There are so many different comfort levels when it comes to social outings right now. Some people are happy to be in restaurants and friends’ houses, some prefer patios, some prefer virtual hangouts only. And you kind of have to admit – it’s an interesting, not-unpleasant challenge when you have to get creative with social plans. It’s becoming more clear to me that there are a lot of experiences – positive ones – we wouldn’t have otherwise had if social distancing hadn’t become a standard.
I was walking with a girlfriend during a work break this morning. Typically we would have grabbed a glass of wine together somewhere, but rain and her preference to stay in backyards vs. public patios have both thrown off our plans this week. Instead, I said I’d just drive to her house and she could show me around her neighborhood during a walk to catch up. We ambled through tree-grown paths I’d never seen before but had passed a thousand times along the busy road adjacent. It was lovely.
Not far from there, every Saturday, my running buddy and I are still cutting new-to-us paths through city streets so we can see different parts of the skyline and streets we normally just drive past. Working remotely, we’re both hungrier for some sense of adventure along the route. Anything to bring a sense of newness.
I’ve gone to quite a few parks I didn’t know existed, just to get the dog out somewhere else for both her sake and mine (she gets bored, just like anyone else).
But there’s still wine and food. A friend and I made a point to meet halfway between our houses for a glass of wine – we had to seek out a patio option that could resist afternoon lightning. Tricky. We landed at a wine bar I’ve never been to but had been curious about for a few years: The Wine Vault. This University City spot is so much closer to my house than I realized – it was like a new corner of my world had been peeled away. The cozy little spot also had adorable wine flights: tiny wine goblets aligned on a paddle. Probably the cheapest Petite Sirah I’ve ever found, too.
Wine, walking, running… regardless of the outing, it’s refreshing to end up in places you just might not normally be, while being with the people you’d normally be with. There’s a little more strategy involved, a little more back-and-forth. It’s like a plot twist to previous plans, a small game that adds lightness to an otherwise, and often, heavier time.
