I haven’t posted anything for a couple of days, so this is just a note to let anyone who cares that happens to not have anything better to do and is thus reading this – that I’m OK! But just “OK.” Not great, not terrible, not distraught, just kind of “meh.”

I’m just going through an uninspired phase. Some days I just don’t feel like using the laptop, some days I really just don’t have anything to say that’s “blogworthy.” And this is one of those days, but I feel compelled to at least post SOMETHING.

I’d really love to go to a drive-through holiday lights display, cheesy tree lighting ceremony, cheesy holiday parade, but alas, I can only do one of those things because…plague. I missed out on my town’s cheesy tree lighting ceremony last year, but I made up for it by attending a cheesy holiday parade in Milan, MI. We managed to score a couple of seats at the bar in a little coffee shop/taphouse called The Owl. Remember being able to be shoulder to shoulder in a bar and that wasn’t no thing? My, my, my how things have changed!

One of the local bars near me has put “igloos” into their beer garden. Online reservations are required on busy nights, and you’re only “supposed” to get your igloo for 90 minutes (also supposed to be one household per igloo, six person max). Last night, we were able to have a LOT more time than that in our igloo! Even though another group near us was asked to leave when they hit their “time.” We might’ve gotten to stay longer since we’re “regulars!”

I hope the “igloos” become a permanent thing with this bar in colder weather – whether there’s a pandemic raging or not. They all have electric space heaters, they air them out and sanitize them after each use, and why waste the outdoor real estate when you can capitalize on it? It’s normally wasted space in the colder months. Businesses have been doing very interesting things to adapt during this “plague” with outdoor seating, offering curbside/ delivery service (even on things like cocktails). Nobody wants to see their favorite bar/restaurant collapse, though sadly many already have (and will continue to do so).

Even non bar/restaurant businesses have had to adapt their strategies, too. In the retail store I work, the online order/pickup in store option has gone gangbusters. Lots more customers are ordering items online, and pick them up in the store. Many times while I’m breaking down pallets of merchandise from the warehouse, I’ll have a store employee looking for specific items that haven’t been unpacked. And many times I’m able to locate the items for them even if they’re still hiding in boxes. Curbside pickup might be gaining some steam, too. Good! Anything that helps keep jobs going in the store and keeps customers…out. I’m all about that!