Saving the Dates

It‘s All Happening in Chesapeake Country 

By Meg Walburn Viviano 

I have a confession to make: I’m having some trouble with the calendar. When it comes to keeping track of important dates, some people scrawl in a little notebook, while others enter appointments into the calendar app on their smartphone. Makes sense, as most people keep a phone on their person at all times. 

Some especially organized people (I’m looking at you, moms of multiple kids) use a shared Google Calendar to schedule all family obligations, so nobody can make the excuse that they “didn’t know” about an event on the calendar. 

And of course, there are those go-with-the-flow folks who take their commitments one day at a time, relying on memory or on their spouse to keep things straight (not that I know anybody like that). 

I usually take a combination of the first two approaches: I always program appointments into my phone when I make them, and then on Sundays I write out the week’s schedule in a notebook. There are sections for work meetings and interviews, my kids’ school hours, doctors’ appointments and the like, my planned workouts for the week, and when to defrost the chicken for a meal I plan to cook.  

When the pandemic quickly and drastically canceled just about everything on the calendar, I had no use for my Sunday schedules. Suddenly there were no school hours for the kids, no “non-essential” appointments, and cooking dinner was a free-for-all of zany recipes we felt like trying. Work meetings often took place over 10 p.m. phone calls. And we had zilch on our weekend social schedule for months and months on end. The calendar was just a big empty space, full of unknowns. It was emblematic of pandemic life overall. 

Little by little, the kids returned to preschool and work schedules normalized (relatively speaking—after all, this is journalism!). We scheduled a few outdoor get-togethers with friends. And I found the need to keep a modest calendar again, though it still had plenty of empty weekend space. 

Now, with Maryland vaccination efforts speeding through Phase 2 and soon, on to Phase 3, restrictions have eased and plenty of new events are being announced. After such a long wait, it’s exciting and inspiring to hear of local happenings. A new restaurant with a front-row view of City Dock! A new cultural mural! A first-time festival celebrating Juneteenth, that pivotal moment in Black history. Even the theater world, which grasped for ways to be heard over the past year, is mounting a significant campaign for growth. And it’s all covered in this week’s issue of CBM Bay Weekly, along with about three dozen other events happening just this week alone (https://bayweekly.com/events/). 

And this is where I’m having some trouble with the calendar. I’ve forgotten to check my schedule carefully before committing to an event. I’ve forgotten how to pick, choose and prioritize invitations. I’m mixing up my weeks, and at times wondering, What month are we in, anyway? 

Yes, I’ll need to relearn how to plan a schedule, and remember to refer back to it. That’s a small price to pay, though, for the pleasure of having things to look forward to. Chesapeake Country is busy planning fresh, new happenings. Don’t forget to put them on your calendar.