It's Thanksgiving... but it's 2020.

I miss my daughters! Thanks to the pandemic, we did not have visitors for Thanksgiving. I did not want them traveling on the busiest time of the year for travel. Restaurants and restrooms are not safe when crowded. Health experts pleaded with the public to avoid holiday gatherings, but many people cannot bear to give up their most meaningful traditions. 

Some neighbors have a nice turkey sign on their fence. 

I have some more signs to show you, but first here are some colorful flags I saw in Strasburg. 

Signs, Signs. Bin 5 is the Amazon Outlet Store that opened on Saturday in Winchester. Apparently there was a very long line to get in. I'm not going to try it until the excitement wears down. I don't need anything anyway.

 

Borden's Hardware wants us to know: "We have everything you need to finish your husbands projects." 

It looks like a local farmer has started decorating for Christmas. The star should look good reflected in the duck pond. I don't know what to say about his sign!

Meanwhile, some restaurants are still serving carry-out only. After all, it is not easy trying to enforce social distancing, and it takes extra staff to keep everything sanitized. Plus the safety of staff is a real concern. A number of places have had to close temporarily after someone got sick and others who worked with them had to quarantine.  This is happening with schools too. They open; they close! We are living in a difficult time.

Thankful Thursday. I am grateful that my family is healthy. I feel fortunate that I have lived in a time of relative peace and opportunity. 

I was born after World War II ended. I grew up and raised my children long before Covid-19 disrupted our daily lives. I have hope that things will be back to "normal" by spring. Then we can begin to recover from the disadvantages wrought by the pandemic, and start to tackle our big problems of inequality and environmental neglect. "If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise."