Today may be the first day of a new year, but I’m happy to say that the end is already in sight.
Yes, with COVID vaccines starting to be injected into people’s arms around the world (slower than expected, but still), it’s clear we’re at the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Sure, it won’t be an easy next few months as we get through the winter and spring, and before the vaccine reaches general availability, but I’m hopeful that with the November and December 2020 holidays now in the rear-view, people will actually hunker down, and we won’t have to worry (as much) about people crowding together or congregating for special occasions. (Fingers crossed!)
With that hope comes reason to be optimistic that 2021 won’t be like 2020, and that, by some time this coming summer, we’ll be back to some degree of normal. Even Dr. Fauci says that if all goes well with the vaccination campaign, we could approach herd immunity by the end of the summer, and be back to a normal “that is close to where we were before” by the end of 2021.
On that assumption, I’m already looking forward to all the things I want to do in 2021. Here are just a few of the items on my to-do list, in no particular order.
- Hug my family
- Hug my friends
- Be a better friend
- See a movie in a movie theater
- Eat a meal at the counter or bar of a local restaurant, such as Johnny’s Luncheonette, Trident Café, or Jamie’s on Union
- Hang out with my new coworkers in person
- Swim in Lake Michigan in Michigan City, Indiana
- Cheer the end of you-know-who’s presidency*
- Cheer the beginning of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ administration
- See the Lone Bellow live in concert (Bruce Springsteen has already said he won’t be back on the road till 2022)
- Eat my mother’s brisket and noodle kugel
- Enjoy the view from the Envoy hotel’s rooftop bar
- Go to a museum
- Spend less time alone
- Take more photos of the Bean in Chicago
- Get myself some new glasses
- Celebrate my 46th (belatedly) and my 47th birthdays
- See a Broadway show live and in person
- Smile at people I pass on the street and see them smiling back at me
- Enjoy warm butter cake at Del Frisco’s
- Go somewhere without worrying about how crowded it’ll be
- Cheer on the Red Sox at Fenway Park
- Enjoy the silence when my upstairs neighbors finally go back to their home country (fingers crossed)
- Go away on vacation. Like, on an airplane away
- Raise a glass and belatedly toast friends’ new jobs and/or loss of jobs, celebrate birthdays and other milestones, or just say “thank you” over a cold beverage in person
- Date
- Cook for myself less often
- Not be stressed about the day’s news
- Resume my annual year-end steak night tradition
- See my college classmates at our 25-year reunion(!!)
- Walk around without a mask on
I know I may not be able to do all of the things I’ve listed here in 2021, but there’s a lot of lost time to make up for, and I am eager to start getting my life back to normal. So let’s all work together to stay safe, mask up, keep on social distancing, and get vaccinated when we have the opportunity, so we can get there sooner.
Happy New Year!
What’s on your post-pandemic to-do list?
Martin's Musings 
YES! Swim in Lake Michigan in Michigan City, Indiana. But you forgot Dairy Queen.
On my list, my plan is balance. not working crazy hours and enjoying weekends. I give myself until June to figure this out!
If I’m in Michigan City, then a trip to Dairy Queen is *assumed* … 😉 Good luck with your list! Sounds doable to me.