I don’t feel like saying all that much about masks, or ventilators, or viruses. There’s enough of that about. Also, there are other things more worthy of our time. For example, it’s probably worth taking some time right now to work out any changes you might want to make once things return to normal. This may prove to be a good opportunity to redefine “normal” altogether. No, don’t get me started. While I have many thoughts about all of this, it’s not what’s got me thinking this morning.

Two things: I broke a rib a few weeks back and it’s been feeling better, to the point that I went for a paddle on the SUP this morning. A 5-minute paddle, as it turned out. Every right-side stroke sent a shot of hot pain up my side, and the only reason it took up five minutes is because I had the current against me on the return. Not ready yet.

But I will be. And that brings me to the second item: I’m planning trips for when this is all over. When it’s time to go, I want to be ready. Hoping to get up into the Olympics this summer, backpacking and climbing. Also looking at biking the Olympic Discovery Trail. (I’ve done some of it, like the old Spruce Railway section on the north side of Lake Crescent, but I’d like to connect all those dots in one trip.) I have another idea for a boat made of garbage and there’s a canoe/climbing trip that has been simmering on one of the back burners for about 20 years… maybe this is finally the year?

So what are you planning? Where do you want to go when the whole thing is done? I really want to hear it. So do other people. We are storytellers by nature and we get our tales not only from experience, but from listening to the experiences of others. Listening to the way that others plan their adventures is a powerful motivation for starting our own.