We love our long weekends. We get to decompress. We get to give the mind a mini vacation. We get to catch up on things. Normally, as a result, we wish everyone a great long weekend politely asking about their plans. Normally. Typically.

These are not normal times. As I went around asking people about their memorial day plans, I started to realize that I shouldn’t ask. Out of ten people, I asked one had a real weekend plan. The others shrugged and winced when I asked. Some noted there was nothing to do. Others noted they were going to remain sheltered in place. Some said they planned to watch netflix. I started to feel a certain sadness at these answers and stopped asking.

In New York, there is great desire to live a normal life again. But we also have gone through great trauma far too recently. We want to shop and eat out. We specialize in those things. Yet, we are tentative. I have gone for long walks. I even created a scavenger hunt of things to find and experience outside. But it’s not the same. This is not a time of real decompression. But will try to find little gems of experiences hoping for the best.