I’m taking a vacation.
A real one. Nine days away from the news, as long as something awful doesn’t happen. So far, so good. (I’m trying not to look at the spaghetti models and radar of what’s going on in the Atlantic.)
As I write this, I’m on a plane. We left Tampa this morning. Landed in Chicago to connect to Kalispell, Montana. Glacier National Park.
This plane is full. A lot of people headed to Glacier for the holiday weekend. It seems we all are ready to get away. Somewhere. Anywhere.
Many old friends will be with us in Montana. It’s going to be great. To see friends. To just get away.
I can’t help but sit in this plane and think about the events of the last year. The Covid pandemic. The social unrest in America. The contentious election that never seems to end.
We have been through a lot. As a country, it’s been hard. I’m not really sure that we made it to the other side yet either.
Also looming out there: a Covid variant. Delta plus, it’s called. (Sort of sounds like an upgrade on an airline. More legroom. Free drinks. It’s not.) It’s the virus doing what viruses do. Mutating to survive.
Will our vaccines be enough to hold it off? Will we go back to wearing masks? I’m sitting on this plane wearing a mask right now. I do not want to have to do this full time again.
But I will if I have to.
On a personal note, I’m still recovering from getting a pacemaker. I check my heart rate a lot. All seems good.
It’s so weird to think that something like that is inside my body. Keeping me going. I’ll take it, though, when I start considering the alternatives.
I can’t wait to start working out again. The heart is good. It’s the left arm that I need to be careful about. The pacemaker is just below the collarbone. The wires go into the heart. They tell me it takes a while for everything to heal before you can use the arm again. Don’t want to pull any wires out. Soon, I’m back in the game.
So, that’s where I am. On a plane. Headed to Montana. Thinking a lot about life. Grateful. So grateful.
Excuse me, another nap is coming on.