Today is the beginning of my vacation. Initially, we’d planned on taking the scooters and traveling to Arkansas. It’s supposed to be beautiful country for motorcycling there, and I was looking forward to visiting the state. But then I noticed how the COVID numbers for Arkansas were going through the roof, and it didn’t take long for many other states to follow. I know many people had begun acting as if the pandemic was over and that it was “business as usual.” Here in Wisconsin, it’s not unusual to see bars crammed full of unmasked people.

So last week, we made the decision not to do any significant traveling this summer and instead stick close to home for our vacation. Given that I have a preexisting condition that led my physician to tell me, “Whatever you do, don’t get COVID,” I figured it would be best to err on the side of caution, especially in light of the fact that even fully vaccinated people are contracting the disease. So for the second summer in a row, vacation traveling plans are canceled.

Many people say that one of the best vacations you can do is to explore your own city, and that’s what we’ll be doing for the next two weeks (my spouse has two weeks of vacation — and given that I work from home and for myself, I can take time off any time I want). Many of our local parks have “music in the park” and “outdoor movies in the park” events, so we’ll be checking out some of them. We plan on also doing some touristy things like visiting the Harley-Davidson museum, attending local outdoor festivals, and even spending time at the beach — you know, all the touristy things that are available in your own city that you never get around to doing.

Perhaps we’re being overly cautious, but again, I feel better after having made this decision. I’ve noticed that even Wisconsin’s pandemic numbers have jumped, from about 10-20 new cases a day to over 200 the past few days, so there’s a definite new surge occurring. It may be time to go back to wearing masks indoors.

Photo by Chen Mizrach on Unsplash