Everything is so…NORMAL!

I was back in position.  Sitting on the pool bench in between two yellow lines indicating six feet.  “On duty” as I monitored Declan in the water, while he played with his marine toys and swam to the farther ladder.

What Declan lacks in swimming skills he has gained in height.  Declan can go deeper now, not because he is a better swimmer but because he is taller.

I looked to the side and watched a girl gently swing her arms and hips to a memorized dance routine while she waited for sunscreen.  I had seen the dance a hundred times before.  Not the same one, but the movement.

“Tik-Tok,” I said out loud and looked back at the water.  Declan was hoisting himself up the ladder in new, deeper waters and began to walk towards me.

“Hey mom,” Declan said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

Declan smiled, causing all the skin below his goggles to fold.

“Want to see me do that again?”

I smiled in return.

“Sure!” I said, and laughed.

With a mighty jump, Declan cannonballed into the water, readjusted his goggles, and put his head in the water, splashing swimming his way back to the second ladder.

We were back at the pool.  Right when I asked, “how are they going to open the pool?” I got the email explaining how.  Enter through one gate, exit through the other.  Wear masks in the bathroom. No basketball, wiffleball, or playground.  Sit six feet apart.  No guests allowed. No concession stand.  Please limit your stay to two hours.

“Well, okay then,” I thought, and there we were.

Earlier in the day, I had been to the grocery store.  No arrows were indicating which way I had to walk down an aisle.  There was no corral at the end of one’s shopping trip for guests to wait to be told which register to go to.  I was able to pick my register.  There were fewer people and more food available.

If it were not for the mask, the trip felt almost – normal.

I drove down the street to see the wine and liquor stores, which had closed in March, were open again .  A quick online check to see if it too was open led me to the DMV to wait in an hour and a half long line to get my newly expired license amended. 

But to really TEST the normal waters, I decided to try something “normal.”  I needed a new pool bag.  The straps on last year’s pool bag had ripped off.  For three months, I have ordered everything I needed online.  Just as I was getting into my online ordering position, the light bulb clicked.

“I could go to an actual store and buy one.”

So, I did.  Not only did I walk out of a store with a new pool bag, but I also had a gallon of bleach—something else I have not seen in three months.

As quickly as my world shut down in March, it is opening back up.  Soccer practices are scheduled to start next week.  No contact, just the team on the field doing ball drills to work on footwork.  Basketball schedules are set to begin in July.  But most of all, the kids have been reunited with their friends. 

The mom taxi is in full effect.  Bobby gets dropped at a nearby lake to paddleboard or kayak with the other ‘boys of summer.’ Catelyn has been dropped at friend’s houses to ride bikes or play in a pool.  It appears we parents have agreed to let our kids get together and play.  Safely, separate, outside.

I keep going to the CDC website to watch the numbers in the US.  Although the numbers of new cases aren’t going way down, they aren’t spiking either. 

Our lives are moving forward, precautiously, right alongside the virus.

Thankfully, a rainy morning has led to lazy bodies.  There are no calls for rides, no scheduled playtimes.  It has been a time for me to appreciate where we are, where we were, and wonder what tomorrow will bring and what new risks we may be willing to take.