Wandering Into The Future

Do you feel it?

We’re so close to figuring out what the ‘new normal’ looks like you can almost taste it.

I’m not talking about that 2020 new normal with all the fear, masks, and hand sanitizer bathing, but one that’s past all that.

The future I’m writing about is the one where we’ll start looking on the bright side again. When we’ll consider all the things we can do again instead of all those we can’t.

Imagine spring break 2021.

Maybe we’ll feel safe enough to road trip or stay in hotels again.

There’s a frisbee golf tournament coming up down in Trinadad Colorado on March 20th. The tournament’s called The Equinox. It’s happening at Twisted Cedars Disc Golf Course.

That sounds like the perfect light social event where everyone will still be able to socially distance and stay safe.

Registration for The Equinox starts January 18th.

In the meantime we can all stare longingly at the bright white Meow Wolf building as we drive past it on I-25.

The company’s newest attraction is expected to open late this year. For now we can all try to imagine the unimaginable.

The collective’s newest location is being built right next to the Bronco’s stadium. It’s set to be the biggest Meow Wolf yet!

I have a friend hard at work on whatever the hell they’re doing in there. She’s been sworn to secrecy. No matter how much I nudge she’s not giving up the haps. What I know for sure is that the artists are masking and distancing inside while we’re all out here holding our breath outside.

I can see a brighter future just ahead.

There are three vaccines being distributed. Requests are quickly being filled all over the country.

The news allows me to imagine soaking in the hot springs in Steamboat or Pagosa. I can envision riding the rollercoasters and water slides at Elitch Gardens and venturing elsewhere around Colorado and beyond.

I miss my friends and family all over the country. I miss the oceans and the beaches. I miss experiencing national and state parks I’ve never been to before. I miss tasting new foods. I miss people watching and culture.

We’re so close to being able to reconnect with those outside of our ‘pods’. We’re about to be able to make new friends again, not just over video chats. We might even be able to repair the polarization and damage created by all the distance and our different views on society and the world.

We’ll all be able to hug and awkwardly holds hands in public once again.

I haven’t felt this optimistic about life since before COVID rocked the world early last year.

Hopefully we’ve all grown and learned. All willing, we’ll come out the other end more positive and loving than ever before. . .or at least before we were so abruptly reminded that life on Earth is finite and incredibly fragile.

Maybe I’m naïve to think we won’t be needing the masks, but luckily we’ve come up in a world where nine of the top twenty highest grossing movies of all time feature mask wearing characters. Wearing masks isn’t so bad.

Just picture dancing in a crowd again at Red Rocks or Fiddlers Green. See yourself right in front of the stage while your favorite band, rapper, or DJ is doing their thing. You can see the smiling faces of the people all around you. Everyone throws their hands in the air like they just don’t care again.

And you’re smiling right back .

That’s the future I envision. It’s one everyone should be able to get with and look forward to.