Fear begins to set in as summer comes to a close. The time, the end of the timeline of this virus being a real threat…it just keeps stretching. It feels endless.

The summer would bring a reprieve—we thought—and it seemed to for a moment in the Northeast in June. But the virus was blossoming and blooming and peaking in other states, and therefore we had to ban a great part of the U.S. from coming to NY/NJ.

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The flu season is rapidly approaching, as is the second wave of Covid-19, expected to hit harder up here.

Parents and teachers are in an uproar about whether or not schools should reopen.

You will not have football; you will not have live, in-person sports; you will not have concerts;  the holiday season looks so dismal, that stores pushed Christmas even harder in July. Even the grocery store had Christmas tree ice-cream sandwiches and reindeer popsicles when I was looking for Italian ice and ice-ees on a 97-degree, high humidity July day. But I digress…

You may not be able to work or travel or see your family—not all of them anyway. You likely are unable to get on a plane because you have to quarantine again for two weeks once you arrive at your destination and once again when you return. Or you are entirely uncomfortable getting on any airplane, because again, people don’t follow the rules, and you could unknowingly transfer the virus to everyone you’re visiting.

Everything is such a process; it almost seems easier to stay home.

You have missed out on a lot of experiences, of meeting new people, of newness in general. Seeing things. We lost museums, we lost public life, we lost travel and we lost workplace and social drama. We lost a lot of livelihood,. We were limited. We may have gained more time with certain others, but we lost out on time with everyone outside our bubbles, countless days and nights and encounters in such a social and vibrant place.

As summer draws to a close, the clouds close in, the chill crawls up, and the dark creeps in, you start to realize that you face six or more months of this. People will isolate again as flu season approaches. Life will become increasingly difficult.

After so many lost their jobs in March and then July, you can probably expect another wave of layoffs in the Fall. More people will lose their jobs throughout the winter season. It’s dire.

It will be winter again and we will still be worried about this. We will be hibernating and sheltering in place all over again with the second wave of Covid-19. We will be moving into a year of the Coronavirus in New York City.

People continue to misbehave, refusing to wear a mask or follow safety/sanitation rules when in public. And this is why we can’t get the virus under control—and never will without a vaccine.

Add to that everything else that has been disruptive: violent, hate-mongering humans; Mother Nature; politicians. No one feels safe.

It is a sick, sick world. Indeed.

*Le sigh*