I dined in for the first time in nine weeks

Finally! I really wanted to go out to eat again, but had a lot of misgivings too. I’ve been very careful since our governor mandated a safer at home order which was supposed to go to May 26. I started ordering delivery for my groceries (sometimes) and ordered delivery from restaurants quite a bit. I’ve been taking my temperature twice a day for weeks now. I’ve been washing my hands frequently, but that was something I had been doing long before the COVID-19 outbreak. I’ve been trying to get out every day if I can to walk, 3-4 miles a day. The weather has been awful here from mid March right up until this weekend. I’ve found with the warm weather and sunshine now, I feel so much better when I spend time outside. I have a couple of patios, and have been spending a lot of time out on them.

On one of my walks, I walked downtown in my town of about 25,000. The downtown is thriving again, now that things are open. My favorite watering hole has tables outside, separated by six feet. There were people eating and drinking, and I felt a little wistful envy. I had no intention of eating at a restaurant for awhile, but today I woke up and thought, screw it! So I went there, sat at a table outdoors, wasn’t within six feet of anyone, and all the servers were wearing masks. They were really nice, and I felt wonderful being able to do this again. There’s just something about eating outdoors in the sunshine. I had a couple of beers and some pizza. I probably spent a couple of hours there. There were many walkers and people on bicycles going past, lots of smiles and hi’s and hello’s. The server let me take my time, and didn’t try to rush me out. I felt happier than I had in awhile. I’m glad I did it. I also noticed the servers were cleaning a lot when they weren’t bringing food and drinks. Everything was spic and span. So places really can open if they do these things, common sense things.

Life is too short to live in fear. I’m still being careful. It’s not like I’m gonna seek out crowds of people and hang out. This was a mellow introduction back into the world for me. A couple of weeks ago, I felt a little under the weather and had some mild symptoms, but they only lasted about 24 hours. It was more like the flu - I ran a temperature and had a headache and body aches. I’ve been taking an extra zinc supplement since mid March, and I kept doing that. I feel much better now. Who knows what I had? So much is unknown, and the information changes about every day. But I have a life to live, and like everything else, I’ll go about this in moderation and baby steps.

a reply to: ChiefD

I love how the world is going to have a lot more appreciation for the little things like this.
Something as simple as being around people again and enjoying a meal.
I truly hope we always look back at these times and remember how lucky we all have it.

AHH! Your in Wisconsin, you lucky, lucky lady!

My, ehm, family member, broke out of MI Friday, and went to your state. This person has been texting me pictures, of actually eating in a restaurant, going to a farmers market, and was actually going to the Harley museum.

I hate this family member right now. LOL

I had the grandsons, so I could not follow this person in my vehicle.