Being the "cock-eyed optimist" that I am, I generally make every attempt to find the silver lining to any cloud I happen to encounter. These days, it can be a challenge to find that glimmer of hope in the news we hear. That is a challenge I am determined to meet.
Recently, the decision was made to postpone the reunion I was looking forward to attending this summer in Scottsdale, Ariz. This announcement was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. I suppose there were just too many unknowns about what the situation might be in July. So, it was decided that moving the reunion to the same time of year next summer would be the more prudent thing to do. It does mean that I will have to wait longer to see some very close friends, but it also means the party will certainly be even bigger when we do get together. Another year may allow for more people to be able to attend.
In the meantime, we have joined the wave of other groups that have begun to hold "virtual meetings" in this age of social distancing. Within my smaller group of friends, we held our first "Zoom" meeting a couple of weeks ago. There were about eight or nine of us who participated and it was an enjoyable experience. It was short, only 30 minutes long, and it took us a couple of minutes to figure out some of the details, such as being able to see everyone at once. Whenever we did find the setting that allowed us to see everyone at once, we looked just like the opening of the old "Brady Bunch" TV show. In fact, I actually began singing the "Brady Bunch" theme song and said something along the lines of now knowing how Greg Brady felt. We have another "Zoom" meeting planned for this Sunday afternoon. One of our group members has a corporate Zoom account and has agreed to host the meeting, so we'll be able to get together for longer than just 30 minutes.
I think that may be one nice silver-lining in this dark cloud that has fallen over us over these past couple of months. More and more people are using technology to reconnect with each other. I imagine it would be much more difficult to survive this "social distancing" thing if we didn't have these communication avenues available. It really is kinda cool that I can communicate with a loved one in Washington state and I don't have to wait until late at night when the phone rates are cheaper. Now, I just hope I don't get stuck in the "Marcia Brady" position on the screen this Sunday.