Day 172 in 2020

I have removed the "isolation days" designation from the post titles. Michigan started opening weeks ago, mostly in the northern cities where the virus had never really taken hold, and where the cities rely on down-staters to spend their long weekends to keep cities afloat. But even here in the hardest hit southeast corner many restrictions have been lifted in the past week. Restaurants are opening, albeit with occupancy restrictions, outdoor gatherings are now being allowed, and summer sports are starting practices. I understand the itch to get out; this kind of isolation is numbing, and while in the beginning, now over two months ago, I think we all imagined a prescribed length of quarantine followed by a scheduled return to normal, it is increasingly clear that the quarantine is more likely to peter out with no triumphant completion or sense of closure. I long for our normal lives in a way I did not foresee back in March when quarantine was first enforced, but the growing and collective forgetfulness of the existing danger makes me exceedingly nervous. There is no pressure on our family to venture out, so we won't. We have enough here—enough to eat, enough access to work, enough to entertain...enough. For now.