It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a blog, must be in want of time to write. And yet, that time has eluded me over the past year and a half. Some of this was losing the habit in the years before COVID came for our health and sanity. But, in the 18 months since I was last trying to post regularly, life has been in a semi constant state of flux, mostly unrelated to COVID, or concerns thereof.

To give just a brief rundown of the highs and lows:

• Bought a sports car (June)
• Resumed working 50-60 hours a week (Sept)
• Started going to counseling (Dec)
• Turned in notice that I was quitting at ICS after 10 years (Jan)
• Ali had a minor accident that totaled her car (Jan)
• Started teaching music lessons online in Dallas (Jan)
• Ali had emergency life altering surgery and a brief cancer scare (Jan)
• I had a major accident that totaled the sports car (Mar)
• Resumed physical therapy (Mar)
• Bought a brand new car for the first time (Apr)
• Ended my time at ICS (May)
• Drove to Dallas for the first time after moving away 10 years ago (May)
• Bought a puppy (from a family in Dallas) (May)
• Had significant dental work done (multiple trips over the summer/fall)
• Survived two different summer camps (June/July)
• Got COVID (July/Aug)
• Performed a wedding for my best friend growing up (Aug)
• Saw my parents for the first time in almost 2 years (Aug)
• Transitioned out of my role as Director of Students at church (Sept)
• Went back to Dallas for national ETS for the first time (Nov)

That’s a lot right?

It’s different when you’re living through it and in survival mode. Thankfully, the fall ended up being mostly a time of rest, recovery, and reset. While it was a season of change, most of the change was long overdue, or desperately needed.

As things have stabilized coming into the New Year, I’d like to pick up some of the threads and actually tell the story of what led to this crazy last two years. I realize that of the reflecting on things at the dawn of a New Year, there is no end. But, I am continuing to process and still living in process. Writing is part of that, and it helps keep my mind and heart healthy.

While it seems dangerous to be hopeful going into a New Year these days, that is mostly how I feel at the moment. If God can be faithful through the last 18 months, I’m sure he can do the same for the next 18. But, I’ve learned to not think too far into the future and try to deal with one day at a time. I’m rebuilding some healthy habits and starting some new initiatives. In some ways the horizons are new, but in many ways, I’m returning to old vistas with a fresh mindset. You’ll see what I mean soon.

Prayer for our city and nation: Our pastor Damein adapted this from a John Piper prayer. It was very moving, and we actually had a gap in the recording after he was done to gain composure before moving into the next song.

Article worth reading: “American Racism: We’ve Got so Very Far to Go by David French. Very helpful analysis without invoking concepts that don’t actually convince people to reconsider their views. As he says toward the conclusion, “I had to change where I sat before I could change where I stood. If you first change where you stand, then the next generation will sit in a very different and better place.”

Album I’m looking forward to: The Future Bites by Steven Wilson. Here’s the first song, which is a savage critique for consumerism:

Summer reading I just started: How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North. I’ll probably have more to say when I’m finished, but this book is pretty meta. North presents it as a book he found rather than wrote, and it contains all the instructions necessary to rebuilt civilization from scratch if you find yourself lost in time. May come in handy in the coming days even without being lost in time!

Recipe I’m using: I’ve gotten back into more aggressive meal prepping, and am hoping to really lean into a season of weight loss. Toward that end, I’ve starting prepping Brussels sprouts again. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but you will like these if you try them:

• Get 1lb of brussels sprouts, and 1 orange
• Cut and halve the sprouts, adding 1/4 cup of olive oil, zest from the orange, and pinches of salt & pepper
• Juice the orange
• Cook the sprouts in a cast iron skillet for 6-8 minutes
• Add the orange juice, and then cook for another 1-2 minutes
• Optional: add some walnuts
• Enjoy!

Band I just discovered: Vitalism, who’ve been around for a bit, and haven’t had anything new in a couple of years. Hopefully they’re still making music

YouTube Channel I’m exploring: I’ve been going down the bodybuilding and fitness rabbit trail and found Will Tennyson. Initially it was his video about following David Goggins’ training day that helped him lose 100 pounds in 3 months (!). But then, I moved on to his general background, before finding my new diet:

To take a step back, I tend to access my emotions through intellectual reflection. I have many thoughts, but as I’m reflecting, I realize my main emotion for this cultural moment. And that emotion is anger.

At the core, I think I am angry about the violence. I am angry about violence done under the false name of justice. The chief recent example of this was the violent end to George Floyd’s life at the knee of Derek Chauvin. But, that’s the most recent example in a long line of unnecessary violence under the false pretense of justice.

I’m also angry about the violence that has mingled with otherwise peaceful protests. My sense is that there are different groups intersecting in the same situation with different purposes. I am giving the benefit of the doubt and assuming that most of the protesters are well-intended, but they are being joined by rioters and looters who are not. My hope is that more protesters would follow the example of Martin Luther King Jr., though his commitment card seems too overtly Christian to fly in today’s society.

Jumping off that last point, I am realizing I am also angry at many so-called justice warriors. I say “so-called” because it doesn’t include everyone fighting for social justice. It includes people who are practicing intellectual violence under the false pretense of social justice. The intellectual solution they offer to the systemic problems is worse than the disease and will corrode far more than it cures. Their justice is violence to the mind instead of the body.

Since there is not much I can do about the anger I feel toward the first two situations, I’m going to turn my attention to the third. It may actually help the other situations though. Behind the police brutality that leads to deaths like George Floyd’s is a philosophy of policing that some officers adopt and others don’t. Behind the rioting and looting, there is a philosophy of history and progress that many protesters couldn’t name. And behind the drive of many social justice warriors is a philosophy that will only perpetuate societal issues under the false pretense of cleansing us from them.

Because I care, I want to explore these issues. I want to dialogue in order to understand. I want to do some more research to think clearly in order to love my neighbor better. I want to take you along for the ride, and maybe we’ll both learn and grow together. It probably won’t be easy, but few things in life worth doing ever are.

Book I just finished: Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs by Michael Osterholm & Mark Olshaker. My pastor mentioned this to me a while back and I decided to pre-order the paperback, back when Amazon was still behind on book orders. It is a good overview of the general background for why COVID-19 turned into such a mess. In addition, he helps you understand how epidemiology works, and even has a chapter that eerily predicts how a pandemic would unfold. Since we’re never going back to a pre-COVID world, this is a good place to start on making sense of what the general issues are.

Recipe I’m using: I have a long history of using McCormick’s Grill Mates marinades. Recently, I’ve been putting Island Woodfire Grill in heavy rotation. Here’s how I do it:

• Get 4-6lbs of chicken breasts (or if there’s a meat shortage, cry into your crockpot)
• Using 1 packet per 2lbs of chicken, mix up marinade using the alternate recipe that calls for rum and lime juice (optional: take a shot of rum to get you through these unprecedented times)
• Put everything in a crockpot on low for 2hrs or so (time is relative, check back when it’s bubbling)
• Pull out the chicken and cut it up into bite-size pieces (think nugget shapes and sizes)
• Put the pieces back in on warm for another hour or so (or until you feel like portioning things out)
• Scoop out the chicken into glass meal containers, and if you care, weigh out specific portion sizes (I do 12oz, but I also aim for 200g of protein a day)
• Add some of the leftover to marinade to each container so it’ll be juicy when you microwave it later

Band I’ve been diggin: Owane, which I suppose is mostly jazz, but also kind of metal. Here’s a taste:

Article worth reading: “Queer Times” by Carl Trueman (referencing the much longer “Under the Rainbow Banner” by Darel Paul). Here’s a money quote: “The debate over LGBTQ issues is not a debate about sexual behavior. I suspect it is not really at this point a debate with the L, the G, or the B. It is the T and the Q that are carrying the day, and we need to understand that the debate is about the radical abolition of metaphysics and metanarratives and any notion of cultural stability that might rest thereupon.”

Game I’ve been playing too much: Mario Kart Tour for the iPhone. If you play too and wanna me, my player ID is 2942 8987 4913. I was mildly obsessed with Mario Kart back in it’s N64 format (and before that the SNES version at my friend Jon’s house). To say it is a little addictive is an understatement, and that was before the pandemic.

Podcast I’ve been catching up on: I’ve been listening to The Ringer podcasts since the website began a few years ago. I’ve really enjoyed The Rewatchables, as it is a great concept for a podcast. The episodes are of uneven quality, but generally if you’ve seen the movie, it’s worth checking out the accompanying podcast. Fair warning, if the movie is rated R, the podcast definitely is.

Supplements I need to restock: Gyms in Florida were allowed to reopen last week and my normal gym (LA Fitness) is reopening tomorrow. So, that means I’m about to start going through pre- and post- workout supplements again. I use Pulse and Recharge from Legion Athletics for my workout supplement needs. If you use this link you can get 20% if you wanna give them a try. I have found I hardly ever get sore anymore and to get supercharged for a workout without being up later, I use the caffeine free version of Pulse. I’ll have more to say about Legion in future posts.

It may seem counter-intuitive to feature a chain restaurant in a series on small businesses. However, in this case, it’s one of two franchises in Orlando, and they function independently of the larger corporation in terms of the bottom line. It may also seem odd to call it a restaurant, but since they serve a full menu, and it’s pretty hard to beat in terms of quality and price, it’s worth a visit even if you don’t like craft beer.

If you do, this is obviously a good option with most bars still closed. Their selection is starting to recover as business is picking back up, but they always have my go-to (Bell’s Two Hearted) on tap for happy hour prices. They open at 3 everyday, which is conveniently when happy hour starts.

Given health concerns, the outdoor patio that is tucked away from the larger shopping center will come in clutch. While it is already summer here in Florida, the patio can be manageable later in the evening when the breeze starts to pick up, not only cooling you off, but ensuring anyone nearby shedding coronavirus is less of a threat. And since the CDC has clarified that the virus doesn’t spread easily on surfaces, the air is your only real concern. But, given the low number of cases in our neck of the woods, (that were not fabricated or changed mind you) you would be hard pressed to run into an actual person carrying the virus.

As usual, I should disclose material connection and note that I’ve been a regular here for years. So much so that I befriended all the staff and convinced the last manager to hire my wife when she needed a side hustle. She ended up being the manager herself when a new owner bought the bar, and later that summer I ran the social media for the place. By posting about this I might have earned a free draft when I’m there this afternoon with my mug (we’ll see).

Even if not, any day you’re in, you should definitely tip your bartender well and tell them Nate sent you. Stop in on a Monday for the $5 burger deal, or Tuesday if street tacos are your thing. And don’t sleep on the wings or giant German pretzel. Support a local business and get some fresh air while you’re at it!

Hopefully your state is in good enough shape to re-open if it isn’t already. We are more or less fully into our Phase One here in Florida, and last Monday that began to include barbershops and other places I don’t care about but am glad are operational again.

As we start re-opening, I want to highlight small businesses so that we can help funnel money their direction and keep them around. I’ll be highlighting ones I patronize here in Orlando, but if you want me to draw attention to something in your neck of the woods, let me know and we can work something out!

On the last day of spring break, I got a haircut. Yesterday was the first day of summer break and was my first chance to get cleaned up. I had just starting going to Clippers Barber Shop earlier this year because it was literally in our neighborhood. I looked them up online and made an appointment. I actually did this on Monday to be clear. They only take appointments at the moment, but honestly it cuts down waiting and you should do that anyway.

Jose hooked me up, and also happens to be the owner/manager. We chatted a bit about life, discovered we were both Christians (not the main reason I’m sharing), and I was out the door in under 30 minutes with less than hair than when I came in.

If you’re looking for a barber that’s open, and you’re in Orlando, specifically the Winter Park/Casselberry/Oviedo area, check out Clippers, and make an appointment on Booksy. They are clean, courteous, and professional, and the inside of the shop has a nice vibe. Also, there’s a really solid Boston-style pizza place next door called North End Pizza. You should check them out too while you’re at it!

As I was preparing for my post about Liberty’s philosophical demise, I was reminded I used to do a series called Philosophy Friday. I’m not going to link to any of those posts because they’re mostly from 6 years ago and you shouldn’t read them (but I suppose the search bar does work). But, I thought a fresh start was in order.

These days, it’s dangerous to assume anyone has taken a basic philosophy course. I’ll assume you haven’t, or it’s been a while and you want to bang off the rust. If you’d like to sharpen your understanding of philosophy, there’s at least two routes you can take.

The first would be to study the history of philosophy. This ends up often being a history of ideas, and is useful since most of Western philosophy is a footnote to Plato. In that case, you’d pick a sturdy single volume like A History of Western Philosophy by C. Stephen Evans.

Evans takes readers from Thales of Miletus to Nietzsche of Prussia, which certainly beats taking the journey with Frederick Coppleston (though that is the standard). A general perusal of the table of contents suggests there are all the chapters you’d expect there to be, plus a bonus concluding chapter on some lessons we can learn from the history of western philosophy.

That in mind, you may wonder why pick this over other options. One might be that you have found Evans work elsewhere enjoyable and enriching it. Or, you might collect books like this (that’s me). Or, you might find Evans own take on what makes his work distinctive compelling. After we carefully defines “western,” “philosophy,” and just what a history of it entails, he then explains:

Part of my interest in philosophy stems from a conviction that philosophy is a valuable tool for a Christian who wants a deeper understanding of the Western world that has been partly shaped by philosophy. The history of Western philosophy is particularly interesting for a Christian because that history often intersects with the history of theology and the history of various religions, especially the three Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Although I want to tell the history of philosophy, that history cannot be sharply separated from the history of religion, just as it cannot be sharply separated from the history of science or the history of art. In my account of philosophy, I shall therefore pay special attention to the links between philosophy and religious faith. For people of biblical faith, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10; Prov 9:10), and so it is plausible to think that such faith may have something important to contribute to philosophy as well. Philosophy has something valuable to offer people of faith, but faith may in turn provide something that philosophy badly needs.

p. 10

So, if that’s what you’re in the mood for, and you want it in not much more than 500 pages, Evans’ book is probably for you.

The other route would be to get a book that jumps into the various contemporary discussions in philosophy. In that case, you’re looking for something like Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. Fair warning though, take most things William Lane Craig says about theological subjects with a grain of salt. Sure, he’ll talk about how he has two Ph.D’s, one of them in theology, but here’s a good chance to learn how to evaluate experts.

It is true that Craig has two earned doctorates, but I have more seminary education in theology than he does. He earned an M.A. in philosophy of religion from Trinity, but that’s not a theological degree. He then earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Birmingham (the one in England). Later, he did a postdoctoral fellowship a wrote a second thesis, earned a D.Theol from the University of Munich. However, given the system over there, he did research on the historical evidence of the resurrection and then wrote a thesis earning a D.Theol for his efforts. That is vastly different than earning a Ph.D in theology, and when he discusses early Trinitarian and Christological debates, it shows.

Now, that shouldn’t entirely dissuade you from checking that book out as a resource to get you started. If nothing else, it is a handy reference work as you read some of the other books I’m going to recommend.

Ultimately, you probably want to take both approaches at once. Ideas are contextual, and so having a feel for the history of ideas and the contemporary discussion is the best bet. As we enter into summer, I’ll see what I can do to take us on a journey to dare to know. If Liberty won’t, at least an alumni can help you out.

Note: I was able to read these books because IVP Academic sent them to me to peruse. I may have already posted a bit on both and recycled some of my own words in this post. And by “may” I mean “did.”

I recently shared a memory on Facebook of reading The Inevitable. It is one of the few books I’ve read in one sitting (Hillbilly Elegy is another one). I both remember sitting on the beach reading most of it in one sitting and then excitedly telling my senior class about it the next week.

Part of the fascination was how radical Kevin Kelly’s thoughts seemed. And yet, they seemed prescient and dove-tailed into insights I remember from Seth Godin’s Linchpin. I read that book in the better part of a day by the Waterford Lakes neighborhood pool shortly after finishing my first year of teaching. I read a lot by bodies of water it seems.

In some ways, these two books are related. They both underscore the need for one to consider the exact value you bring to the job market. In Godin’s book, the emphasis is on adding value to your employer beyond your job description. Anyone who can fill the job description as stated is hire-able. Whoever goes above and beyond becomes a linchpin over time.

I applied that to teaching, using the assumption that most people with a similar degree could have mastered the content. I also figured that anyone who knew the content could lecture for hours on it. So, I intentionally fostered a safe environment for discussion about serious issues, made humor a significant part of my podium side manner, and made it a point to connect with students outside of the classroom.

In essence, all the most valuable things I do as a teacher are not in my job description. I do the things in my job description, but what I really do is somewhat intangible and fairly irreplaceable. It may sound like hubris, but no one will ever teach Bible quite like I do at the school where I teach. Part of that is because no one with my level of education would usually be content to teach high school Bible part time. The other part is why Kevin Kelly’s book is important.

As we look ahead, merely being a linchpin won’t be sufficient to keep your job. There are plenty of people who do their work in ways irreplaceable who have been out of work since mid-March. The reason is that the nature of their job wasn’t quarantine proof. Some people saw this coming, but not really, and not in the economic details. I am thankful that my work was able to jump to Zoom for the most part. Other sectors weren’t as fortunate.

Now, one could spin Kelly’s book as a manifesto to make sure your work is technology proof. Don’t pursue a job in a career if a robot could take it from you later on down the road. You initially think that’s a far-fetched idea, and then Kelly walks you through some technological innovations just on the horizon and you pause and think that maybe the guy who founded Wired magazine might know a thing or two.

Kelly though is a fan of technological innovation, and has more faith in the algorithms than most. It couldn’t hurt to assume he’s mostly right about what’s ahead, since the downside would be planning to major in a field that will be irrelevant when you graduate.

What we are facing ahead is the prospect of automation. With a currently incurable virus looming in the present and the future, things that can happen online or can be automated will be. At first it may be for health and safety purposes, but it may prove so efficient going back is not necessary.

To use one example, I drive on toll roads frequently in Orlando. Since things ramped up with COVID-19, they stopped having toll attendants in the booths. I have an EZ-Pass so I don’t use them, but now everyone either has to get an EZ-Pass or deal with the tedium of being billed later. By the time it’s considered fine for attendants to return, the system may have advance to make their role obsolete. By the time we moved away from Dallas, they had several roads where paying the toll directly just wasn’t an option. Orlando may follow suit, not out of direct innovation, but out of innovation in the face of adversity.

Not that anyone aspires to be a toll attendant, but you get the idea. If I were to jump back to my domain, teaching that is just focused on content delivery has an expiration date. A robot can and will do that better than I do, and in a more focused manner, resistant to rabbit trails and random joking around. But the latter is what makes my teaching human and unique and hopefully builds rapport with students. A person can also read the room and change the subject for the day based on non verbal and intuitive information. A teacher, if they’re good, doesn’t just show up and dump the knowledge from the textbook into the students’ minds and get on with their day.

The reason I’m thinking through all of this is because I’m assuming pivots lay ahead for many of us. It would be foolish for me to just assume normal life and normal work will resume in the fall as if nothing happens. It is better to assume we’ll have 18-24 months of disruption (or more) and plan accordingly. If I’m wrong, I’ve lost nothing. If I’m right, I’m ahead of the curve.

Around 18 months ago, I read Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Antifragile. Because you’re curious, yes it was by a body of water, on a small island in the Bahamas no less. I didn’t know it at the time, but our life was going to be very disordered over the next 18 months. But, the subtitle of the book charted a path forward: “Things That Gain From Disorder.”

Fragile things do not do well when disorder or chaos is introduced. Antifragile things don’t just survive the chaos and disorder, they benefit from it. Knowing that, I gradually started thinking in those categories and sought to not necessarily minimize risk in life choices, but setup systems that not only resisted disruptions but could capitalize on them.

As a result, in many domains I began separating out goals and systems, knowing that many different systems can produce the same goals. If a system stops working well, it can be discarded and adapted. It would be foolish to scrap the goal because the system isn’t working, unless of course the goal needs revision.

A system in this season should be able to jump to different platforms if necessary. As an example, I teach the Bible by sharing the screen of my iPad to a TV in my classroom. If I couldn’t do that, or when the connection is weird, I pass out individual Bibles to each student. When class is cancelled and we’re at home, I start a Zoom meeting and share my screen and we’re back in business. The quality of the interaction is certainly better in person, but I’m prepared if we start by distance in the fall (thanks Google Classroom!)

Back in the day I used to work for Google Helpouts and taught private music lessons online. When our stay at home order started in Florida, I just moved my existing in-home lessons online. If I wanted to, I could probably add more students during this season. It would be rough for a beginner to start online, but for an intermediate student wanting to learn more, the platform works well with the right tools.

In essence, I’m taking some wisdom from my pastor and thinking through everything as if I had planned it. This is an opportunity to refine and redevelop things. If I treat it as such, make certain assumptions about the future that are antifragile, staying a linchpin in multiple domains is fairly inevitable. And since I probably can’t tie the three books together any better than that, I should probably get back to work.

I didn’t take it until my junior year because I spent the first two years of college at a Bible institute just studying the Bible, theology, and the art of ministry. Intro to Philosophy opened up a whole new world of inquiry that was complimentary, but a different lane entirely. And so, I started on parallel tracks since majoring in philosophy wasn’t an option at that point.

When I got to Dallas Seminary, I decided to focus on systematic theology as part of my Master in Theology, but with a specific emphasis in philosophy and also apologetics. I would wind up completing a thesis under the only philosophy prof there, flirt with the idea of pursuing a Ph.D in Philosophy at Notre Dame like he did, but ultimately take home the Apologetics Award for my work and settle into being a Bible teacher in Florida.

Philosophy, much like theology, can both be a field of inquiry, and a mode of reasoning. And similar to theology, has wide applications. In that Intro to Philosophy class, I mainly learned about the history of thought, but it opened up new ways of thinking for me that would remain in tension until John Frame helped me synthesis different schools of thought. He can do the same for you if you’re willing to read his History of Western Theology and Philosophy.

But that’s not why I’m writing. I happened to take that Intro to Philosophy class from Mark Foreman as part of my beginning of a degree program at Liberty University, and now I’m seeing that he, along with most of his department, is being let go at the end of next month. The website still lists a Bachelor in Philosophy as a degree option with the next start date of August 24, 2020. Not sure how that’s going to work though without philosophy professors to teach the classes.

Liberty is not what it used to be, not even when I was there almost 15 years ago. I did all my studies online, though I did visit campus a few times, enough to wave the OG Jerry Falwell once.

In recent days, Junior seems dead-set on running the school like a business, which I suppose it is. I could see how a commitment to that would gut the philosophy department as it is probably not a money maker degree. But, I was a Psych major, and benefited tremendously from taking Intro to Philosophy, a class you can’t hand off to someone not well versed in the history of thought. It would be sad to see it no longer offered, and sadder still to think how it impoverishes the education you might get at Liberty these days.

On the one hand, it makes sense to cater to the degrees that people see as more practical. And yet we see the effects of not teaching subjects like philosophy. Not everyone needs to know how to explain what “epistemology” is, but everyone uses it every day, and most not very well. We all want to know how to live the good life, and that is the whole point of the field of ethics. And some of us even want to get metaphysical from time to time, thinking about the nature of reality.

So, hopefully it’s not the end of the philosophy department at Liberty. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was, and that says a lot about where Liberty is institutionally, as well as my opinion about my alma mater. I’m glad I went on to Dallas to get my masters, because that’s all anyone really cares about. It’s not an easy time to be a philosopher, but then again, that’s been true for a while and we’re seeing the effects more and more.

As we begin officially re-opening Florida today (at 25% capacity), I’ve been reflecting on the journey so far. It seems like so long ago that we were first hearing of this virus on the loose in China. Much like hurricane season, there was then two months of discussion and forecasting before a storm was obviously brewing in the Atlantic. And then we hoarded toilet paper, bottled water, and canned goods while we hoped to ride it all out.

But, unlike a hurricane, there was no obvious storm to dodge. The radar proved almost completely worthless, and the cone of uncertainty changed shape radically as the weeks wore on. And now many are saying we must continue on even in the absence of clear evidence that boarding up the house was the right move. “The storm is still out there, it’s gonna get worse,” they say, sitting at home with their bills paid.

Now it just feels like the boy who cried COVID. None of the doomsday scenarios came to pass, and in many places, that was without overly invasive measures. Was Florida smart or lucky, the Wall-Street Journal wonders. A good bit of the former, but with a dose of the latter. Turns our low population density and high humidity works in your favor. And, citizens can chose to stay home without being forced to do so.

I realize I might feel differently if I lived in New York City, but I don’t. I live in suburban Florida in a county where the number of COVID deaths last month (8) is very close to the average number of monthly roadway fatalities (6). The numbers aren’t that far off in neighboring Orange County, home to Walt Disney World, Universal, and 1.5 million people.

But, now we’re turning a corner and I thought it would be interesting to reflect back on the last couple of months as we look ahead to new normals. Since we’re re-opening in phases, I thought thinking in phases was appropriate.

Phase 1

In March, I vacillated between still thinking it was no big deal (my first gut reaction) to wondering if this was the end (because I was reading too many headlines). At the beginning of the month I was still scheduled to go to California for a week. As a result, I had the privilege (and despair) of watching their meltdown via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Twitter account.

By mid-month, spring break technically ended, but we found out we not only weren’t going back to class, but weren’t going to California either. Seeing the writing on the wall, I went to the barber and got cleaned up, and later said goodbye to the gym. I spent an afternoon at my favorite hangout spot (World of Beer) knowing it would probably close soon as well (just in time for St. Patrick’s Day).

By the end of the month, our neighboring county was on a stay-at-home order, and a social distancing order was in effect for ours. I had pivoted to teaching on Zoom, and we were also packing for a move. But, helpfully as well, I had started tracking data on daily number of new cases and deaths.

With the extra time on our hands, it was easier than anticipated to pack and move. And, since we had planned on having life disrupted at the end of March, it wasn’t overly stressful or anxiety inducing. But, at this point, the projections, especially from IHME, hadn’t been proven ridiculous. So, there was still the looming threat of impending doom, but we were just mostly focused on relocating and keeping the paychecks coming in.

Now, before I go further, full disclosure: My paychecks have been basically uninterrupted. I think other than having to move, we have benefited financially from things being closed, being able to stop student loan payments, and getting stimulus checks (well, whenever the direct deposit shows up). Not greatly, but it has been slightly easier to stay ahead on the budget than usual. Keep that in mind below.

Phase 2

The next phase started after we moved. In Florida, the statewide stay-at-home order started on April 3rd. We moved on April 4th. Because of the extra time, we were mostly settled by Easter weekend.

Having settled in, working from home became more routine, but so did several other semi-daily habits. I’ve still gotten up and gone to Starbucks almost every morning. The one right by our old house was my regular morning reading spot and so I just shifted to going through the drive-thru. Because the baristas there are rockstars, they would still often give me my free refill as I came through (which made my Trenta Cold Brew essentially bogo). Whenever they re-open the cafe, I’ll go back to occupying a comfy chair between 5-7am every morning.

I also would run at least one other errand every day. Sometimes it was to Wal-Mart or Publix, sometimes it was to get lunch or dinner. Sometimes it was just to drive around. I am as you might say, a stay-at-home minimalist. Since the order allowed leaving for essential things, I thought why go to Wal-Mart once a week for groceries when you can just go everyday?

In doing all of this, you know what I noticed? Lots of other people doing the same thing. The roads were never empty, the stores were never ghost-towns. Certainly less busy than usual, but people were still out and about and I was among them. Over the month I noticed more and more people wearing masks, but I never noticed a drop in the number of people. If nothing, it may have gradually increased.

The reason I approached things like this is that I’m comfortable getting maximum exposure. Almost everyone who has died from this to date in central Florida had a pre-existing condition (usually heart disease). Once we had moved, and were all working from home, there was very little risk in possibly getting COVID and being quarantined (and we all knew and agreed on the risks). Better to get antibodies sooner rather than later amirite?

That might not be you, and you know what? That’s perfectly ok. I knew the risks, and was comfortable taking them. I keep my distance naturally and even though I’m around sick kids every fall/winter, I rarely get sick (I get sick about as frequently as leap years happen). I realize the coronavirus is different and novel, but given my immune system and personal practices, I don’t think my odds of infection were ever very high.

Where we live, there are probably less than 100 people who currently have COVID in a county of 500,000 people (there’s been just under 400 total cases, and people don’t stay sick indefinitely). Odds of coming in contact with one of them are pretty low at this point because they know they are sick and are at home (or easily avoidable in public). I suppose there can still be asymptomatic carriers out there, but they don’t seem to be spreading much.

Phase 3

Knowing all that, the sense of impending doom, from the virus at least, was gone by late April. There will supposedly be a second wave, but my main fear is that the government blew it this wave by relying too heavily on those worthless IHME projections. When the second wave is coming, fewer people will take projections seriously, and if they come from better data, they are more likely to be accurate this time around.

That aside, I’m now entering into a re-evaluating phase. This whole thing, warranted by the data or not, has provided a unique opportunity to re-think the routine. When normal life is paused like this, we would be foolish to rush right back to the way things were unless we were convinced they were perfect as is. Any adjustments are much easier made now.

So, as we enter May, I’m looking forward to getting back to my favorite patio, getting back in the gym, and getting a haircut at some point. But, I’m more looking forward to the opportunity to use the next three months for a life reset that has been four years in the making. And that’s what I’d like to start talking about moving forward.