January 31, 2021 – This past week the governor reopened restaurants, at least to the capacity they were before they were shut down completely again. Yesterday while I was out on a search for hardware items to repair my Chinese-made bird cage heater that came with a stripped wing nut, I saw people out at the only restaurant I seemed to pass – a Denny’s on Burbank Blvd. It was good to see people out. It seemed half-normal.

Those people at Denny’s aren’t the only ones itching to do normal things. I keep checking the various skating rinks, hoping that public sessions will start. No luck yet; there is just ice time for private training, but financially I can’t go back to that yet. I want to take a course they used to have at my main rink where it’s basically a boot camp to learn to skate through all of the beginning test levels to get to freestyle. Hopefully, when the rink reopens, they will have that again. And hopefully I can get through the boot camp quickly, retraining, such as it is. I do think it will be months before that comes back. Hopefully by then I’ll be less frenzied and have enough time and money to do it. I do feel like it’s time to get back on the ice though, even if the world does not think so yet.

I’m also really wishing live music would come back, if not to go personally, then just to see it on YouTube. I don’t think I’m the only one either. Miranda Lambert posted a semi-live version of her song Tequila Does. The song came up in my feed today, a day I decided I would not do anything too substantial. I think it’s a hint, a nudge, a sign to play guitar. I don’t know why, but when I’ve been away from it for too long, and that’s certainly the case, it’s scary to do anything, even to sit down and play a few chords. I do think I’ll try to though, right when I get done with this article. Miranda is comfort music for me. I love the country of it. And right now, I’m in that kind of a mood, even though when I sat down to write this article, I really was trying to write about a rock subject. But no, I didn’t even want to listen to the rock-based videos. I think because I have guitar on my mind, and I don’t play that much rock myself. I think I would like to start there — Miranda. And hopefully I really do sit down to play. I’ve been changing my mind because I’m so anxious about it.  And hopefully, if I do try to play Miranda, it is that – comfortable. Hopefully, it’s not misery seeing how much work I have to do to feel better about playing. There are a lot of hopefully-s there, but it’s time to get back to guitar too.

And speaking of birds – no they aren’t liking their cage heaters, which hopefully changes too because I need to lower the temperature in my house for money saving – how about a musical bird? How fun would it be if I could teach my birds to play the drums as accompaniment?

Oh, and an afterthought…

It turns out I do know how to make this very personal article just a little about rock and roll. This was another suggestion today in my YouTube – the competition version of that brother-sister ice dance team skating to Metallica. It’s the same program I posted before that they did in their practice clothes at the outdoor rink in New York City. It’s good to see them in competition, even if it’s to cardboard cut-out people.

I guess that’s everything that makes me comfortable, all wrapped up into one: birds, Miranda Lambert, and skating, make that skating to rock ‘n’ roll. YouTube really is telling me it’s time. Seriously, it’s time. I so want to start to live normally. But seeing how I am with skating and with guitar practice, I hope I am not terrified to live normally when all comes back. Honestly, I’ll be the shell-shocked person learning to skate again. And trust me, I’m shell –shocked in my house with my guitars. As for concerts, when it’s actually time to go to a concert, I hope I can afford it. And I hope it’s Miranda — something that gives me comfort … because even that scares me now. Yes, I really do need to go pick up the guitar. Out of this list, I really can do that now. And it’s time.