By 8:30 every morning, regardless of the time zone, I’m done with my 5k run and ready to write. This is my favorite time of the day when life is uninterrupted and I’m sitting in front of a blank page. Today is football Sunday, with a trip to Zupan’s Market for groceries as the only scheduled responsibility. While my wife shops, I’ll take our dog for a walk in the park, a weekly ritual since our move downtown a year ago. There’s no more Trash Days, Date Nights, Matinee Mondays, or Leadership Fridays that once measured retirement- just grocery shopping on Wednesdays and Sundays, otherwise every day is identical. 

I look out over the rooftop of a sausage factory next door, where there’s usually the daily activity of men repairing one of the many compressors. In the background, are the homes atop beautiful Forest Hills. It’s the same view every day without the opportunity to travel, as we’ve done in the past, due to Covid restrictions. We’ve gone over to my wife’s daughter’s house on several occasions for variety, and I drove twenty miles to Tualatin yesterday to help harvest grapes. Doctor or hair appointments are usually the only time slots filled on the calendar. TV continues to be our sole source of entertainment. We haven’t been to a live music or sporting event in over seven months. Barry Manilow in Las Vegas back in February was the last time we sat in a crowded arena. 

By the end of March we were all wearing masks and staying home. Trips to Bali and Egypt were canceled, as the world began to shrink. Since that time, a couple of long drives have been our only long distance get-aways. At least, we’ve been consumed with a major project – building a home 2,500 miles away. We started looking at Florida sites back in January, settled on the location in June, and drove one of our cars down in August. We’ve fought-off cancelations, the virus, battery problems, fires, smoke, break-ins, protests, riots, hurricanes, and a broken leg to get this all done. My wife started the year a brunette and now is silver, but this was mostly by choice not necessarily stress. 

The year 2020 has seemingly lasted a lifetime. We’re all looking forward to a break from divisive politics and the return to normalcy. We don’t yet know if our scheduled trips to Hawaii, Spain, and Russia will happen in the next six months? Regardless, we have a timetable to meet on building, packing, and moving to Florida. The move is a welcome diversion from the woes of the world. We’ve been very fortunate to have avoided the tragedies that others have experienced – sickness, injury, loss of family, property damage, theft, bankruptcy, and joblessness. We’ve stayed on the fringe of all of this, with only minor set-backs. With this in mind – here’s to a Favorable Future for everyone!