Out of the Darkness

I think it's safe to say that the COVID pandemic is over, at least as far as the American Northeast is concerned.  The daytime high temperatures of late have been 25 degrees above normal with temperatures pushing 90 degrees, and given how respiratory viruses wilt and wither in warm air, I can honestly say that the heat has disinfected my area from COVID until at least December.  And when it returns, it really will be "just the flu."

As it turns out, the timing is perfect.  The New York Auto Show is in full swing, as it is every Easter Week (well, except for 2020 and 2021. of course), and, despite the smaller, more low-key nature of this year's show, I will be going tomorrow.  I just have to get out of the house - and return to Manhattan for the first time in nearly four years.  I will likely take less time a tthe auto show than I did in 2019, but that's fine - I can always check out Hudson Yards nearby, a place I have heard about but have not seen in person.  (I understand it's like Battery Park City on steroids.)  Given the way auto shows have been evolving (or devolving) lately, though, I think this may be the last auto show I go to for a long time.    

Also, NJ Transit has, for the time being, replaced DeCamp bus service with buses that run only at peak hours on weekdays, so at least there's' that.  And I can always drive to a nearby town to catch the train for Manhattan when I want to go into the city on a Saturday or Sunday or for an evening event.  As fate would have it, there is an evening event in New York I'm attending next Friday, April 21 - and you'll know more about that afterwards.

I have been under duress and in a deep funk since the March 2020 pandemic shutdown, but now, with these two excursions to New York City coming up, it seems things are finally turning around for me.