“Its one of those days, isn’t it?” “Yes, it is.” Yesterday as we began our walk around Lake Padden, near Bellingham, on our way home from our son’s farm, we were aware that we have not yet fully acclimated to our new home. In our defense, we were wearing our rain coats. They were getting wet from the falling rain. There was rain dripping from my hat. But there were plenty of locals outside ignoring the rain. People were walking and jogging in their shorts, without any jackets. A class was listening to a presenter, gathered around a cluster of picnic tables. The presenter even had a portable marker board and was writing on it. Groups of people were fishing around the lake. They were having good success. It is possible that the lake had been freshly stocked, we don’t know, but we saw more people catching fish on the drizzly day.

Drizzly is a good description of the weather. It wasn’t pouring rain. When we were driving, I was almost constantly adjusting the interval windshield wipers. They would be going too slowly, then they would be going too fast. It kept varying.

Our joke is that the locals don’t notice that it is raining until there is a heavy downpour - the kind of rain that will fill up the hood of your jacket if you leave it off for a few minutes - the kind of rain that is a nuisance for glasses wearers because you can’t keep the lenses clear of water. Anything short of that seems to escape the notice of the locals. It is mostly a matter of attitude. I have no problem finding days when it isn’t raining to mow the lawn, but our neighbors just don’t pay attention and mow the lawn whenever it fits into their schedule, whether or not it is raining.

Unlike other places we have lived, we are in no hurry to start acting like the locals. This is a busy place, with a lot of people and a lot of differences, so we probably wouldn’t blend in all that easily to begin with. In addition we are living in a rental home at present and plan to move again this year. We expect that we will live in a neighboring town, but aren’t completely sure where we will call home for the next phase of our lives. Add to that the process of coming out of the pandemic, and we don’t know what normal is.

Like those who have lived here for a long time, however, we haven’t allowed the weather to slow us down. We go walking every day in every kind of weather. We’ve even gone walking on days when it was pouring so hard that we couldn’t keep our glasses clear. We go to visit our grandchildren rain or shine. Unlike our neighbors, I shoveled my walks when it snowed. They were clear for a day or so before the snow melted off of the neighbors walks. Perhaps the difference is that I own a snow shovel and they do not.

As we walked in the rain yesterday, a walk that was beautiful because of the setting, I was observing how people are responding to the ease of restrictions as more people are becoming vaccinated. We have had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, as has our son, but our daughter and daughter-in-law are between doses, a time when there is still risk. Although our daughter lives far away, we are aware of risks that others face. We know that the risk of transmitting the virus outside is very low. Still, we keep our masks with us and we put them on whenever we are passing other walkers on the path. Some of the others wear masks. Some pull up their shirts or cover their faces with their hands when they see we are wearing our masks. Others simply look the other direction as we pass. We don’t feel threatened by the choices others are making about wearing masks outdoors.

When one of us needs to go to an indoor space with other people, such as grocery shopping, we have found that folks around here are compliant with instructions about wearing masks.

When it comes to the risk of infection, we hope that it isn’t like the rain. We hope that people aren’t unaware of the risks. Our state has been catching up with vaccinations and now is ahead of neighboring states in our vaccination rate. Still, it is important to remember than less than 1/3 of adults in the country have been vaccinated. There are still tens of thousands of new cases of the disease every day. We may be able to see days coming when the pandemic will be less of a concern, but we are not yet there. Caution and care for others are still needed.

For the most part, the pandemic didn’t cause major disruptions in our lives. While we were cautious, we continued to have some contact with others. We managed to travel and move our household across several states during the pandemic. We sold our home. We rented another. We continued to do our own grocery shopping. We think we were careful and we have no indication that we carried disease to others, but we did take some risks. Life entails some risks. We didn’t stop living because of the pandemic. We don’t stop walking because of the rain. On the other hand, we don’t pretend that it isn’t raining.

With caution, we are expanding our ventures. We’re planning a trip to visit our daughter’s new home this summer. There will be a small gathering of my siblings and their children in July and a gathering of Susan’s sisters and their families in August. Some things are returning to near pre-pandemic states.

We will, however, remember the losses and the grief. We will remember that others suffered far more than we. We will remember the seriousness of the illness. And we will do what we are able to be a part of recovery for all people around the world. We’ll keep face masks handy for use when it makes sense to us.

We’re keeping our rain jackets nearby as well.