Another week, and the humidity of the past week seems to have ended in a massive storm system yesterday that only cracked thunder a couple times, but had sideways rain for a good minute. I found myself hitting the weekend, even after only working three days pretty exhausted, and I'm pretty sure the weather had more to do with it than any other factor. It wasn't even that warm near the lake, but humid enough, even inside, to have papers wrinkling on the walls and the cats sprawling out on the floors and tile.
It's an even shorter week this week with a visit to Rockford at the end of it, the first of probably a couple this summer, including one in August for my dad's 80th. It's still strange, even though I've been fully vaccinated for a month at this point, to think of moving about in the world as we did previously--travel, stores, restaurants, family gatherings. All of the things that in early 2020 became part of a past we weren't sure when we'd get back. The city opened up fully on Friday, removing capacity limits and re-opening hotels, some of which had been closed for over a year. There's been a building of people and traffic over the past two months, so I'm not sure I noticed a marked difference on the streets, but it's surely there. I just read that only 42% nationwide have been vaccinated, but look at the marked difference even those numbers make. Here in illinois we were around 1500 cases a day in early April as appointments opened up to all. We are now less than 300 (and that's with people moving around more) at about 60% on their way to being vaxxed. Even this time last year, as we were at the lowest point coming out of lockdown, we were hovering around 1000, which only went up as people left their houses. Vaccines work, yo..
I, however, am a homebody at heart, so my forays into social worlds will probably still be relatively infrequent. I am also noticing my social anxiety spiking in weird ways and some strong avoidance tendencies. Even a bit of panic when it comes to turning down invites. I am also determined to not stretch myself too thin in the ways I was failing circa 2019 (You know you're fucked up when it takes a pandemic full stop to right your mental state and shift your priorities.) I need to say "no" and set boundaries a lot more, and I'm getting used to the sound of it in my mouth and in my e-mail.
But still, what do with a glorious, sprung free summer? I do plan some 6th dating anniversary shenanigans with J at the end of the month--perhaps dinner and a movie. Also some evening beach going since I get off work earlier. I'd also like to visit a museum toward the end of summer--perhaps the Field or the Institute. I'd love to take a weekend and just do touristy Chicago things like Navy Pier and boat tours and all the things I pass by every day but rarely do (though these might be better plans for after actual tourist season.) Maybe stay in a cabin for a couple days when the rates go down in September.
The benefit of shorter work weeks means I can do weekendy things and then still get a couple solid days for writing & art related things Mon & Tues and it makes a big difference. I am not out doing things and thinking I should instead be writing or making art in those rare, non-working hours, which impedes my enjoyment of them a bit. This weekend has been a bit of cleaning, but mostly recovering from my exhaustion and watching movies. Today, I am cooking porkchops in the crockpot and working on some author copies for the press, but nothing too taxing. Tomorrow, I am working on finalizing dark country and getting this month's zine project in hand. Maybe submitting some work from newer projects that haven't yet seen the light of day. I am, with those Mondays all about writing, penning many more blog posts, so keep an eye out for steadily more content here--some about writing and art, but also about movies, and now that I feel I can read again, books.
