GETTING ITCHY, TWITCHY AND ....

Can we talk? 

This pandemic is starting to gnaw at me. It’s lasted too long and everyday feels like deja-vu all over again. Catch this: Mr. Wonderful and I just watched a five-season Netflix series called “Turn: Washington’s Spies” … for the SECOND time. And liked it as much as we did three years ago.  (Are we bored or are we really bored?)

My house is a paradigm of Marie Kondo-inspired tidiness. Every Tupperware container boasts a matching lid. I’ve dumped all my leftover dimes, nickels and quarters into coin roll wrappers and wait for the bank lobby to reopen. 

Kennebunk’s Outta-the-Box Thrift Shop now features a Marier melange of Dansk casserole dishes (so first wedding) along with two dozen FTD flower vases and a complete set of Ridgewood Country Club Member Guest highball glasses. There’s nothing left in the house to purge.

I love to knit and that’s helped pass the time. My latest project is a striped wool poncho for a three-year-old child. I DON’T HAVE A THREE-YEAR OLD OR KNOW ANY. My youngest grandchild is 10.

Fortunately, FaceTimes and Zooms have kept me sane. “Cocktails at 6” on the computer screen with our pals in Canada and Florida lifted our spirits. (And it’s better than drinking alone.) I’ve “attended” Garden Club board meetings, bookclub gatherings, birthday celebrations, even funerals in Long Island and California. 

Mind you, I accept that I’m “not allowed” to sit inside a hot sweaty gymnasium to cheer on my Grands as they shoot hoops and snag rebounds. Right here in the Wells woods, I watch streamed games from Ridgewood, New Jersey and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, sitting on my living room couch while sipping a Scotch. 

But there’s a big world out there and I’m getting itchy and twitchy to get back in it. Do you hear me, Dr. Fauci?

A recent article in the NEW YORK TIMES caught my eye. It was an interview with actor Mandy Patinkin (Saul!)) and his wife Kathy who bolted from New York City last March to quarantine upstate in their vacation cabin. Except for missing their older son who lives in Colorado, Patinkin said, “There’s no question that being with my family for 11 months has been one of the true gifts of my life.” 

(Shall we take bets to see if Mr. Wonderful feels the same? Especially today, after 11 months of himandhertogetherness?)

My favorite line from the article:  “Once the world is vaccinated and LIVING LIFE is back in vogue…..” 

Living life!  Going to a big mall to buy a new lipstick or purse. Sitting around the dining room table sharing dinner with our besties. Wrapping my arms around 10-year-old Henry, his brother and his cousins. Borrowing a book from the library any day of the week. Paying $20 for a bag of popcorn and watching a new movie on the big Cinemagic screen. Ordering Vitello Limone while sitting in a snug booth at Traditions. Living life.

We had our first vaccines and are awaiting our second. We know that afterwards we will still have to wear masks, wash our hands every 15 minutes and avoid mosh pits. 

But is that a faint light I’m seeing at the end of this long dark tunnel?