This a quick post to my future self – something to read when the quarantine is nothing but a faint memory…

The coronavirus threw everything out the window, and devastated a lot of people’s lives. For the lucky enough to have a job easily done remotely, like me, it was chaos, but not terrifying chaos. It took a while, but eventually my family and I settled into this new, hopefully temporary, reality.

For us, Life After COVID (AC?) has forced a completely different pace, a slower, more relaxed cadence, even if punctuated by the anxiety maelstrom that our world has descended into these days. San Diego’s North County feels like bubble, a cocoon of perfect weather and tranquil neighborhoods. I know we’re extremely lucky to live here.

In the Before Times, we might have spent Saturday afternoon planning for the evening – where are we going to eat? Does it have good reviews? Do we need reservations? Does it have a decent cocktail bar? Do we have cash for the valet? (Yes, these are actual San Diegan Eating Out Considerations).

It is amazing the level of aggravation we got used to dealing with in order to overpay for that perfect gin gimlet – and what is more amazing is that we didn’t even realize it was aggravating. It took a once-in-a-lifetime catastrophe to bring that clarity. Covid is what us electric engineer nerds call a ‘forcing function’ – by making us to work hard for what used to be simple things, it forced us to prioritize, to identify what we really care about.

So now, when I sit out in the yard playing with the pups, watching hot air balloons waft by in 72F weather, and drinking a bit of wine – why yes, I truly, fully appreciate how lucky I am.