Welcome to spring. The sun is shining, the temperatures are warm, and more people are out and about. My niece Abby went for a swim the other day. You know, Island folk are very particular about their swimming. So when she posted about it on Facebook she made sure to clarify that it was a head underwater swim. It means a lot more when you get your whole body and head in, doesn’t it? It’s almost like it doesn’t count if you didn’t go underwater. We used to compete in my family to see who got the first swim in in the spring and who the last one in was in the fall/winter. I was often the winner but I am never the first one in anymore. I sometimes get the “last one in” title, but I haven’t been the first one in in a long time. As I age, I prefer to stay warm.
If you’re going out places and enjoying the outside, remember to be careful. Keep up with social distancing and make sure you wear a mask. Don and I went for a walk the other day and I mentioned that I felt mean or judgemental when I would put my mask on when we ran into people. If there’s no one around, then I don’t wear my mask, but it’s always on my neck. Don reassured me and reminded me that it is nice to put your mask on because it’s about me potentially protecting other people from the coronavirus. It seems like we’re all going to have to train ourselves to a whole new way of life pretty soon. As things start to open up and we get to go to restaurants and stores and things like that, I think we’re all going to notice that things are very different.
As always, I hope you’re all doing well with the pandemic. I think the closures and the stay-at-home orders right now are in place until May 18 and then I’m sure they will be looking at it again. Stay home as much as you can and try to enjoy the fact that there’s nowhere that we really need to be. And if it is someplace that we really need to be there, they’re probably open in some form or other. I’m amazed at the number of businesses that have managed to go online with so many things. But I sure look forward to seeing people again. But I’ll miss hug greetings.
Many workers headed back to work this week, with strict guidelines in place for sanitizing job sites and only two people allowed in a truck cab. I know that this is frustrating for people and that it has been devastatingly hard for families who have been out of work. I understand the strong desire to get back at it. Just please be careful — for yourself and for others. I, for one, will be staying home and maintaining social distance and yes, wearing a mask. I want to stay healthy for sure, but I understand that the main reason I do all these things is to do what I can for others. Too many people are high-risk. If my wearing a mask helps protect them, I’m all in. I’ve got no patience for the so-called protesters who are storming government buildings armed for war. I don’t see the sense in it. If you want to protest, protest, but carry signs, not weapons.
There are lots of birthday celebrations going on this week, hopefully with some parades or some other distance celebrations.
Happy birthday to Charles Vieira, who turned 5 on May 3. Based on pictures on FB, it looked like he had a great birthday. Other birthday shout outs this week go to Sherry Sidoti, who celebrates on May 7, Jessica Estrella, who I miss dearly at the Edgartown School, Ian Shea and Olivia Lingren on May 9, and to my boy’s sweet and beautiful significant other, Julia Levesque on May 10. Julia is a remarkable young woman, working for the Tisbury Police Department, attending the police academy — at least until they could no longer do it safely — and serving in the National Guard.
That’s about all for this week. Thank you again to all of you who are out there working on the frontlines. EMS workers, health care workers, essential workers and anyone else out there doing what you can to keep the rest of us safe and healthy. You guys rock. I wish you all a healthy and happy week ahead. Please stay home and stay safe. Even as things begin to open up. In fact, especially as places are starting to open up. The slower we go with this, the better. Island numbers are great, still holding at 22. I know those numbers will undoubtedly go up but if we keep doing our best to protect each other, we can show our support for all of those workers out there who don’t have the choice to stay home.
If you have any Edgartown Town Column suggestions, email Gail Gardner, ggardnermv@gmail.com.