Homeward Bound

All in all, I guess I’m one of the lucky ones - or as lucky as one can be who’s living in the current epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m not feeling sick, nor is my wife and son. As of this writing, I’m still employed and working. My friends and family are also doing well, though I do have friends and family who are dealing with serious issues unrelated to the virus and it only makes their situation worse and my heart aches for them. With all of the projections, realistic or not, I’ve become to realize that this is a day-to-day event. Every day we watch the news, listen the numbers, cross our fingers and say silent prayers. Every day we wait to hear news of a breakthrough. Every day we attempt to keep our spirits up, our lives intact. And every night we lay our heads on our pillows in the hope that tomorrow will break the cycle.

Working for home for me is practically no different than working at the office. I sit in front a computer for most of my day, breaking for meetings that, for the most part, could have been handled in an email or even a text. I’m in the midst of a large project, re-platforming a website and it’s challenging and creative work. As nice as it is to work from home - having a window to look out of, better coffee and yes, more comfortable clothes - I miss the break in the day that the workday brought. I miss the drive back and forth to the office. I even miss the meetings, as it was all part of a social environment that just stopped.

And speaking of social environments, I am so missing my friends. I’m blessed to have so many good friends and we tend to do things in groups. We never need much of an excuse to band together for a night out and now that’s been sidelined. Dates that were on the calendar, tickets for shows, dinners planned have all been put on hold. We’ve had a few virtual hang outs and they did wonders for our soul. We laughed and enjoyed each others company, giving us a much needed lift. We did the same with the family on my side and that was very special as it was not only great to see everyone at once, but gave me a much needed reminder that I need to bring more of that back into our lives once this has all moved behind us.

Then there’s the music.

If you’re reading this, then you know how much music means to me. I had just started a new commitment to go out and see more of my friends perform locally, along with all of the usual concerts I attend. It’s been great seeing how so many talented friends and favorite performers have utilized the various virtual spaces to keep the music going. I watched Kevin Gordon work out the kinks during his first livestream from his home in Nashville. I’ve enjoyed performances by my friends Pete Mancini and Christine Sweeney, along with video performances by Emily Duff, Allen Santoriello and Jon Geffner. This morning I watched the sweetest performance of  Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” by my Bluebeats mate, Alison Tramontana and her lovely family. All of these performance's have been very special and, in fact, if you're looking for silver linings, perhaps the embracing of this method of performing and sharing music, will continue to grow, spreading the joy of music even further when the good times return.

Tomorrow will be another day. I will wake up, shower and get myself ready for work. I will do what I do and eventually clock out and move on to family time. We'll have dinner, maybe play a game or watch a movie. We will sit outside and feel the sun on our faces and enjoy the spring flowers. We'll call our friends and family, and check in on those with special needs. We'll listen to the news, and we'll hope and pray that maybe today is the day when it begins to change for the better.