A year ago (plus) I had planned to go. A year ago it got postponed and then when time to proceed came, no fans allowed. This year I aimed to go. I did, but not as planned, The recent tradition – until the canceled year – involved a small group, including a family member, not always the same, some clients and friends. Groups could not play this year. My foray involved a friend who collaborated on the annual opening day group and a few of his colleagues.

I used to wake up and look at myself once a day...maybe twice then go to work.   Now I see myself all day long at Zoom meetings and it's strange to say the least. I look at my square on the screen and wonder who the hell is that and what did you do with Mitch?

I recall my last pre pandemic hand shake with my Mate Andrew Ambrose.   Since then I have religiously refrained from doing something which comes so naturally and can mean so much.  I even wondered if the ritual would go out of style and be relegated to the rubbish heap of history. 

Have you ever wondered what “normal” — as in “the temperature today was 5 degrees above normal” - is?Well, it’s about to change.Normal temperatures are determined by a thirty year average of temperatures. Every ten years the average is reset by dropping the earliest decade’s numbers.

  I am seeing optimism. Optimism about a waning pandemic and the prospect of some normalcy in our future. I don’t have a crystal ball so I can’t tell you exactly when that normalcy arrives or frankly, exactly what it will look like. But, with the spring flowers this year I see people come out from under this pandemic.

My family and I enjoyed a delicious paella dinner in the city Saturday night. The occasion was to celebrate my stepson’s birthday (that he happens to share with Fred). In the spirit of celebration, I ordered a pitcher of sangria for the table. To be a bit bold and adventurous I ordered something intriguing on the menu, rose sangria, without questioning the server about it.  

Driving last night, Safe At Home played on my A Good Feeling To Know Radio station on Apple Music.

Hearing about bystanders at George Floyd's trial wishing they had done something and the guards that watched an old lady be beaten and did nothing, I take inspiration from Aristotle. "If you want a virtue, act as if you already have it and then it will be yours. Change comes through action. Act first, then become."