Mostly Normal

There are very few COVID-19 cases in our area right now, all businesses are back open in one form or another, and our family is settling into a new routine with homeschooling.  Sometimes life feels almost normal these days.

Then I go to the store and see shelves like this, and I'm reminded that we're still in a pandemic that's full of surprises, many of which come in the form of unexpected shortages.  It's hard to find bike tires because of a global rubber shortage.  My favorite brand of chickpeas has been missing from shelves for weeks.  It's hard to tell how much things cost at the grocery store, because the workers often fill in gaps with other products without changing the shelves' price tags.  All of these are minor hassles in the grand scheme of things, but they reinforce the unsettling feeling that we're not quite out of the woods yet.