Plans Are Still Complex This Year, But There Are Openings
Boomers! Happy Easter, Passover, Ramadan and Spring Amid COVID-19
“A big part of life is learning how to move forward. If you look back too many times, it wastes energy and focus. The future lies right in front of you and the past is really only good from which to learn. Try to save as much energy as possible, and only take steps forward and you’re almost guaranteed a brighter future.”
Michelle Hawk, Editor, Wellness Pursuits
The crowds are coming back all across California especially in the Coachella Valley, which includes the cities of Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio and Thousand Palms. For you cartologists out there, the Valley extends for about 45 miles from tip and tip and roughly 15 miles wide. Needless to say, that area can accommodate a great many people, not only full-time residents, but at this time of year the “snow-birds” arrive enmasse, and the vast majority are our age. In addition, the LA crowd and New Yorker’s are buying homes like never before. It’s once again the hip place to be, to live or visit.
Point of clarification, it’s also time for spring break, so the cities, especially Palm Springs get flooded with college students looking for sunshine and a great partying atmosphere, both of which can be found readily in this great city. Remember Boomers when spring break was called Easter break, and it lasted for about one week. Now spring break goes for several weeks in March and well into the month of April.
Here’s a little history on spring break. It began in 1938 with a swim forum event in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. By the early 1960’s, students looking to escape the rigors of their studies and the cold winter months, began to flock to Ft. Lauderdale in great numbers, and local businesses took advantage of this influx by offering specials, for example, “all you can drink beer” for $1.50. Eventually the town gained the nickname “Ft. Liquordale” and became the primary party destination for students all across the globe.
And the rest is history, as they say. Now many beach communities host spring breakers and the parties are outrageous. From Cancun, Mexico to Padre Island, Texas and along both coasts. Actually, Palm Springs was once ‘party central’ during spring break, until the then mayor, Sonny Bono, yes the same person who was married to Cher, put a stop to the insane partying. As with so many things in life, it’s making a comeback and the streets are once again filled with revelers.
The point here is the merchants, hotels, and restaurants are beaming with delight and thrilled to have the crowds, regardless of age, back on the streets pumping valuable excitement and activity into the local economies. What better way to usher in a renewed spring season.
My BoomerGuy and I spent several days this past week visiting old friends, eating out, shopping and recharging our batteries in the warmth of the desert sun. We all need a break from what we just went through this past year, and clearly, it’s not over but we are beginning to see cracks in the “surface of return” to fun, families, and positivity.
We have both been vaccinated and are well into our immunity period. With that, it felt good to once again be with like-minded friends and feeling OK to do so. We met our good friends from New Buffalo, Michigan at Tommy Bahama’s www.tommybahama.com restaurant located on El Paseo in Palm Desert. They were serving indoors at 25% capacity, but we chose the outdoor patio surrounded by full shade and three fabulously whirling ceiling fans which kept things cool in the 95° heat. It was the perfect island vibe, even though we were 90 miles inland from the ocean. Ha. Now this was a POWER LUNCH—4 hours of non-stop chatting interspersed with terrific food and wine and spirits. A special thank you to our server, Fabian, whose recommendations were spot on and he never once made us feel rushed. What a great way to celebrate spring with a return to normalcy, or at least some form of it. And, yes, we had a designated driver.
My BoomerGuy commented, “outside of my wife, my good friend from Michigan is the first female I’ve hugged in over a year.” Now, that is an incredible statement as to what we’ve been through this past year. They worked together in the medical field a number of decades ago when she lived in Chicago and have remained close over all this time. She was just selected to work with all the major airlines in setting up immunity and practice guidelines for traveling overseas. She is definitely a Boomer with a purpose.
“In those moments when it is hard to see your direction, remember: The darker the sky, the better the stargazing. There is always something special in the journey, and sometimes those little surprises can be the very things that help you find your way”
Michelle Hawk, Editor, Wellness Pursuits
The news on the street is that Disneyland is re-opening, along with the Pasadena Flea Market at the Rose Bowl, Magic Mountain and Universal Studios, Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and Knotts Berry Farm just to name a few. All across America we are seeing the change in attitude and progression to what was once our “normal,”
It’s up to each of us how we wish to handle the prevention of furthering the pandemic. It is entirely your choice with the vaccinations, but at a minimum we should continue to wear masks and practice physical distancing and good hygiene. My BoomerGuy and I felt it was right thing to do, so we signed up for the Pfizer vaccine and put our trust in it. For now, we get together with only those people who have also been vaccinated and have gone through their immunization period. Like I said, we’re only spending time with like-minded people, and for us, that’s how we’re minimizing risk. On the other side of the coin, we have friends who are anti-vaccine and anti-maskers, and while that is their choice, we don’t get within a mile of them. One of my friends just flew in from North Carolina for a short visit, but she has not gone through the recommended immunity period following her second vaccine and with her exposure to so many people in the airports and on the planes, I chose to postpone our getting together until her next visit.
It’s up to each of us Boomers to make decisions on how to best protect ourselves, and to move forward and enjoy life to its fullest especially with society opening backup like we’ve observed over this past week. Go forth and savor all the beauty this planet has to offer, and most important, HAPPY EASTER AND SPRING to all our Boomer and Senior friends.
“Don’t ruin a perfectly good day by thinking about a bad day. Treat each day as a blank canvas and just let the paint fly. Each day is a new opportunity to create your masterpiece.”
Michelle Hawk, Editor, Wellness Pursuits