually with a performance over zoom at the end, but the director said the kids weren’t having much fun doing zoom rehearsals in the spring for their other show. But my shows will be able to be used for next year’s camp, which is very cool. I’ll be able to get them all fixed up and polished before the kids start working with them. And I wrote (most of) a play for jr. high/high school kids that is specifically designed for zoom. I kind of need to get the ending on that one hammered out so I can send it places since it’s kind of timely, but I’ve been struggling with writing still. I wish I wasn’t like that. But I have to get better at embracing the type of writer that I am and just letting my process happen rather than beating myself up over it.
I’ve been very lucky to have a relatively good go of things so far during all of this. People in my area are very good about wearing masks and being socially distant, I get to see enough of the people I care about on a regular basis, and I can tailor my writing to suit the needs of this moment. And I have the ultimate “see tons of people I care about in one room” event to look forward to when this is all over.
Colleen M. Hughes 