Signs of the Times

This pandemic has handed us one benignly surreal experience after another.

This week, we lined up with countless other families at our kids' schools . . .

. . . to receive bags of artwork, old assignments, and random school supplies that were in students' desks on what turned out to be their last day of school back in March.

As we passed the middle school on the drive home, the question mark on this sign highlighted a nagging concern that's been in the back of my mind for weeks: Will the kids be able to go back to school in fall?  Socializing would be good for them, and having some quiet time each day would do wonders for my sanity, but there are still hundreds of new coronavirus cases every week in our state, and I doubt things will have settled down so much by September that we'll feel safe putting kids on school buses to go mingle in classrooms all day.  Maybe the virus will have disappeared by then.  Maybe a vaccine will be available.  We can hope, but I'm not betting on it.

In the meantime, at least this sign found some humor in the whole situation: "Jesus washes sins away, but you still must wash your hands."