From CDC.gov

Today begins the 13th week of my company rotating workers in the office – mostly working from home; always having one person in to collect mail, cover the phones and so on.

Yes, it began the week of March 23, 2020, and it both seems like not that long ago and a million years ago.

As I’ve said earlier, the work from home/social distancing isn’t as hard for me as others: I’m a boring boy in general, and – as a programmer – working on a computer at home is not that much different from working on a computer at work.

Still, there are the little things:

• Having to wear a mask everywhere.
• We don’t go out to eat as much as we should, but when that option is no longer available….
• I feel sorry for the students who missed prom, graduation, graduation parties, sports. I could live without, but for some these events are important – and you only get to, for example, graduate from high school once.
• Missed a couple of events at the Art Institute (of Chicago); El Greco and I can’t recall the second.
• I miss going to art fairs – we usually hit a few a year. Fun to walk, people watch, check out the art and have a beer/lunch. Skipping all that this year – at least in part because the art fairs themselves have been canceled.

I fear that this opening up things that has been going on in Illinois for a couple of weeks – and longer in many other states – may backfire and put us under lockdown again.

I really hope I’m wrong.

But I’m all but certain that, until there is an effective vaccine, things are not going to get back to normal, however you may define that.