In this world that we so graciously occupy, disagreement is a normality. Of course, it is a part of human nature. Our original, individualized opinions and thoughts are a huge piece of who each of us are. As a society, we divide in the presence of disagreement; political parties, sports teams, The Bachelor contestants. Teams of high school and college students put themselves willingly through intense practices and arguments just to prove they’re better at disagreeing. If we didn’t disagree, we would all be emotionless voids with no individuality…but I want to go out on a limb here and say something that I believe strongly is a statement that the majority of the world, especially you and me, can agree on after the last three and a half months: shit got weird, and it got weird fast.
Everything in our entire social (as well as a good amount of our financial) existence has completely shifted. “Quarantine” is being taken lightly and tossed around, not only as a word, but as a concept. I’ll admit to you, I’ve been bragging about some of the meals I’ve been making during this time with something along the lines of #quarantinecookingtips as the caption. Yes, a lot of us, especially the younger adults, have been making light of this time.
Everything in our entire social (as well as a good amount of our financial) existence has completely shifted. “Quarantine” is being taken lightly and tossed around, not only as a word, but as a concept. I’ll admit to you, I’ve been bragging about some of the meals I’ve been making during this time with something along the lines of #quarantinecookingtips as the caption. Yes, a lot of us, especially the younger adults, have been making light of this time.
Since I am a full-time server and bartender, I’ve been graced with an enormous amount of free time during The Quarantine. I’ve been more aware of my thoughts thanks to said free time and find myself thinking deeply even while doing tasks on my impromptu to-do list. reorganize the spare room, do laundry, make an entire crock-pot of chili just for fun, stare out the window, watch people on YouTube make three different levels of macaroni and cheese, read the book you’ve been meaning to finish, write, write, well try to write at least. The list scrolls through, Star Wars intro style, and the realization that keeps coming to the front of my brain somehow washes out the rest: I take an undeniable amount for granted. I’m not talking about the trivia nights with friends or karaoke with my parents (yeah, they’re cool as hell and we go out together). I’m talking about the freedom of taking weekend trips, middle-of-the-week trips, even day trips to places around me, the choice to get in the car and go camping at a state park for a weekend, or scramble together a charcuterie board to take to the local winery. Even something as simple as buying my ticket pre-sale for a fall festival is something I always look forward too, and these are the things, these are the little adventures that I don’t want to take for granted anymore.
It’s all too often that I get teased for calling something as simple as a trip to a new brewery “an adventure”, but it is. It’s a new experience. You’re getting to know your community, your surrounding areas, interacting with people outside of yourself and your chosen groups. You give yourself a chance to help others determine whether they would like a similar experience. You can step out of your comfort zone and choose to learn and grow, no matter how small of an adventure it may be.
So here I am, and here this is. Instead of taking my adventures for granted, I’ve decided to reflect on them, document them, and share them! Don’t worry, this won’t turn into a collection of bad Yelp! reviews. Instead, here is my view of the small parts of my community, neighborhood, surrounding states, and cities that have been a part of my many (mini) adventures so far.