Wags and Wiggles, the local doggie day care, reopened this week — and not a moment too soon. Django was getting the same cabin fever as the rest of us, despite more trips to the dog park than he'd ever experienced. He's a hound and alert barker, with a propensity for taking personal responsibility for our safety and well-being, patrolling the backyard and howling at any perceived threats. Having us around the house 24-7 put him on high alert. He's adorable but anxious, and finally getting the chance to once again hang out with a bunch of dogs all day has calmed him down a bunch.
Which is also a way of saying there's light at the end of the tunnel. The big chain gym in town has closed and filed for bankruptcy, but the small local gym has reopened, though under strict regulations that we all wear masks and stay ten feet apart. Working out on the jungle gym at the local middle school has been fun, but there's only so many pull-ups and body weight squats a man can do before the need for actual weights (and air conditioning in this 95-degree week) makes itself known. Likewise, Board n Brew, the local go-to sandwich shop and craft beer emporium (I am not fond of the word "emporium" but it called out to me, and I honestly couldn't think of anything better) opens May 15. I've gotten in the habit of finishing my workout at RSM Intermediate with a sandwich and Coke Zero at Board N Brew, which is a nice reward combo. But I'll be glad when the BnB attendance is more of the sort involving sitting down at the counter for a double IPA and sports on the big screen. I should say that Board N Brew has been kind enough to sell takeout beer in Mason jars, which is just the sort of business ingenuity the world needs at a time like this.
But there's still uncertainty. I still need to go on the road to research the next book, which honestly can't be written without some boots on the ground reporting. Who knows when the world will reopen to travel. And although we had a virtual team meeting yesterday, it remains to be seen when and if there will be a cross country season. It had been my intention to take a gap year from coaching after my All-American senior graduated, just so I could see whether or not I could live without it. But that gap year occurred this season. So now I know what that's like to not click the stopwatch every afternoon, and I can honestly say I'd like to keep at it a few years more — and win a few more championships. My dad coached until he was 87, so there's the example to follow. The school that fired me for being outspoken a few months ago is in my sights as I rebuild the program at my new school, but revenge is a shallow and short-term emotion. The reasons I want to coach are to connect and teach, riding the roller-coaster of emotions that accompanies a season of sport. With any luck, we start practice on June 15. That day can't come soon enough.
In the meantime, the reopening is happening. Slowly, but it’s on. It's sad to know we will be counting the casualties of businesses that will never reopen, with lost jobs and empty storefronts, while also reconnecting with those that survive. The landscape will be forever altered, one way or the other. Then, and only then, will we know what the new normal looks like.