Opening Words from Sun. August 2 by Andy Stanton
Good morning.
I’m Andy Stanton and I’ve been a member of the Ethical Society of St. Louis since May of 2017, which was shortly after my wife and I moved here from Northern Virginia where we’d lived for 45 years.
Like everyone else our lives have been disrupted since March, when it became clear that the Covid-19 virus was a serious threat that required a new way of living. As retired people we were enjoying a varied lifestyle involving frequent excursions from our home in St. Charles to various locations in St. Louis, including the Ethical Society, the museums, the opera, the theaters, as well as many activities in St. Charles. Also we would travel to Nashville once a month to see our daughter. Further for the past several years we have taken one or two cruises per year and planned to take one this summer. However all that changed in March when, like everyone else, we essentially became confined to our home. At this point we are getting out a bit more. We’re back to seeing our daughter once a month, we go out to restaurants once in a while and we’ve gone to the supermarket, the hair cutters and the gym. But we’re still spending almost all of our time at home. And this situation is likely to continue for months.
In thinking about the past few months I feel it’s important to try to view the situation positively, to the extent possible. So these are the good things I’ve experienced since the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early March. Perhaps you can relate to some of them.
- I speak to people every time I go somewhere. It gives me pleasure to say friendly things to others and to appreciate them when they’re helping me out by bagging my groceries or waiting on my table.
- I’ve been doing a lot of reading, probably twice or three times as much as previously.
- I appreciate quiet times at home more than ever.
- I enjoy listening to the birds, owls and other animals outside our window.
- I’ve been doing some cooking.
- I use Zoom almost every day, which is much more satisfying than speaking to folks on the phone.
- I’ve learned to like doing jigsaw puzzles and my wife and I have put together several 500 to 1000 piece puzzles.
- I’m exploring new streaming services. We dropped Netflix and have tried Acorn, BritBox and PBS Passport.
- We saw Hamilton on TV for $7 and had a much better seat than in the theater for a 20th of the price – plus subtitles!
So in conclusion I have to say that there are so many positive things I’ve experienced over the past several months that I’m not the least bit eager to get back to my normal existence.
NO WAY!