Photo credit: KK / Brno Daily.
This week was cloudy and damp and below the seasonal average temperature. Yet, on Friday, as the rain fell throughout the morning, it still felt as though the downturn in the weather was the final bit of unpleasantness before The Great Awakening.
Hunker down for one more day of the COVID-19 pandemic and then . . . come out to play again.
Come out to live again!
Today dawned beautifully. The temperature is comfortable. And rain looks to be at least a week away. It feels like a brand new world.
People have escaped their quarantines. Runners and bikers are crowding the pathways. Beer is flowing again in beer gardens. And jungle gyms are filled with little kids.
The rainy week has done wonders for gardens. Potato plants are knee high. Pea plants are crawling up the trellises and flowering. Corn is starting to poke through the dirt. Strawberries are just waiting for color. And it is now time to move the tomato plants from the window sill to the garden.
And, finally, it’s time to wash the car.
Sports are also on the near horizon. Opening Day for local baseball is Friday. Local football will resume shortly thereafter. It has been tough to be without the fantasy escape of sports; now, we will have many games jammed into a short period of time. The standings will be changing every three of four days.
It won’t make up for the fact that fans cannot pack the stands and passionately (read: drunkenly) sing and shout — but it is something.
It feels like now is the time to start doing the things that we had wanted to do during the quarantine period: writing, creating, reading, exercising. The return to routine will provide structure.
Most importantly, especially for those with young children, preschool will start back up on Monday. No more constant entertainment and play. Finally, working parents can get back to the office.
* * *
COVID-19 is still not fully understood. It is still ravaging parts of the world. There is still no vaccine. Some of us were affected more than just a simple quarantine. Children in New York have recently started to become seriously ill. Many scientists and experts warn that the coronavirus will come back even stronger in the fall — and then maybe even for a third wave.
Economically, the Czech Republic and Brno — and many individuals — will need months to rebuild their finances.
But . . . all of the negative seems to have been pushed into the background, buried under a sense of overpowering optimism that is quite palpable for many of us here in Brno on this spring weekend.
Future be damned!
Sixty-three days of quarantine was an experience. Now, we are all clearly excited to move around.
Stay safe. Stay well.
