Thanksgiving (and Peak Pandemic?) 2020: “Four Bedroom House?” No, “4, One Bedroom Apartments, with a Common Area”

Experiencing That “Vujà De” Feeling** (Hat tip: George Carlin)

Zoom call with extended family set up for Thursday afternoon?

“Check.”

Basement prepped for newly-quarantining, back-from-California college son?

“Check.”

Grocery run — complete with mask, disinfectant, and socially distanced wait line in front — successfully completed?

“Check.”

Fall leaves all raked?

Umm . . . .

Such is the post-Trump, pre-Biden, very much in-the-thick-of-the-pandemic Thanksgiving 2020.

Back Re-Entry From College

The skyrocketing infection rates and cold(er) weather are prompting many families — including mine — to revert to our Spring-time, “Defcon 5” alert level.

So, returning college son #1 is quarantining in the basement until he receives the results from his Covid-19 test (scheduled this Saturday).

Meanwhile, with fewer outings and (much) more at at-home time on tap the next few months, the rest of us once again seem to be inhabiting four, one Bedroom apartments with common areas (Kitchen and TV Room) instead of a four bedroom house.

Giving Thanks

Thankfully, even with all the difficulties, there are still things to be thankful for — as individuals, families, and as a nation.

That includes everyone in my immediate family being together; all of us are healthy (so far as we know — see, “Saturday Covid test”); my extended family is also healthy, if chafing at the ongoing confinement and physical separation; the successful and now resolved 2020 Presidential election; and the prospect of multiple, effective vaccines just over the horizon.

In particular, I’m thankful to, in the words of NYT columnist (and St. Louis Park native son): “all the civil servants, elected officials and judges who did their jobs and protected democracy.”

Friedman acknowledges some of the most admirable examples in today’s column, “Happy Thanksgiving to All Those Who Told the Truth in This Election”

I highly recommend that you read it . . .

**Defined as, “the feeling that you’ve never quite experienced something similar before.”



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