Speaking of, New Hampshire is opening!
To be fair, it's in a much more careful way than some states, and it never got as bad as down south in MA, and I think there's severe pressure to at least let hospitals do non-elective surgeries because they're in dire financial straits being so empty (ain't that a messed up system). So the idea is it'll be some things opening but in very limited capacity- I believe on May 11 is retail/ hair salons, but at 50% capacity and both employees and customers must wear a mask at all times (that'll be fun for a haircut), then the week after restaurants but only for outside table service/ no bar areas, tables 10ft apart, etc. My favorite though (and probably only one we'd do) is drive in movie theaters can also open this month, of which there are three in the state, and one of those is quite near us. I am pretty sure sitting in our car is about as safe as that can be (pay in advance, BYO snacks), so we're totally going to be doing it. A lot of the stuff like state parks, campsites, and golf courses are restricted to NH residents only, in hopes that it'll minimize travelers from down south (and hotels, attractions, etc can't open at all), but not sure how well that will go- I think plenty of people are going to be happy to drive less than an hour to southern NH to eat in a restaurant.
I mean, on the one hand I don't think we are going to be going out and about much with our newfound freedoms. On the other, my summer shoes are totally done from last year and the towns around us all only ever reported 1-4 cases, none recently... so I think running into the shoe store the first week is going to happen, because on a practical level my winter boots and hiking boots aren't gonna cut it now that it's getting warmer. So we will go to the local shoe store the week they open at what should be a non-busy time, and after two months without stepping into a store I'm sure essential shoe purchasing will be quite the thrill to last me awhile.
So yeah, I guess we will see how this goes- it may well be too early, but as I said we're not exactly planning to paint the town red. And this might sound dumb, but after about two months of all the same I'm kind of happy to see something change even if we aren't going to be changing much our own lives and def won't be "back to normal." But at least we are out of the beginning, I guess- I keep thinking about that Churchill quote how this isn't the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.
Yes, I have a life. It's quite different from yours.
