A year ago, my wife and I were headed to Las Vegas for a week. The much anticipated 2020 New Year’s celebration began in Florida the month before, as we searched the Gulf Coast for the perfect location to build a new home. None of us knew what was ahead at that time, so we had big travel plans for the first year of our joint retirement. By the time we got back from Vegas, we both had a lingering cough and cold attributed to what we thought were allergies. As reports began to come out about the spread of Coronavirus, we both wondered if this is what we had?

Our trip to Phoenix Spring Training games in March signaled the beginning of the panic. Baseball was cancelled along with “March Madness.” We dined indoors for the last time in many months to come and realized that the Barry Manilow concert that we joked about seeing in Las Vegas might not happen again for awhile. I cancelled another baseball trip to Dallas, then Bali and Egypt. Masks became part of our daily retirement uniforms and sanitizer our new perfume. Hugging and handshakes stopped, followed by most get togethers with friends. “Self quarantining” and “social distancing” became common topics of discussion. 

A year has now gone by without much change, as we continue to await the vaccine. More of our planned trips to Hawaii, Europe, and St. Kitts have been delayed. Beaches and Parks where we can enjoy fresh air and maintain space have become safe havens, where a degree of normalcy can be savored. Today is Super Bowl eve, another Saturday with little to do but take Tally to the dog park. I thought of the Chicago (Transit Authority) hit: 

“Saturday in the park
I think it was the Fourth of July
Saturday in the park
I think it was the Fourth of July.”

“People dancing, people laughing
A man selling ice cream
Singing Italian songs.” 

We did just return from two weeks in Florida, the third time we’ve been there this past year, as plans for our permanent move begin to unfold. As the result of this travel, we’re “self-isolating” to prevent any possible exposure to family and friends. It was the end of the song that struck me as profound, as we seek to celebrate our “independence” from this deadly virus:  

“People reaching, people touching,
A real celebration.
Waiting for us all (waiting for us all).”

“If we want it, really want it.
Can you dig it? (Yes, I can).”

“And I’ve been waiting such a long time
For the day, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Sadly, in these pandemic times, there is no “touching,” no “real celebration,” and we’ve all been “waiting such a long time.” We do indeed “want it, really want it,” hoping that we can soon “dig” a friendly Saturday in the Park picnic celebration with laughing, dancing, singing, and ice cream.