Thread by @realityblurred, At the beginning of stay-at-home pandemic times, my neighbors had a gathering [...]

Andy Dehnart

realityblurred

At the beginning of stay-at-home pandemic times, my neighbors had a gathering at their pool, including (grand?) kids. That they were gathering gave me a lot of anxiety. Sometimes I even wondered if the breeze was blowing virus over to me as I sat in my back yard.

On many weekends, these gatherings happened. The kids played Marco Polo *for hours.*

Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo.

Marco. Marco. Marco. Polo. Marco. Marco. Marco! MARCO! Polo.

Even with music lightly playing on my laptop, it was impossible not to hear every call, and each one was a reminder that they were all gathering together.

But at some point, I relaxed into this. I assume/hope they& #39;re all part of each other& #39;s COVID bubbles, and thus were safely gathering and having fun. And I started to look forward to working while they played, kind of like the background noise at a coffee shop or co-working space.

It& #39;s been weeks, maybe months—what is time any more?—since I& #39;ve heard them out there. But they& #39;re back today. Marco. Polo. Marco. Marco. Marco! Polo.

But they& #39;re back today, and it& #39;s so nice to have that joyful community gathering as background noise.

They& #39;ll probably still come over and play once this is all over. (They may have before this, and I just never noticed!) But any time I hear "Marco" or "Polo," it& #39;ll definitely remind me of this time, and the anxiety, and the comfort that comes from just noticing small things.

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