I don’t know about you, but I feel that I have been operating in a “fog of war” relative to the coronavirus epidemic.

Time Slows Down: Everyday seems to run into every other day. What day of the week is it? Will this thing ever end? I feel like we are living in slow motion.

Things are changing fast: I have started seeing people wear masks for the first time in my memory. People line up at least 6 feet apart at the grocery store. My family gets together on the Internet, not in person.

Tragedy is happening: Though I don’t see it directly, I see it in the newspaper or the nightly news. Ambulances lined up at hospitals. Body counts being announced daily. Mass graves dug in New York to handle the dead.

The enemy is unseen: Unlike a military engagement where you at least know real bullets are flying, the virus meanders around among us striking as it will. It is like a plague from the Middle Ages.

Our knowledge is incomplete: Just exactly how this virus attacks and how to counter it, will ultimately be determined. The best experts in the world will dissect the current data we now have, and we will find ways to treat it and ultimately develop a vaccine. Hopefully, we can learn something to protect against future pandemics. One reason we don’t know more is that testing is still not generally available.

Getting back to work: Everyone wants to get back to work, to get back to normal. Hopefully, we can find ways to do this which are safe for everybody.

A Second Wave: There have been some warnings from Singapore and other places that we could be in for a “second wave” of the virus. Because testing has been so minimal and some people can carry the disease without showing symptoms, there is a chance that as we relax social distancing controls, we could have another virus attack.

A New Normal: There will probably be some changed behavior after all of this is over. We may see more masks, gloves and protective gear when we are around people.

But, to be honest, I am ready for all of this to end. I want to sit around the family table again. I want to go to ballgames, weddings and even funerals! I want to see golfers back at Augusta playing the Masters, and, in the fall, I want to see a jam-packed Bills stadium with Josh Allen in the pocket throwing for touchdowns. I am looking forward to sitting in a church pew again. I want to give friends a hug when something good happens. I can’t wait to sit in a barber chair and get a proper haircut. I want to again see the contrails of airliners over my house as they head in and out of New York.

When these things start to happen, then I will know that the “fog of war” is over. But we can’t start again until the virus begins to wane, so I must be patient-and my wife can tell you that I am not a patient man. All I can do now to help is keep my space, put on my mask and try to defeat this critter!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.