Pandemic Trip: Reflecting on the Positives

Twenty-twenty has been one hell of a trip for everyone. COVID-19 has managed to wreak havoc on too many lives to count. This bastard pandemic has left so many people in turmoil, and who can say how much longer we will have to endure it.

As annoying as the commercials are, it’s true that we’re all in this together, like it or not. I would like to share with you, one nutty-ass gal’s nutty-ass story of the shit show that we know as 2020, just for kicks. This is my story, thus far … 

In February of this year, I moved across the country for a job. Just about a month and change later, I lost that job, and my living space, and really hadn’t a clue what to do. I was in a strange place where I really didn’t know anyone well enough to ask for help and a freakin’ pandemic was thrusting itself at the world.

After a fair amount of freaking the hell out, I realized that I had a smattering of relatives and friends on the East Coast. I called my uncle and headed to Dennis Port, Massachusetts. The point being, I was lucky and had places to stay.

Having said that, in the last six months, I have moved, with everything I own, exactly six times, two of which were across the country. On the last leg of the trip, my car broke down and was ultimately deemed beyond repair. And so, I left the piece of shit behind in New York and rode the choo choo train back to Colorado, which was wicked fun. I am now back where I started with no clue what is yet to come.

Fighting the urge to rip my rapidly greying hair out and have a nervous breakdown, I run the gauntlet of crazed emotions fairly often but still manage to keep my head on relatively straight. I think that it’s in times like these that we discover our strengths, and our gumption somehow rises to the surface. And so, in the tradition of Mr. Johnny Mercer, I am going to “Accentuate the positives, and eliminate the negatives …”

Here are some of my Pandemic positives so far:

Colorado to Maine: I got to see more than half of America in one trip! Between Paonia, Colorado, and Portland, Maine, my car only broke down once!

Portland, Maine: I met and worked with some nice folks and made a good friend, ate lobster with my Uncle Babe, and had the best seafood chowder EVER!

Dennis Port, Massachusetts: Here I stayed in my Uncle’s house that is a five-minute walk to the beach. Uncle and I went mussel gathering, clam digging and quahogging (it’s a thing) and then I made an even better seafood chowder. Suck it, Portland! And my car only broke down once …

Sandisfield, Massachusetts: I spent time with my aunts Connie and Cathy in the rustic country home where they grew up.  I took long walks every day and enjoyed the peace and quiet of a Massachusetts scenic small town.

Watkin’s Glenn, NY: My friend Barb lives here and, as part of the trip, I spent a few weeks with her. She lives, much to my delight, just about three blocks from the largest of the Finger Lakes, Lake Seneca. With docks a-plenty, my morning routine was to take coffee and a crossword down to the water and dangle my feet off the dock. Just be near the water was so calming. 

Reflecting on all of this, in the midst of such a disconcerting time, I feel a sense of strength and inner-peace which I know not only comes from me but also from the friends and family who have been there along the way. I cannot help but feel that somehow, the universe has guided me to exactly where I am supposed to be, for now.