Our new normal.

I meant to finish documenting our summer back in July, but whew...a lot of changes have happened over the last four months.  I'm barely hanging on!  More on that in a flurry of future catch-up posts.  

For right now, it's time to do a little update on Covid-19.  Remember that nutzo coronavirus that turned the world upside down?  Yeah.  It's still going strong, and it's still scary.  But on the bright side, it has been the catalyst for the most entertaining 2020 memes.   I would call it catastrophizing, except it's alllllllll real.

In all seriousness, the world is a dark place right now.  Our new normal is a fear-based approach to life...physically and socially of course, but also emotionally and politically.  I haven't even mentioned the death of George Floyd or the BLM protests/riots.  Back in June, a lot of our local stores were boarded up for a couple of weeks because of the protests.  Thankfully, nothing got too out of hand in Pittsburgh.  

{Our Whole Foods, boarded up}

 {"Say Their Names" tribute across from our Target}

{"Slave Labor...still exists!" and other BLM signs along Butler Street}

{BLM sign painted on Penn Avenue}

In my lifetime, I've never seen America so divided, so racist, so angry, so violent, or so afraid.  We're lucky that our day-to-day isn't affected that much (this is sadly not the case for a lot of people).  We socially distance and wear masks.  But the mental toll this year has taken on everybody is exhausting.   Combine the last four years of a Trump presidency with a global pandemic, and you've successfully turned 2020 into a literal dumpster fire.  

Oh, and I do mean literal.  After Harry and Megan quit the royal family and after Kobe Bryant's unexpected death that lit up the news cycles, California and Oregon caught on fire and have been burning ever since.  Like, 4 million acres kind of burning.  I can't remember if the fires started before or after scientists discovered invasive Murder Hornets in the northwest?  They definitely started before Ruth Bader Ginsburg's politically charged passing, and definitely before Donald Trump lost the re-election but refused to concede.  Hopefully our democracy will still be intact next year, but I'm not holding my breath.

So yeah.  Not catastrophizing.  

Obviously, I'm projecting a lot of different emotions here: seriousness, humor, sadness, sarcasm...etc. etc.  I realize this post feels like a pendulum swinging back and forth between funny and depressing, but geez, so does 2020.  Half the time we're all joking about the fact that we can't buy toilet paper or Lysol wipes, and half the time we're in disbelief as we watch another Covid-19 surge move the needle on an already too-high death toll.  Here are the latest numbers:

Total Deaths:  1,309,408

American Deaths:  249,975

Anyway.  At least this year has helped me focus on perspective.  As we embrace whatever our weird "new normal" is, I'm trying my hardest to do it with gratitude and empathy.  We could all use a little more of that right now (and more memes...let's be honest), even to remind us just a smidge about hope and humanity.  

And now here are some random pandemic pictures from the summer, because why not?

{the fountain at Lemieux doing "pick-ups" with dad}

{the Lawrenceville gargoyles wearing masks}

{airport travel these days}