I miss seeing family, friends, and other places.

Happy Hour alone is lonely. 

One sure thing about our current situation is that I miss talking to people, in person. Proof of that is my sudden rapid fire blog posts, a poor substitute but it still allows a data dump now and then. I'm realizing that I enjoy just talking to people face to face. Especially, of course, those that know me. Random strangers are unlikely to want me babbling to them. Cindy patiently listens to my baloney, but I don't want to bore her too much. She's heard all my stories. Work now consists of a skeleton crew, and we are mainly conversing in chat rooms and daily phone/video conferences where my "humor" or "personality" does not always translate well.

It's becoming clear that most humans crave personal interaction and I'm finding that I have that urge strongly. I never really noticed it before. I always felt comfortable being alone, and often craved "me" time, but now that I have as much time alone as I want, I'm starting to realize how much I like being around people. Now certainly, if I was forced to be with friends 24/7, I'd go mad, but I sure could go for a crowded bar or restaurant about now.

Cape May at The Schooner in 2016. Can you spot Cindy?

We are rapidly coming up on what would have been spring break, and Cindy and I had tentative plans to go somewhere for a few days, perhaps the Jersey shore or Saratoga. That we can't go feels both depressing and angering. We are used to going where we want, when we want and being forced to stay home seems un-American no matter how sensible it is. By definition the people that populated this country were restless wanderers so maybe that's just built in for many of us.

For me though it may be more than that. I don't consider myself to be a chatty, talkative person, and sometimes more of a loner, but I'm definitely learning that I could never disappear into the woods on my own. I definitely feel like I would go crazy. I need that interaction and feedback. Since our current situation is open ended, there's not a specific release date that we can look forward to. That feels strange too since Cindy and I always have things on the calendar that we are planning and anticipating. Everything is in limbo now. I still plan on retiring in August. Hope we get to go somewhere in September. 

We have a big front porch that would allow a couple of visitors including a six foot interval so I'm thinking of having Social Distancing Happy Hour,  one or two people at a time. Any overflow will have to stand in the lawn.

Hope you are all well and safe.