I don’t know about you, but I am really enjoying life right now. When the news of the COVID-19 pandemic broke here in March, I felt that God told me I had nothing to fear so long as I followed his directions. Since then I have been cautious, but never fearful. I have followed the recommended protocols, wearing a face mask in public and washing my hands much more frequently than ever before. I keep hand sanitizer in my apartment and in my car and use it when I can’t wash my hands.

But I have continued to go everywhere and do everything that the law allows. With the precautions I mentioned, I go grocery shopping at least once a week, I get a haircut every four weeks, and I go to my regular doctor and dental appointments. I dine out as frequently as ever since the restaurants have started opening up again, including sharing a meal with friends sometimes, and I have been to movie theaters at least half a dozen times so far. I continue to fly my radio control model airplanes at my club’s airfield.

I enjoy worship services and Sunday School classes online via Zoom, as well as several online meetings of other groups with which I am associated. When my schedule allows I attend the in-person networking meetings of the one group I know of that conducts them. I attend in-person meetings every two weeks of a men’s fellowship group to which I belong, and lately I have been attending outdoor Vesper services at my church and have had the pleasure of a face to face meeting with our new Senior Pastor. What a joy!

I am even enjoying some of the effects of the pandemic restrictions, as there is much less traffic on the roadways and most of the venues I visit are much less crowded.

In short I am doing everything I can as a 78 year old with underlying health issues (atrial fibrillation and hypertension) to enjoy life to the fullest for whatever time I have remaining on this earth. As Henry David Thoreau said, “I wanted to live deeply and suck out all the marrow of life…” And I am doing just that!