Hooray! Hooray! It’s the first of May! Outdoor ----ing starts today!

May Day! May Day! Is all they say?

It is just another day.

Since we don’t have to check the clock of when we have to be at work or get the kids to school or get that elective surgery or when the bell rings to leave work, why wear a watch? Or keep looking at the calendar?

If you haven’t figured it out yet, you are going nowhere anytime soon.

The daily reports of progress only present possibilities followed by a body count. Maybe children should stand in the podium and tell fairy tales?

The ‘ole’ normal is long since faded. Would you go into an office again? Would you cuddle up in a restaurant booth with your buddies wearing mask? Would you buy a hot dog from some guy walking down the steps?

Even ‘online’ weddings are taking a chance for the preacher and attendees might be watching from afar, the couples are declaring vows that are more than love. ‘Till’ death do us part’ takes on a new meaning.

Now the kids have new occupations to aspire to. Gravediggers, truck drivers, produce pickers and drug dealers outrank Lawyers, Doctors and Indian Chefs. Certainly don’t want to become a politician.

In this ‘new normal’, the janitor and the grocery stocker and domestic worker have been titled “Hero’s”. They always have been but were not appreciated for what they do. These are the people who do jobs that no one else wants to do. They keep us fed and clean up our mess in an invisible world.

Of course the doctors and nurses and police and fire fighters and first responders deserve the praise of dealing with possible death for just doing their job. If you saw someone lying in the street would you go over to them or call 911 for someone else to take care of the matter?

On the positive side, it is spring! It is May and time to dance around the May Pole (see photo above). The birds are singing and making nest, the bugs are coming out, flowers are blooming and all we can think about is ourselves.

That wonderful bonding family time is starting to get old. Having a routine of bumping around in the house looking for a way out until you pop open the bottle is the norm. Kids are what you are stuck with. Somebody has to deal with them and that is YOU.

You can’t see an old friend and run up to them and give them a hug. That act is the thing of the past. A simple wave to a stranger or an old mate is as close as it gets.

If you do leave the shelter (for exercise only) you may notice those you pass are friendly.

Tomorrow might bring new unexpected challenges but that is how life is.

Good luck and wash your hands. I’m not shaking them.