Covid has changed many of us, but for me it has not been physical (I just ignore the 10lb weight gain). Covid and the dramatic news has stopped the global world. I like everyone else has learned to live life differently. I wear the mask. I avoid places. I chose delivery; instead, of in-person shopping. I have stopped driving. I stopped going to the gym. I stopped meeting with my spouse’s club. I have been pretty nonexistent in the public eye.

I did as the media said and I shut down. What I did not expect was for my spiritual shut down. What I mean is I stopped doing the spiritual things I used to do prior to Covid. I stopped reading. I stopped taking photographs. I stopped drawing. I stopped interviewing people. I stopped writing.

I just stopped…

I was talking to a stranger yesterday. Weird, right? Here we sat mask to mask and she said, “It’s depressing. We all have depression this day and age.”

I nodded my head in agreement. That’s what we do in 2021. We don’t argue. We don’t comment. We just agree, even if we really don’t agree. It is the new Covid way of life.

My son is planning his first young adult trip away to Colorado. I used to live there. I like it, maybe I have a twinch (I made that word up. It’s 2021, you can not argue.) of love for Colorado. Let’s all agree Colorado is pretty great, but so does so many other places. Any hoo…

Yeah, I love Colorado a little bit. I have lived a bunch of places, but Colorado had more great stories than many of the other places. There is Manitou Springs, Round Rock, the Biltmore in Colorado Springs, Gunnison, Bolder, the mountains, the meadows, the roaring river with rafts of people bouncing around, the slew of bicyclist, snow skiing, drinking on the mountains and so much more crap to do. I even remember this beautiful pink pancake house in Crested Bute. That restaurant had a brick and grass floor garden room. It was the coolest restaurant I have ever been to.

There is one place I never got to go, Durango, Colorado. Man, how I still dream of riding on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. I imagine it being like the Orient Express, but instead of anyone dying, everyone has these ornate magical cocktails, tapas, secret rendezvous, raunchy conversations and lots of laughs. Everyone is dressed to the nines. Some wear underwear, some not, but everyone has a smile (no mask). There is subtle brushing up against the good looking stranger with amazing cologne (no social distancing).

In my dreams, this train slowly wisps around the mountains. The train driver is like the Captain of the Titanic, but we don’t sink. No, this train does not thrust and stop; instead, it glides around the curves of the mountains. The motion of the train swaying side to side is like the gentle rock of a mother in glider or rocking chair holding you abreast. The trains movement is soothing.

The mountains are magical. The trees are bountiful. A black bear and her cub watches from the wilderness as the trains glides by. The snow capped tip of the mountain is not visible. Everyone on the train talks to one another while briefly scanning out the windows to see if they can get a glimpse of mother nature.

Back to reality. Back to 2021. I am trying to tell my son about this amazing place I have seen in travel magazines and I have dreamed about.

“I wish you and your friends could go more places than just Denver. There’s this place that has a…” I said.

“You’re such a pessimist. I don’t want to hear it.” He interrupts and walks back to his room.

As he walks away. I think about what to say in return. Heck, it’s 2021, aren’t we all supposed to just agree with each other? Arent’ we supposed to just listen to each other?

Then I realize, mask mandate has been lifted. Traveling has picked up. People are socializing again. Maybe, just maybe Covid is really over and now we all can just get back to life as it was pre-Covid. That makes me happy.

Here’s to you and everyone else in the world that just wants to get on the happy train of cocktails, socializing with strangers, laughs, rendezvous and so much more.

Love,

JCV