For the first time in two years, I walked maskless through the hardware store the other day. I felt an urge to celebrate, which I did, modestly and imperceptibly, by attempting to walk with a lighter step and a bit of a smile on my face.
And yet… the shadow of false alarms past still looms.
Mask mandates are going away—in churches, in grocery stores, still not in hospitals and doctors’ offices (which maybe should tell us something?). The CDC, it seems, has kowtowed to public opinion and loosened guidelines, but there is this lingering feeling that things could yet again go south.
Speaking of which, I need to go to Gettysburg. I miss the place.