Blue Laws

When I was little—growing up in Ohio’s Steel Valley—we had Sunday Blue Laws.

Blue Laws were a kind of lock-down every Sunday. Grocery stores were closed, as were shopping plazas and restaurants. In our neck of the woods, you might be able to find an open gas station—Lawson’s Convenience Stores were open—but nothing else. After church, people went home for Sunday dinner, ending the excitement of the day.

What did we do? Read books. Went for Sunday Drives. In the summer, Dad went fishing. Rode our bikes. Played games—Monopoly, Mouse Trap, Scrabble. Finished homework. Waited for The Wonderful World of Disney in the evening, right after the 6 o’clock national news with Walter Cronkite.

The Pandemic is not too far off the mark from Blue Laws, except seven days a week for almost a year. In some ways, the pace of the world has slowed down, even though there is an urgency that did not exist “back then.”

As we wait for vaccines, I am beginning to think about life after the Pandemic. And I wonder if we—some of us—might choose to retain some of these slower, calmer, smaller pleasures of life. Reading more books. Writing more letters. Cooking more and eating at home more. Hiking or taking strolls around neighborhoods. Will our cars stay in our garages while we wheel out our bikes or as we play cards or board games together?

We already have choices to make. When I envision the future, I look forward to keeping the pace slow and easy. Blues Laws. Sounds great to me.