The first day of a post-vaccine trip, and lunch at a rest stop

 

We are still uneasy about traveling on the first day of our grand post-vaccine trip. There had been many false starts and plans in the lead up to resuming travel. The preambulatory aspects of our promise to my mother that once we were fully vaccinated, and the appropriate time had passed to allow antibodies to develop, we would travel to see her had been fulfilled. Our excitement about returning to travel was also mixed with apprehension long baked into our pandemic minds and lives. It is not easy to simply switch from being wary of interpersonal exchanges with those we do not know to suddenly resuming a normal life. Additionally, the fraught politics of the past seventeen months has not been easy, particularly the tensions over mask-wearing or any behaviors that might slow the spread of Covid-19.

We packed lunches to minimize our contact with other people, stopping at a small bucolic rest area near Troutville, Virginia. The rest area, full of mature trees, was not systematically leveled but retained its rolling hills and a pleasant stream meandering through. The picnic tables had been abandoned to the cardinals and chipping sparrows until we arrived to disturb their diurnal routine. Soon another human and dogs arrived as well, and we were spotted by the truckdriver and two miniature Australian shepherds. After a minute’s hesitation, she made a beeline toward us. Her proximity made me feel uncomfortable, something she sensed but for the wrong reason. She assured me her dogs were friendly, even if vocal. It was clear, she was having difficulty reading the room. Soon, she was opining about the direction of the country since Biden’s election and “the millions of illegal immigrants” soon to be in the country. We held our tongues. But it is hard to listen to harangue about legality from someone who cannot control her dogs as it bolts away to confront other, leashed, dogs in the rest area.