My province recently announced the inauguration of the long-awaited Phase 3 of its reopening plan, after 16 months of pandemic restrictions that stripped us of so many basic human needs: needs for safety, companionship, and freedom of movement; needs for familiarity and novelty, frivolity and meaning; needs for physical contact and emotional connection.  These unpopular restrictions have been essential to the ongoing eradication of the cause of all this loss, and therefore had my full support.  The threat has not passed; ongoing vigilance is necessary, and will be for some time.  But I and those I care about have recently achieved “fully vaccinated” status, just when the powers that be have opened doors that have long been bolted fast. 

And so it was that after a lonely year of disconnection and discontent, I found my way back to humanity, in the form of a modest road trip to see people and places from my Pre-Pandemic Past.

Captain’s Log: Things I Did this Week that Made me Feel Human Again: