Awkward normals

Saturday morning... good friends of ours made a surprise visit ...they came from Missouri. For them it was a 7 hour drive.
I woke up to see their truck and a camper trailer parked in our yard. They had surprised us last year also. This year they came prepared to be self contained because of Covid-19.

They also come prepared in case we didn't want them here. They love visiting this area of Wisconsin and had reserved a spot at Esofea County Park for their camper.

They all had their masks on as they came to the porch. Charlie was so ecstatic that he could barely contain himself.

It was a surreal scene to have good friends so close and yet stay away from that HUG that is the norm each time we visit. It felt awkward and uncomfortable to have masks on while conversing and catching up on the porch. However this is the new normal right?

I see why people protest and want to fight mask mandates and rules of social distancing. 

We have been doing it all along and since we are pretty remote on the farm, it didn't feel that bad.

But it felt a bit awful and very much awkward Saturday.

When we met up with them later on at the campground, we had settled in with our new normal of working out distancing and eating a supper together while still being near enough to have conversation.

I took the kids to the playground and reminded them to wash their hands with sanitizer when we got back to the camper. 

We ate supper together/apart and conversed. Kristi said she had called her younger sister to wish her a happy birthday and discovered that her sister had Covid-19 that had just been diagnosed. Her sister said it was absolutely the worst ever cold she'd had.

We all sat quietly after that. 
I finally said, "You know, for all those out there who don't believe its real? It isn't until someone close to you gets it, right?"

My visitors had not been exposed to the sister for the past few weeks. It makes you stop and think. 

Well. 
Let's just say, so far the weekend has worked out pretty well.

The creek of course was a huge hit. 

We made plenty of space on the porch to keep everyone safe.

For our second night, Rich sat at the other end of the porch in the rocking chair. We ate suppers on our laps and then visited again.

As it got dark, I gave the boys some glow sticks and they went into the yard to light things up.

Things didn't feel quite as awkward last night. I think Rich was more comfortable on his own porch than in a campground.

It was a nice visit. A bit strange feeling, yet it was so nice to see others.

The hardest part was today. Because all the excitement was over and we felt alone. It was as if we realized what we were missing.

We'll get over it, we will be fine.