a prelude for june

 And just like that, June is upon us. These first two days of June in Seattle have been full of summer's promise, the endless sun, the heat--far from oppressive but still a stark contrast from spring's warmth. But as I write this the sun is setting and we're settling into the more familiar pattern which locals call the June Gloom, where there are always clouds in the sky and we have the audacity to call these sixty degree days "cool." It's not spring, but it's not quite summer; sometimes it feels like a lie to suggest we have four seasons. There are so many shapes the seasons take throughout the year.

People are starting to say the pandemic is over, or nearly over. Restrictions are easing, with promises of even more relaxations coming soon, as soon as we hit certain vaccination thresholds. It feels like that classic American blunder of declaring MISSION ACCOMPLISHED as soon as victory is in sight, then just bailing out before crossing the finish line and letting things fester once again. We are so desperate to return to normal we're willing to sabotage ourselves to get there. Or perhaps it doesn't matter; perhaps we fucked up so badly that there never could have been a clean end to this. That, too, would be very American. Or maybe, despite everything, things really will get better. Maybe it's over. Stranger things have certainly happened.

Regardless, "normal" is coming back. People are returning to work in their offices; office buildings are relaxing their restrictions and removing some of the seldom-used distancing measures. Soon we'll get to see if we see any lasting behavioral changes when we've collectively agreed that the pandemic is over; soon all of those few, both blessed and cursed, who actually stayed home all this time, will reemerge and have to remember what it's like to interact with people again.

And soon these little monthly preludes following life in a pandemic and apocalypse will be . . . superfluous isn't quite the word; they were never necessary. But certainly whatever uniqueness my perspective had is fast fading, and soon, for good or ill, life will be back to some grotesque facsimile of normalcy for everyone.