Tuesday, 8/31

 Today would normally be my last day of work before I left. This year, not so much.

This would normally be the day, based on years of well-worked routine, that I needed to get everything finished and ready to go before Loraine and I headed off to Europe. Taking advantage of the holiday weekend we would always leave the Wednesday before Labor Day, spent 10 or 11 days doing whatever we needed to over there, and then come back the Sunday after the holiday.

But not this year. Or last year. Or, it's starting to look, anytime in the foreseeable future.

This will actually be the third Tuesday before Labor Day in a row that I haven't been rushing around getting ready to leave. In 2019 we went to Leipzig in April for a soccer match, so we didn't have a fall trip that year. Last year's fall trip was one of two we had canceled, and this year's trip never was even a possibility (except, perhaps, in our fever dreams).

I'm starting to think of Labor Day now as merely the end of summer, as opposed to the start of something fun. In all honesty, I think I liked it the old way. But that's just me.

8-)

I literally have no idea if I'll be thinking the same things next Labor Day. Because of the massive rise in cases and deaths in the US—even though a vaccine is available for everyone—the European Union is in the process of telling Americans (especially unvaccinated ones) that once again they can't visit. I'm sure that will be different by next Labor Day--at least, it had better be—but will it be different soon enough for us to start planning? You have to get things set months before you leave, and it's impossible to get things set if you don't know whether or not you're allowed in.

As an example—we were kind of considering heading back to Leipzig in late April of next year as a test case. We could take in another soccer match, celebrate our anniversary, and even take advantage of the after-Easter chocolate discounts. We would, though, have had to already been buying tickets and booking rooms. But since we don't know if we'll be allowed into Germany, if we'll be allowed (as Americans) to stay in a hotel, or if we'll be allowed to attend a game, there's no point in booking anything.

Even if the Easter chocolate would be on sale.

So yet another Tuesday before Labor Day comes & goes, and instead of it being the day before we leave it's just the Tuesday before Labor Day. I'm hoping it'll be the last “just the Tuesday before Labor Day” for a while.

I am, however, realistic enough to know that it probably won't be.

(jim@wmqt.com)