COVID-19 has changed summer. This was the first July 4th in twenty-two years that I did not play patriotic music with the Northwinds Concert Band. Over the years the band experienced oppressive heat, wind and drizzle, but the event was never cancelled and the band always played on.

With no concert to play my family of three retreated to the family lake house. We enjoyed all of our favorite summer activities but things were different. A majority of people at the lake are not wearing masks or practicing social distancing. As a result we don’t go shopping or out to eat, opting to cook all of our meals at home and using grocery pick up to shop.

Golf– The game of golf is already a socially distanced sport so you may be asking, “What could possibly be done to make the game safer?” When my husband and father in-law went golfing at the lake they reported that The Club at Porto Cima had some extra precautions in place to make sure all of their golfers were safe. Rakes by the sand traps had been taken away, foam was placed in every cup to elevate the ball so there was no need to touch the flag at each hole, water coolers (normally found throughout the course) had been taken away and golf carts were extensively wiped down after each use.

Swimming– We went swimming at the neighborhood pool in the woods. Choosing to swim late in the day proved to be a good decision as we always had the pool to ourselves! New social distancing signs had been added and someone came to clean the bathrooms while we were there (something we never saw in past summers). The pool at the yacht club was the opposite. It was crowded, there were no social distancing signs and the servers and bartenders were not wearing masks.

Boating– We enjoyed several boat rides and were easily able to social distance at the Lake of the Ozarks with 54,000 acres of lake and 1,150 miles of shoreline. Over the years we have become friends with the owner of Bikini Pier, a boat rental business. Mike shared that he was experiencing stellar business due to COVID-19. He is 80% ahead for the year on rentals and has sold 24,000 more gallons of fuel compared to this time last year! Most of his customers were new and many were from IL and IA.

I hope you and your family have time to get away this summer. After months of being confined at home the simple change of scenery was welcomed. Although I missed playing “Stars and Stripes” with the band, we had a fabulous July 4th! We returned home with sun kissed cheeks, adventures to share and long lasting memories. This is summer.