It is the last Saturday in May of 2020. I am having a quick bite to eat at Lupe Tortilla. I can see the door from where I am sitting, and everyone is greeting everyone else like long lost friends. For many, today is the first day that they have ventured out for meal or shopping since the shutdown has been lifted.
As I sip on my water and coffee, I look around and I am fascinated by how much alcohol is being served at 11 AM in the morning. Of all of the tables in view, mine is the only one that does not have an alcoholic beverage on it. This is not something new; this is the way that things were before the Corona Virus came into all of our lives.
What is different, is that I would rather be at home right now, sitting on my back porch with my fur kids, sipping coffee that I made myself. Prior to the shutdown, I was almost always out of the house within an hour of waking up. I was off to work or go out to eat. I had maybe made coffee at home a total of ten times in my life. Now, making my morning coffee with my hand coffee grinder is one of my favorite parts of my morning routine.
I have not become anti-social by any stretch of the imagination, to the contrary, I think I have enjoyed socializing more in the past couple of weeks than I ever did prior to the shutdown. I just don’t have a need to be out among people all the time as I did before. I would rather have my days to myself at home and then catch up with friends on Friday and Saturday nights.
I have found that there is no place like home.