The Sky Was Blue

A Beautiful April Afternoon

My deck was covered with snow and dog shit for most of the winter of 2020–2021. When the snow melted, it left only the dog shit that slowly dried in the sun as it emerged from winter’s darkness.

We could have a small birthday party out on the deck yesterday for my father, who turned 88 on April 6th, my son who turned 22 on April 3rd, my older son who turns 24 on April 13th, and for me who will turn 58 on April 25th.

This gathering was in stark contrast to how things felt last April, which was one of the worst months in human history because of the scourge of COVID-19.

I wrote a story about that last April which drew heavily on this article from the Washington Post:

As we sat on the deck in the sun yesterday celebrating our birthdays, I was grateful for the blue sky and the fact that both of my parents have had both of their vaccine doses, and I am set to have my second this Sunday.

The year has gone by in a blur of confusion, sickness, sadness, isolation, financial hardships, and deaths. But there has been progress with the development of vaccines that are supposed to be our ticket out of the pandemic.

So we are all a year older and have survived a historic pandemic. I hope by next year’s birthdays in April we are looking back on the pandemic that was.