2020

What a day. One of my favorite yoga teachers from Austin, Erika, whose class I used to attend religiously would always remind us, “We are more alike than we are different”. We all want the same things: to feel safe, to feel loved, to feel free. Some days it’s harder to understand how other people think and what drives them to do what they do. Today is one of those hard days.

I find it difficult to believe that this time last year, I was still wandering in Australia, ordering too many flat whites from coffee shops and deciding whether to come back to the US or not. I’m glad I did, at the time I did, obviously because of Covid lockdowns and because 2020 was the year I finally came home.

We’ve seen a lot of memes about the horror of 2020 finally being over, but I’ll remember it as a year that brought me closer to home than I’ve been in a long time. Among all the shaking up and uncertainty in the world, there’s a certain comfort and ease in the feeling of sitting on the couch with your family, or at least knowing that a friend is only a short drive away. I’m still fighting off chin pimples from many hours of mask-wearing, but at least I’m doing it at home.

Life in LBI

Now that we’re all caught up on Spring quarantine and visits to Harrisburg, PA, that bring us back to here, Long Beach Island, where I’ve been somewhat safely planted as of May. It feels wonderful to be back, and I’m going to need a whole carousel of sunrises and sunsets to show you what each day has been like (see below). I’m working at the same restaurant as last summer, and it almost feels normal despite wearing a mask and gloves for sometimes ten hours a day. Customers have been mostly friendly and generous, although I’m selfishly glad they’re not allowed inside yet, so we have less cleaning side-work and don’t stay open as late. Oh, and the health factors, too.

I like my job and the people I work with, so it has felt more like a blessing than a burden to be working again. I’ll update you more on all the restrictions sometime this week! But since May, we’ve been slowly starting to peel back the layers of lockdown. It started with solo walks on the beach, and life on the island began to pick up speed. I’ve done yoga distanced in parks and I’m teaching weekly classes on the beach with Yoga Bohemia.

I’ve found it relatively easy to be socially distanced and outdoors, since we have the whole ocean and bay to entertain us. Fourth of July was a little more spread out than usual, but we were still able to gather with friends on the beach. I’ve played beach volleyball with a mask on and gone surfing with friends.

I still get most of my meals from The Local Market (and my sister makes fun of me for it), but I’ve added a new neighborhood coffee shop to my repertoire.

It’s certainly been a stranger summer than most, but is there anything more I can ask for than for 2020 to feel slightly normal? The sun keeps rising and setting just as before.

First Week

I had to follow a sad fire post with a positive life post, because it really has been a fine first week of 2020! In spite of reading/worrying about the fires and feeling guilty about living a normal life while people are facing loss and disruption, I did some regular old fun things. I found a new yoga studio:

It’s in a neighborhood called Rosebery that is a little sleepy but sweet and reminds me a whole lot of California. There’s a market where you can order coffee and toasties and have yourself a pretty nice Saturday morning, if you so choose.

We had our first brewery and first beach day of 2020:

At the beach, there were announcements of rough currents and a SHARK SIGHTING so they kept closing the water to swimming. As someone who was not in the water at the time of the shark, I found this very exciting! And I’m glad to know they have a beach-wide announcement system to let you know about these important things.

My English friends introduced me to a game called beach cricket. I’m certain I didn’t follow all the rules, but I laughed a lot in the process of learning them.

And, wow, look at this view from the ferry on the ride back:

It was SO HOT on Saturday night, but it’s since turned into cooler weather and bits of drizzle here and there. Keep the rain coming please.

I went to my first show of the year on Sunday night! There will surely be more to come.