Pandemic a constant during vacation

Today — Aug. 5 — I was supposed to be at the Jaffrey Church Fair.

But COVID-19 was having none of that.

As it has for so many other events, the virus canceled it from the calendar.

While I try to get a handle on this thing called retirement, the plan was to start with a vacation and stretch it. The theory was that if I began to relax away from a 45-year-plus work life during vacation, then before I knew it I’d be truly retired.

That meant, first, a trek up to Connie’s family’s cabin in southern New Hampshire.

And that meant, of course, braving this new pandemic world of ours.

The plan was to mitigate risks, though we couldn’t eliminate them all.

We’ve been masked and social distancing for months now. Our daughters and their husbands have all been working from home. Our grandchildren have been away from school and daycare.

And after I fill up the tank on my car, I always use a bit of hand sanitizer.

So, we’re not taking this lightly.

We are, after all, in the target demographic. No existing health problems, but we’re in our 70s.

Just the same, we decided to make the trip, even though the landscape would be different thanks to COVID-19.

We “put our toe in the water” by having a couple of lunches inside local restaurants to check our their procedures and get a feel for our comfort level.

We stopped by Pete’s in Albany for pulled pork street tacos one Saturday, and a couple of weeks later had some amazing quesadilla at Agave Azul in Portland. In both instances, the staff was taking precautions, though some of the customers didn’t seem to have gotten the message.

Then it was a question of figuring out where to stay along the way.

It’s a two-day trip up to the cabin.

Last year, we stopped at a renovated historic hotel in Seneca Falls, New York, called The Gould, named after the pump company. We loved the place.

They were in about their second week of re-opening when we made the trip, and it was clear New York State — based upon its tough experience with the virus — was taking things seriously. Masks, sanitizer that smelled like isopropyl alcohol, plenty of distancing. The hotel’s restaurant and bar had not yet reopened. The bar may not be open even now.

But there was a place in town within walking distance where we could get dinner — again with all CDC precautions observed.

A day later and we were at the cabin and were widening our circle, as the saying goes these days.

Connie’s sister and our niece were there. They’ve been observing the lockdown strictly, as had our offspring.

Even then we were cautious.

When several family members gathered for cocktails on the private beach by the lake, we sat in lawn chairs in a circle with a six-foot radius.

It was then that I learned about the Jaffrey Church Fair.

The fair — a picture-perfect New England event — is always held on the first Wednesday in August.

It’s a low-key affair: Silent auction, tag sale, games for the kids, house plants for sale and rides in a vintage Model T.

And Connie and I love it.

Especially in the final 20 minutes or so when some of the items for sale are marked down to half price.

But as we sat on the beach with a glass of wine, we learned from Connie’s brother Geoffrey that the fair had been canceled.

It should have come as no surprise. This is the year of cancellations.

Just the same, I’d checked the church’s website before we left and the fair was still listed on the calendar.

Oops, said Connie’s brother.

He’s in charge of the website and didn’t get the news out soon enough.

“So we made this whole trip for nothing?” I kidded him.

The good news is that I didn’t buy anything silly in that last 20 minutes of half-price sale.