Are we ready for Pandemic Nostalgia yet? I mean, the virus is still out there, and frankly in our house we still treat things as if there is a pandemic, but nostalgia?
For reasons I’d rather not delve into deeply, the pandemic was extra horrible for us. Simultaneously it was the most time my wife and I have spent together in over 30 years of marriage. I was working from home for 14 months. I was here with her and our cats. I have to admit I miss being here all the time.
One thing we really came to enjoy was Twitch.com. My wife discovered it while following the comedian Anthony Atamanuik, who was playing DayZ online with his friends. Eventually I got her an Xbox, and we discovered lots of great streaming music shows on Twitch.
Tonight I am sitting here watching the Wax Trax Records channel on Twitch and just remembering what a joy and comfort these music shows were during a horrible time. I’m so glad those horrible times are in the rearview, but I still enjoy these shows. I am calling this a technology WIN.
That was very heartfelt what you wrote. Be well to all in the Loftin house.
Toni and I really love listening to music together. It is wonderful to have a spouse who shares your musical taste. I really love it.
Bold Statement: I will look at back (already do) at major shut down as one of the best periods of my adult life. Sure, there was some real anxiety and uncertainty going on. That said, I was able to spend substantive time with my family and friends. There was no traffic. It was quiet outside. Insipid capitalist consumer centers were closed. People were less concerned with the assorted forms of vanity metrics. I didn’t have to work to pay bills. I could go skating anywhere (everything closed). Etc. Etc. All of that is pretty damn…utopian. And of course I am glossing over the anxiety/uncertainty and other real problems (and death) that were prevalent during major shut down—but that’s what we always seem to do when looking back at the past.
It really says something about our society when a shutdown caused by a pandemic might be thought of as one of the best periods of one’s adult life (even when one is aware of the suffering the virus caused and continues to cause). And it’s not like you required some extravagant lifestyle. You just wanted your bill paid and to have time. Time is everything, really.
Well said.