Out and About

by Rachel Morin

It seems everyone is remarking on the year’s end of observing our pandemic – March, 2020 to March 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, and as people like to say, “It ain’t over yet.”

And our own Dr. Fauci says “We are not out of the woods yet.”

Dr. Fauci is deeply concerned about people letting their guard down and not following the strict guidelines for avoiding large gatherings, distancing, masking and hand hygiene.

My friends and I still follow these guidelines and do not feel stifled. We are committed!

That is not to say we are happy with the lack of our social gatherings. Yes, we miss the times we enjoyed on our restaurant outings, at our live theatre performances, during our library visits, and with our in-person classes at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn Senior College with teachers at the front of the class, and our classmates seated around us in rows of desks and chairs.

We missed our home and garden tours last summer and our annual Church Christmas Fairs and the Church suppers. Even Church attendance on weekends were different. But what we missed most was seeing our Family and Friends.

What was I doing at the beginning of the past year’s Big Change? Hmmmm, there were some good times. My daughter, Elizabeth, invited me to “come for a while” and live with her in her home in South Portland.

What started out as two to three weeks turned into six months. Time flew by and we practiced the pandemic safety guidelines strictly. My favorite times included my other children who live in Portland and Bath coming to visit us in the back yard, masked, and properly distanced and just sitting around and talking.

My earliest memory of living at Liz’s house during the pandemic is of the wonderful walks we took.

One late afternoon we walked the streets of downtown Portland and enjoyed window shopping at the stores we passed.

 It was April and signs of Spring were evident. There was no snow, but the weather was still cold. So we headed towards home and crossed Longfellow Square.

And that’s when I saw the statue of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow perched high on its pedestal . . . and the beloved poet was wearing a mask!

I always have my camera with me and couldn’t help but whisking it out and taking his picture.I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

You will see he is wearing his mask correctly