So the hustle and bustle of the holidays is officially behind us. Even this year, when we didn’t travel to visit family for Thanksgiving or Christmas, there were still modest family dinners to plan and prepare; decorating to do; goodies to bake; presents to purchase, wrap and mail; cards to write and send out. These activities are part of every holiday season, pandemic or not, although more gift-giving had to be done through the mail or other delivery services.

For the past several years, our post-holiday letdown occurred well after New Year’s, as we’ve enjoyed a tradition of gathering with two other couples, longstanding friends who enjoy good food, wine and each others’ company. At first we stayed at one couple’s home, and then we enjoyed a string of stays at rented beach homes or condos on the northern Oregon coast.    We rang in 2019 in Las Vegas,        thoroughly enjoying the new location and the friends who hosted us in their large and comfortable home. Each trip allowed us quality time with dear friends in a low-key, relaxed environment . . . and also let us stave off dealing with dismantling the Christmas décor and the post-holiday slump. Last year brought a whole new delight with the birth of our first granddaughter on New Year’s Eve, and helping her parents through the first few weeks of her life kept us on a high note well into January.

We have no such distractions this year, however; and if ever there was a year when a delay from a return to “normal” (or what has become normal in 2020), it would be this new year. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is looking to the weeks ahead with at least a little trepidation, if not dread. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of people ignored health officials’ advice and chose to travel and/or party in recent weeks, some (if news footage can be a measure) with truly reckless abandon. If the post-Thanksgiving holiday surge is any indication, the next month or two will see far too much death and serious illness, with our healthcare workers and hospitals overburdened. As the mother of a nurse and aunt to six nurses (at least one of whom is working on a COVID unit), I worry for them and all their compatriots.

I know how weary we all are of the restrictions and changes to our lives and how severely the livelihoods and security of many have been impacted. The cold, gray days of January and February even in a normal year can shroud one in gloom, so it makes sense that we want to escape from the after-holiday slump to something brighter. Let’s hope that everyone can find safe avenues to do so. Many look to continue or reinvigorate a healthy workout routine or start a healthier dining regimen. I hope to do both, and I also have a list of books lined up to allow me to “escape” even when I can’t leave town.

I look with optimism to later in 2021, when I hope a new administration and wider distribution of COVID vaccines will finally allow more freedom of movement and an expansion of the economy. In the meantime, we’ll all have to do our part to keep each other safe while finding healthy, creative ways to keep our chins up.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor