Every morning after my dog wakes me up with a kiss and a cuddle, I swing my feet out of bed, sit up and proceed to stretch. Reaching for the sun, my eyes close, my mouth opens with a yawn, and I slowly let my arms fall to my sides as I greet the morning.

You’ve felt that feeling after a great nap or a successful night of sleep, haven’t you? It always feels great to start, but every once and a while, something pulls, or you notice a kink or you realize you don’t feel all that well for some reason.

Right now, our country and the world are about to start a great big stretch as we emerge from weeks and months of stay-at-home orders.

COVID-19 continues to infect, spread, and kill people. The more we learn about it, the more we learn what we didn’t know.

As we open our doors and begin to interact face-to-face with humans, it will continue to spread. Numbers will go up, and more people will die. Simple math and a bit of reading will show you that.

I know we have to start things back up. I’m all for it as long as we do it smartly and cautiously.

There will be outbreaks, hotspots, and more than one stupidly loud person who dies from this horrible virus.

I’m not a scientist or an economist, but I know that businesses need to open back up, people need to work, and we need to do it all in as safe of a manner as we can.

Wearing masks is going to be commonplace for some time to come. We won’t be able to gather like we crave to be able to. Handshakes with strangers are a thing of the past. Hugs will be even more special than they already are.

I look at so many industries that have been shattered from this and are never going to be the same again. I’ve been thinking a lot about those that are close to me and might share some thoughts later about them.

There are scary and strange days ahead. The unknown is waiting outside our doors, and we’ll never know what happens until we start venturing out.

I’d love nothing better than a vaccine to be found, well planned out re-openings to occur around the country, and the new world roll on forward. But, with so many of those in power continually ignoring the well being of the people they are supposed to serve, I don’t believe that is going to happen.

We need to be careful. We need to be smart. But, we do need to emerge because we are not meant to live behind closed doors.

Stay safe out there. Stay informed. Wear a mask to protect others. Wash your hands!