You guys, I actually went somewhere! Read on...
After covid finally caught up with me and Andy at the end of January, we have started venturing out just a wee bit—first because we felt we had the protection of some built-in immunity from having had it, and then because we are trying to re-enter the world in some small ways. So we've been out to dinner a few times, and I went back to book group, and Andy rejoined his gym, and that sort of thing. I still wear a mask every time I'm in a store or other public place like that, but I'm starting to try to not be so uptight otherwise. I definitely do not want to get it again (I know people with long covid, and it's a nightmare), and I certainly don't want to pass it to my mother or in-laws (all in their 90s), but these baby steps are feeling OK for now.
Back in spring 2020, my beloved American Copy Editors Society conference was canceled due to lockdown. It was supposed to be in Salt Lake City. Then in 2021, it was canceled again, this time in Atlanta. In 2022, a slightly abridged version was held in San Antonio; I was definitely not ready to think about travel yet—and even if I was, I certainly wouldn't have chosen Texas. (Don't get me started.) So this year was scheduled to be in Columbus, Ohio, and I went! As did 800 other editors! And it was just as glorious as ever—possibly more so, since I had so sorely missed it. I masked as much as possible, but had already decided I would be going to restaurants with my pals. Within walking distance of our hotel was a really great food hall, with stalls featuring every kind of food you can imagine—tacos, gyros, ramen, pizza, etc.—and then communal eating areas, so we all pretty much went there for lunch every day. My favorite dinner was at The Pearl—how serendipitous that our checks were presented to us slipped into hardcover books! We also had fancy-shmancy cocktails one night at Mouton. I presented my workshop on recipe editing, and it was a big success—I had never had such a huge turnout, and it was really gratifying. I saw old friends and met new ones, and all in all had a splendid time. And guess what—no one got Covid, at least that I heard of! So that was very encouraging. For me and many of my friends, this was our first time away from home since the pandemic started. Next year it's in San Diego, and I can't wait! I'm going to try to convince Andy to tag along and maybe we can tack on a few days before/after and make a mini vacay out of it.
But that's not all! I'm planning to go away again in August, to Alexandria, VA, for the Editorial Freelancers Association conference. It will be beastly hot, but I'm really looking forward to it.
Oh wait, I forgot to say that the keynote speaker at the ACES banquet was Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Connie Schultz. She was fantastic! She talked mostly about her relationships with the editors at the various newspapers she's been at (including one editor who was present!) and at her book publisher. I really wish I had recorded it but I was too busy being spellbound. I knew Schultz had written a memoir about being on the campaign trail with her husband, Senator Sherrod Brown—with the great title ...and His Lovely Wife (she took time off from journalism so as not to create any kind of conflict of interest). But I didn't know she had also written a novel, called The Daughters of Erietown, which I read as soon as I got home. In her speech, she said that a lot of the book is autobiographical—for instance, she grew up in a small working-class town in Ohio and was the first person in her family to go to college. I really liked this book. One of the reviews at Amazon nails it: "While Schultz’s compelling narrative and realistic characters will keep readers turning pages into the night, her eye and ear for real-life details set this novel apart from other domestic sagas. Part tragic love story, part powerful testament to shifting cultural norms and the evolution of the women’s movement, The Daughters of Erietown is an impressive first novel with a big heart."
Other than that, I've been a homebody. There was work being done on the house in Maine all winter, so we haven't been up there since last fall. We don't love the crowds in the summer, but we'll go up a few times and count down the days until fall, when we will again go up for 2 weeks and have the whole beach to ourselves. Hopefully I'll remember to stop in here a few times before then!