It’s not what you think. Eric and I didn’t join a nudist colony and I didn’t streak through the forest in my birthday suit (too many bugs). But we DID spend a relaxing week in Birmingham, where we stripped away our busy lives and communed with nature.
Throughout all the COVID mess, I’ve been following travel bloggers and Instagrammers for their thoughts on the pandemic. And there’s one thing I’ve noticed that’s not mentioned: bathrooms. National attention was paid to the TP shortage but why is no one talking about how the pandemic affected access to bathrooms?!? Case in point: on a trip to Upper Peninsula Michigan in 2020, we were having trouble finding a roadside bathroom that had been maintained in the last century. Maybe that’s normal even during non-COVID time, but I’m guessing it was more likely the result of reduced staffing. Either way, I got desperate somewhere along Hwy 41. I thought I’d done well with my lightning speed and the long sleeve door opener method, but when I got in the car the stench had followed me. And I totally had a Seinfeld moment when in panic mode I told Eric “the stink is on me, it’s on me Jerry!!!”
“It’s a moment that I’m after, a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment.” ~ Andrew Wyeth
I’ve been waiting for a chance to use this quote and I’m woefully late in writing about our Michigan trip back in September. Considering that I’m writing this in the midst of a rare snow/ice storm in southern Louisiana, it seems that moment has arrived.
