What a difference a year and a half makes!
In the spring of 2020 we were pretty well locked down in Simpson County. Our schools were closed, and sports events and other activities were cancelled. Most of our churches closed, with all normal activities suspended there too. Clubs and organizations cancelled not only their meetings, but also the activities they normally sponsor for the community. Gyms and hair salons closed. For awhile we couldn’t even shop!
About that time I wrote a column about how much I missed all the activities that improve our quality of life here. I’m not a homebody, and I got very, very tired of hanging out at home.
Now, with most of us vaccinated and moving on, local activities are coming back strong.
Mendenhall has revived its Friday Nights on Main program, and Magee’s first Mingle on Main was a great success last Thursday night. My book club started meeting again, and I’m enjoying being back with my book reading friends.
We can go to church and Bible study now, and I’m enjoying the fellowship that wasn’t possible when all we could do was watch the Sunday services on YouTube. I’m back at the gym for step aerobics classes, and yes, I even missed sweating when my gym wasn’t allowed to open.
Unfortunately, even with most restrictions lifted, not everyone seems to have been drawn back into life. They’ve stayed at home so long that now they are either afraid to come out or they have decided that they don’t want to give up their pajamas for real clothes and participation in a busy schedule again.
What I worry about is the opportunities being offered that people aren’t supporting. The old saying “if you snooze you lose” is true about activities. We may think, oh, I don’t really feel like going to that today. Maybe I’ll go next year.
So we skip the festival, the church service, the club meeting. We don’t bother to check out the new business. Next year those opportunities aren’t offered again.
I saw how much I missed the events that make up life in Simpson County, so as things began to open up, I jumped back in with both size 9 feet.
Singing in our church choir and going to practice on Wednesday nights adds to my schedule and means that I can’t skip church, but I am more enlivened by those activities than I would be by watching more reruns of Downton Abbey on TV.
Teaching a Sunday school class also makes me responsible for being in church on Sundays, and the studying I have to do certainly adds to my workload. But that class is one of my reasons for being on earth, and I was happy to get back to it, no matter how much work it requires.
Recently our church had an event called “Hayrides and Pumpkins,” just a great time of games and fellowship with church friends and guests. Yes, I could have stayed at home and taken a Sunday afteroon nap instead, and I could have refused to make anything for the cake walk and saved myself some trouble. But I have learned that socializing invigorates rather than exhausts me. So I dragged out my Symphony Bar Brownie recipe, whipped up a batch to give away at the cake walk and took the opportunity to be with people, laugh and have a good time. I want my church to continue to offer us those activities.
On October 23, Magee hosted its annual Crazy Day. Our church had a booth, so my husband and I volunteered to hand out water and brochures and invite people to visit First Baptist Church of Magee. I’ve never done that before, but I’m realizing that if we want these things to happen in our town, somebody has to do it, and I can be that somebody.
That’s also why I agreed to be in the Chamber of Commerce fashion show in Mendenhall last week. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, and I was a little nervous. But I wrote a column last year about my sadness when the annual fashion show was cancelled. When it was revived and Christy Rotenberry asked me to model for Stephens, I couldn’t say no. Too many other people are still saying no to everything these days. Besides, I really liked my cute Stephens outfit, and I wanted people to see it.
If I didn’t learn anything else from the pandemic shut-down, I learned that if I want a rich, active life, I have to do more than sit around in a pair of limp pajamas. I have to get out and support what others are offering. Even if what you do occasionally scares you, unnerves you, pushes you or jams up your schedule, you have to get involved. Otherwise, you’re just existing.
Am I getting back to being too busy again? Sure, but I’m all rested up, and this year I’m “lookin’ for adventure.”
