What To Do (In the Time of Pandemic)

You know how everyone says "this will be the new normal", "this is the new reality".  Somehow, against all odds, it does feel like that at this point in time.  Acceptance is in the air. After more than a year, it feels like we have simply entered a new world and this is what we do now. Current events don't register a wild shock in me anymore.

Everyone has, by now, processed the pandemic in their own way, in varying degrees.  I imagine that we all internalized our own versions of this statement: "just when we thought that humankind had a handle on things and has more or less begun to master its own course, Nature reminds us that everything is still subject to her.  All imbalances will be adjusted. Let's hunker down and hope for a better next year."

I can't help but to reflect on what a time it is to live through a major societal upheaval.  The equivalent of God picking you up and shaking you like a pair of jeans about to go in the washing machine. The random articles in your pockets had to go. All you have left are your essential elements as you go in for a wild purifying ride. What's on the other side? Only time will tell. I'm incredibly grateful to have kept my job and family during these times, but I'm looking forward to spending beautiful time again with my family without being anxious that I might be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus; group workouts again at all the fun studios; international revenge travel.

That said, one has to keep busy and try to keep sane for the next year or two. I started a couple of new things that excite me a lot.

One of them is glorious, glorious biking in the neighborhood.

Never thought that I could actually take to biking in Metro Manila. But bike lanes have blessedly sprung up and car traffic has significantly lessened.  We see those cool little folding bikes zipping along in the streets when we take our walks and thought, we can try that. So we bought a couple of Dahon folding bikes. What a great investment! They fit in the back of my SUV. I'm very pleased that wherever we go in my car, there's an option to park and take out the bikes and zip around. Like how a mothership in Star Wars would open up the tail and out come these little space jets. Versatile.

We're lucky to live in a bike-friendly neighborhood too with several outdoor options for morning coffee after a nice bike ride. Yardstick and Curator are just in the area and are extremely bike-friendly. It's wonderful having coffee outdoors. It's also fun checking out other people's bikes on the down-low.

We're still a long way off from Amsterdam and Copenhagen but I'm thankful for estates like Makati CBD and BGC who make these experiences possible.  By the way, aren't city bike tours and trains the BEST way to travel?! I'll never forget the feeling of seeing Paris for the first time -- I was on a bike.  We went into a small tunnel, it was dark, and when we emerged, it was a wide expanse of beautiful European architecture. My heart leaped at such beauty. Paired with the glorious feeling of the wind in my hair, pedaling fast, fast, fast. There was no time to take a picture; I would fall. So I never had a photo of that moment but it's very much alive in my brain. Lovely biking memories. I wish I can take my little Dahon bike next time when I travel so I won't have to rent.

The second new thing to breathe excitement into my days is the book club I started with three friends from different circles. This is my third attempt to start a book club and the first meeting was yesterday. The first book is Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.

It went way better than what I expected.  I just wanted to have a group of people I could talk books with, process interesting books with. This group is made up of four women, all lawyers (I mean -- I love lawyers as book club members, we read and dissect material and verbalize opinions for a living, right), all regular readers,  three introverts, one extremely warm and amiable extrovert, two gay people, a Palanca awardee, even. I love it.  We talked a lot, discovered that people had different takeaways and readings from each other, tied the book to our personal experiences. Sometimes other people's insights blow my mind.

Just a wonderful experience. That was lovely. I hope we keep this up.

A holiday should be declared in the middle of this week. Looking forward to that.  Have a great week ahead!