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I noticed large chain stores starting to stock Halloween candy, costumes, and decorations. \u00a0I considered that the inevitable seasonal switch in my wine of choice, from white to red, was probably not far behind.<\/p>\nI noticed large chain stores starting to stock Halloween candy, costumes, and decorations. \u00a0I considered that the inevitable seasonal switch in my wine of choice, from white to red, was probably not far behind.<\/p>\n
While I know retailers have to plan ahead and devote a lot of attention to drumming up excitement over a future event, a reason for people to spend money, I looked at my calendar for events to get excited about for personal reasons.<\/p>\n
I thought about plans I made with a friend just after Memorial Day. After acknowledging that we hadn\u2019t done much together for months, we decided to attend a concert at a smallish venue, the kind of show I like; featuring good musicianship, decent acoustics, and a guaranteed seat. (Paying over seventy bucks to stand for two hours doesn\u2019t work for me.)<\/p>\n
I realized that I had almost forgotten about the event. Tickets are rarely printed anymore. It wasn\u2019t until I had to book an appointment and needed to make sure there was no schedule conflicts that I remembered I had something to look forward to.<\/p>\n
Days have blurred together during COVID. For a long time, I didn\u2019t see anyone except my dog and my mail carrier. I have enjoyed some music and gatherings over the summer, but I am cautious about the possibility of future lockdowns.<\/p>\n
I considered that I did not just miss choices in entertainment.<\/p>\n
I missed ANTICIPATION \u00a0itself.<\/p>\n
These days, events are scheduled with the understanding that they might be called off or could be moved to a different venue or may come to me \u201cvirtually\u201d rather than be held \u201cin person.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, on top of that, \u00a0I missed the feeling of anticipation that used to part of the concert experience because we live in a paperless world.<\/p>\n
Maybe I should schedule countdown notices to ping me on the phone or computer\u2026\u201dOnly 13 days to \u2026\u2026 (fill in the blank). Only 12 days to\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
While I recognize the value of creating proof of purchase and seating details as a permanent record that can\u2019t be lost, I\u2019m afraid the saying is true. \u201cOut of sight. Out of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
I feel a sense of loss. Not for the actual thing, entrance into the event, but for an important part of the experience. Looking forward to it.<\/p>\n
I remember, as a teenager, clipping tickets for a much anticipated concert to my dresser mirror. Paying to go represented many hours waitressing or work at another minimum wage job or saving a portion of allowance money for weeks by walking to school instead of taking the bus.<\/p>\n
More recently I remember buying baseball tickets for several Cubs games directly from the box office almost as soon as single game seats were available. I placed them on my dresser, between a jewelry box and small piece of hand-thrown pottery.<\/p>\n
Baseball or concert tickets, airline itineraries for highly anticipated trips\u2026I\u2019d keep these kind of things in plain view. I’d see them every day, and I connected with my love of music or baseball or travel or just relish the thought of treating myself.<\/span><\/p>\n Just this week, I decided to print the ticket for this week\u2019s concert at Space. I placed it in a very visible spot in my dining room.<\/p>\n I smiled every time I walked through my kitchen and dining room to get to my backdoor.<\/p>\n I knew it represented a special experience; a musician\u2019s craft and the opportunity to hang with others who valued a live experience.<\/p>\n Being reminded of things to look forward to is no small thing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I noticed large chain stores starting to stock Halloween candy, costumes, and decorations. \u00a0I considered…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[633,637,54,638,635,636,634],"class_list":["post-7134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-halloween-candy","tag-in-person","tag-no-small-thing","tag-paperless","tag-space","tag-virtually","tag-white-to-red","grateful-dozen-musings-imaginings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n