This was started well over a month ago, so things have changed pretty drastically since, but

Hung out with friends last night, outside, in their yard, not masked. it felt like normal for a little while, which is a welcome change. today I am going to an outdoor concert to sling cheese plates, so it's a work/play situation. Little bits and bobs of normal are starting to populate our days. It's mostly a welcome respite but the anxiety creeps in at the oddest moments. And forget about normal when it comes to masks. I am so used to wearing one (I have been working in very crowded public places for the entirety of this shit show) that I sometimes put it on as soon as I get in the car, alone. Or I absentmindedly put it on when I get out of the car to walk to the house. it's become such a habit and there's still so much uncertainty (no thanks to our government for a complete lack of leadership and guidance on this FFS) that it's hard to know what to do in every circumstance. I still wear one when I go into places where there are kids, because vaccines aren't available for them yet and I am trying not to be insensitive or cocky. just spoke to a friend the other day whose wife lost both of her parents  to Covid in a matter of two weeks because they were so twisted by Fox News that they refused to get vaccines despite being in their seventies and fully eligible for months. I wonder when the class action lawsuits will start. Also finally saw a nurse friend who is forever changed from having worked through this whole thing in a Covid ward. She definitely has PTSD. She said she had never been in a situation with a death rate so high among patients under her care. I know I am not back to full normal, but whatever I am dealing with is nothing like that, thank the gods. Still feel very gaslit in certain company, of course, but I try to avoid that company as much as possible. Mostly I just feel relief.