The Coronacation Diaries, Episode 48

What's Everybody So Mad About? 

Between yesterday and today, I've been to a lot of places and done a lot of things.

Yesterday, I went on a long walk with the daughters on the trails at Lake Lansing Park North. We made it a joke to yell "pretty!" and point every time we saw wildflowers blooming. We yelled and pointed a lot. We were ridiculous and we knew it and we were laughing. The flowers were audacious, bright yellow shooting up through the fallen trees and dead leaves. We talked about our lives and our loves and we argued and we apologized and we got blisters and we got sunburned and we talked about how lucky we are to have each other. We watched a chubby muskrat slide into the water.

Yesterday, the boy child desperately wanted Chicken McNuggets for dinner. So I went to McDonald's and got him some. The partner wanted beer, so I went to our local liquor store. We wanted to support a local restaurant, so we ordered from The Watershed. We ate our take out and we planned our Powerpoint Party and and we argued and we apologized and we talked about how lucky we are.

Today, I had to go to the post office to grab a Priority Mail box and then mail out something I'd sold online. I went to Petsmart to pick up dog food and dog toothpaste for Dobby. I went to the vet to get a prescription for Katniss filled. I went to Van Attas to get some seeds and a bag of dirt. I made bread.

Later, the daughters and I went to the park on Towner Road. I jogged for a mile. We walked for a mile. Helena skated for several miles. 

After dinner, I walked the dog. We passed a house being re-roofed. Another being remodeled. A third with landscapers in the yard.

There were boats out on the water. People were on their decks; they were on the street, walking their dogs or riding their bikes. The air smelled like burgers and burnt leaves. 

On social media and in the news, so many people are complaining. Mad about losing their "rights." Insistent that they can't garden or fix their roofs or get exercise or buy yeast to make bread. Livid at having to wear a mask in public to go grocery shopping, even though they've always willingly followed the "no shirt no shoes no service" policy without throwing a hissy fit and storming the capitol waving their guns around. 

But what, exactly, are they so mad about? What, exactly, can they NOT do? Because on a beautiful Saturday in May, I was able to do everything I wanted to do and everything I needed to do. The only inconvenience was that I had to do it in a mask, and stand in line to get into a store. But the sun was shining. It was a beautiful day. And if standing in line and wearing a mask are the biggest inconveniences in our lives right now, then we are pretty damn privileged. Instead of shouting into the echo chamber and hyperfocusing on everything we can't do --as if collectively working to save lives is some sort of civil rights violation-- maybe we could all just go outside and take a walk. Look around. Yell "pretty!" and point every time we see evidence of the audacious beauty surrounding us.

Photo by Andreas Schantl on Unsplash