Well well well here we are. September snuck right up on us and here comes my August recap halfway through. Six months into this shitshow of a pandemic with no actual relief in sight. Time is fake and news is fake and everyone is awful and apparently we now live in a country where democracy is crumbling before our very eyes but it's fine because who even wants to wear a mask. I feel for posterity's sake as much as anything it's time to temporarily suspend my general sense of gratitude, hope and optimism and write a QUICK SHORT NBD list of 50 things that I really miss now that we are slowly rolling towards fall/winter and what I can only imagine will be a nightmarish response and refusal to comply with anything that might require people to think outside of themselves*.
*I have been on twitter a lot today. The mood is low and the bar is lower.
So without further adieu:
Fifty Everyday Things I Miss After Six Months of COVID19
Squeezing in between strangers and leaning over a sort of sticky bar to get the bartenders attention
Avoiding places because of the crowds, but not because of a virus
The blissful quiet hour in my house after my kids got on the bus and before my work day began
Not thinking about lunch
Planning, shopping, and hosting a big ass dinner for 10 friends at my house
Wishing I had a larger suitcase
Trading pulls with a friend off a bottle of wine after one too many
Carefully squeezing my way through a crowd
A big hug with a friend I haven't seen in a while
Driving downtown
Getting a cold and doing the thing you were already planning to do anyway because who cares it's just a cold, you're fine.
A cozy bar on a rainy night
Long, slow strolls through museums
Standing in line to board an airplane
Room service
Sitting through a Middle School band concert on the uncomfortable gym bleachers
Navigating public transportation in a new city
Ordering a bottle for the table
Forgetting to get a flu shot
A little spontaneous side trip tacked onto a road trip
Whiteboarding ideas with coworkers (I know this is Lame but I really do miss throwing ideas around with people IRL)
Communal bar snacks. RIP Pretzels.
Sending my kids to school with a runny nose
The one minor league baseball game we would go to in the summer
Going to the farmer's market just to eat breakfast and see what's going on
Restaurant research
San Francisco (but maybe not if it's on fire)
Planning get togethers six weeks out because everyone has plans all the time (do i actually miss this?)
Not waiting in line to shop at Trader Joes
Block parties (were these a thing? I feel like I miss them)
A general sense of time
Quick two night business trips
A lack of impending doom
Indy Cookbook Club
Hosting giant annual parties with probably too many people in my house but I don't care
The mere option of international travel
Beer samples at a brewery
Three hour tasting menus
Can't really miss it yet but I know I'll miss an Indiana high school basketball game on a Friday night this winter
Everyone at a concert a little drunk singing at the same time
Working from a coffeeshop for an entire day
The window seat of an airplane
Real shoes/outfits/purses
Hotel lobbies
Overpaying for drinks at a bar before your dinner reservation
Pedicures
Parades.
The charm of a sticky floor in a dive bar
The drawing class at the Indianapolis Art Center I never signed up for but was GOING TO..
Saying "Oh I'm fine, I get a bad cough like, once a year"
IN OTHER NEWS:
Currently reading: Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. I loved her realistic fiction portrayal of Laura Bush in American Wife, and her latest book Rodham, in which a world is imagined where Hillary said no to marrying Bill, has me captivated. Also on the proverbial nightstand: We are never meeting in real life, by Samantha Irby (hilarious, hilarious essays), Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver, and I can't ignore that I am now Reading for Work: Jobs to be Done by Stephen Wunker.
Currently Cooking to: This month’s playlist is all instrumentals. I love having music on while I work but then I also tend to get distracted by lyrics-- so I made myself a playlist of all the instrumentals that I have come across and like and voila: This month's playlist was born.
Currently Craving: I think....September might be my favorite month for food. We are like, peak-produce here in the midwest. Tomatoes are still incredible, green bean plants won't quit, there's stone fruit, berries, concord grapes are now in season, and the sweet corn is still sweet. AND LET'S NOT FORGET APPLES ARE HERE! Don't be tempted by those "fall feelings" thrown at you by Starbucks and Trader Joes deep throating pumpkin spice like it's not the most obnoxious "season" around. Save that for actual fall. Time is already messing with our heads, the last thing we need is to ignore the sweet, delicious, fleeting end of summer. Make a big meal, eat it outside with friends if you can, maybe it will be cool enough in the evening for a sweater if you're lucky! How's that for "fall"?
Currently Watching: Ted Lasso is the best show on TV right now and I don't want to argue with anyone about it.
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