I am resigned...

 ....  to getting old, I guess,  New heart valve or no, I am slower now, and creakier.  I am not imagining it - there has been a definite change in the past year, whether accelerated by the disruptions of COVID it is hard to say.

I can say that I don't like what COVID has brought out in us.  We have all become fearful.  I'm not saying that it was without reason, but still, it is not a pretty sight, to see us all cowering.  I'm trying to wean myself from the now-instinctive fear of other humans, and human contact, but I still flinch when someone hugs me.  So, although I - mostly -wear a mask indoors when I am apt to see (possibly unvaccinated) strangers, I am out and about, at the gym, at the community center, at the bridge table, and at live events such as lectures, movies, and live music.  I know, I know, COVID is still around,  But so is the flu, and in all these years, I have never - to my knowledge - gotten it.  So, as much as I am able, I am back in the world....

The truth of the matter is, I have not personally been touched.  Noone I know has had COVID, much less died from it.  No, I don't think it was a hoax cooked up by the liberal elite, but for me personally it was a lot of anxiety around a phantom....

So, what have I been up to?  Dinner and Scrabble with friends Marvin

...and his partner Geoff...

.......dinner with friend Michael, with whom - thank you Facebook, I have been reunited after 55 years....

,,,,,face to face bridge....

.....David (left), director of this very small club, and his partner Robert...

.... Sue, previously seen in these pages.  She is another player at the club.  I had great hopes for a  friendship once upon a time, but apparently I am not up to her standards, either as a bridge player or a companion....

.......Darren, my sometimes partner (we are having a bit of a break right now, as bridge partners sometimes do..) 

......and more good byes.  This is the group - or part of it - from the gym, saying farewell for the season to the snowbirds at Tropicale....

(I used to hang out at Tropicale lots - it is by far my favorite watering hole (if I can be said to have one, but haven't been since pre-COVID)

....had friend Elaine over for yet another goodbye - she's heading back to Alberta for the season...

...she brought me lovely tulips...

.....and went to Michael's house for more Scrabble....

It's probably a good thing I move more slowly now, otherwise complete boredom might set in....

What else can I tell you?

Well, if I am being totally honest, I guess I should tell you that I  have become resigned to not being on anyone's A List.  It started years ago, in high school, and has continued over the years.  Easy to shove those thoughts aside, in the rush of work and vacations and leisure activities of my own making.  Not so easy to avoid now, when reaching out to folks has been singularly unsuccessful.  So, I'm reconcilds.  I don't  really fit in anywhere - not rich enough, not smart enough, not congenial enough.

I know, get off the pity pot.  I'll try tor next time...