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| The weekend when we all had enough and went back outside | The weekend when we all had enough and went back outside |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| The light wind picked up that familiar salty-muddy smell of the brackish Chesapeake Bay, and Bruce Pitcher felt, for the first time in weeks, like himself again. | |
| “That’s what we do — we fish,” he said, looping the bowline through his Bayliner’s starboard cleat as he was about to launch last Thursday, the first time in weeks. “That’s part of being a Marylander.” | “That’s what we do — we fish,” he said, looping the bowline through his Bayliner’s starboard cleat as he was about to launch last Thursday, the first time in weeks. “That’s part of being a Marylander.” |
| This was the weekend across America where folks busted out all over the place trying to be themselves again, trying to shake the Netflix-and-rot, honey-do stupor that’s been their coronavirus ferment. | This was the weekend across America where folks busted out all over the place trying to be themselves again, trying to shake the Netflix-and-rot, honey-do stupor that’s been their coronavirus ferment. |
| Mobile phone data analyzed by the The Washington Post showed most Americans are still at home, but the end of April was the first time folks began moving again. | Mobile phone data analyzed by the The Washington Post showed most Americans are still at home, but the end of April was the first time folks began moving again. |
| You could feel the movement over Mother’s Day weekend, when parks were buzzing and beaches from California to Maryland had people strolling, swimming and surfing. | You could feel the movement over Mother’s Day weekend, when parks were buzzing and beaches from California to Maryland had people strolling, swimming and surfing. |
| And, after eight weeks of solitude, our household finally shared an outdoor picnic with another family on separate tables, six feet apart. We let the boys throw a football to each other. | And, after eight weeks of solitude, our household finally shared an outdoor picnic with another family on separate tables, six feet apart. We let the boys throw a football to each other. |
| The Americans outside this weekend weren’t the guns and flags and rebellion folks, not the politically motivated anti-maskers who’ve been variously called the Branch Covidians, the Flu Klux Klan or Vanilla ISIS on social media. | The Americans outside this weekend weren’t the guns and flags and rebellion folks, not the politically motivated anti-maskers who’ve been variously called the Branch Covidians, the Flu Klux Klan or Vanilla ISIS on social media. |
| Protests spread, fueled by economic woes and Internet subcultures | Protests spread, fueled by economic woes and Internet subcultures |
| Instead, they were the folks who understand the severity of this pandemic, who wear the masks and stay six feet apart and sanitize, but who are also missing that little fire inside that keeps us going, that makes us unique, that gives us our humanity. That makes it okay to go back to the grind Monday morning. | Instead, they were the folks who understand the severity of this pandemic, who wear the masks and stay six feet apart and sanitize, but who are also missing that little fire inside that keeps us going, that makes us unique, that gives us our humanity. That makes it okay to go back to the grind Monday morning. |
| As governors struggle with opening nail salons, barber shops, gyms and tanning beds (Texas) or declare victory over covid-19 even as most of their infection rates are climbing (Arkansas and Iowa), Maryland’s Gov. Larry Hogan (R) took a cautious baby step toward normalcy just when pandemic-weary folks needed it most. | As governors struggle with opening nail salons, barber shops, gyms and tanning beds (Texas) or declare victory over covid-19 even as most of their infection rates are climbing (Arkansas and Iowa), Maryland’s Gov. Larry Hogan (R) took a cautious baby step toward normalcy just when pandemic-weary folks needed it most. |
| “The whole thing has been such a dramatic experience,” said Pitcher, an auto mechanic in Anne Arundel County who was laid off when business in his shop slowed down. | “The whole thing has been such a dramatic experience,” said Pitcher, an auto mechanic in Anne Arundel County who was laid off when business in his shop slowed down. |
| It was like edging open that little pressure-release valve on the Instant Pot, letting a little steam escape. And it was perfect. | It was like edging open that little pressure-release valve on the Instant Pot, letting a little steam escape. And it was perfect. |
| Hogan opened Maryland to golfing and tennis, outdoor fitness instruction, recreational fishing and hunting, recreational boating, and horseback riding. These activities are outdoors and relatively safe; nevertheless, he urged folks to keep staying apart, to keep sanitizing. | Hogan opened Maryland to golfing and tennis, outdoor fitness instruction, recreational fishing and hunting, recreational boating, and horseback riding. These activities are outdoors and relatively safe; nevertheless, he urged folks to keep staying apart, to keep sanitizing. |
| On beaches, people swerved wide as they walked the shores. Golfers sanitized their carts. Fishermen tromping into wetlands wore surgical masks. | On beaches, people swerved wide as they walked the shores. Golfers sanitized their carts. Fishermen tromping into wetlands wore surgical masks. |
| Hogan begins to reopen Maryland | Hogan begins to reopen Maryland |
| When I visited some Maryland fishing spots at dawn last Thursday, the day they reopened, it wasn’t easy to find folks who have been obeying all the rules. | When I visited some Maryland fishing spots at dawn last Thursday, the day they reopened, it wasn’t easy to find folks who have been obeying all the rules. |
| “Why do you want to know?” asked a retiree with waders up to his chest and a surgical mask up to his eyes, when I asked him if it was his first day fishing this spring. | “Why do you want to know?” asked a retiree with waders up to his chest and a surgical mask up to his eyes, when I asked him if it was his first day fishing this spring. |
| It wasn’t hard to convince him that a woman with a notepad and checkerboard Vans wasn’t a fish and game warden. | It wasn’t hard to convince him that a woman with a notepad and checkerboard Vans wasn’t a fish and game warden. |
| “Nah, I’ve been fishing all along,” he told me. “But I ain’t telling you my name.” | “Nah, I’ve been fishing all along,” he told me. “But I ain’t telling you my name.” |
| There were the rule-breakers, sure. | There were the rule-breakers, sure. |
| In Colorado, the rush to get out went from cautious to illegal when a cafe opened for service and packed the customers in, despite ongoing restrictions. I saw photos from my hometown where a sidewalk cafe was packed with diners, the distancing feeble. | In Colorado, the rush to get out went from cautious to illegal when a cafe opened for service and packed the customers in, despite ongoing restrictions. I saw photos from my hometown where a sidewalk cafe was packed with diners, the distancing feeble. |
| This rule-breaking has been happening all over. But this was one of the first weekends where even the cautious, the rule-followers, carefully came outside. | This rule-breaking has been happening all over. But this was one of the first weekends where even the cautious, the rule-followers, carefully came outside. |
| That’s where I found Pitcher at Sandy Point State Park. He was one of those who had stayed put for weeks. With boat ramps closed, he was high and dry. Until Thursday. | That’s where I found Pitcher at Sandy Point State Park. He was one of those who had stayed put for weeks. With boat ramps closed, he was high and dry. Until Thursday. |
| He hitched his boat trailer to his pickup within an hour of the state reopening for fishing and boating at 7 a.m. And he scooped up his son and nephew to head out for some rockfish. | He hitched his boat trailer to his pickup within an hour of the state reopening for fishing and boating at 7 a.m. And he scooped up his son and nephew to head out for some rockfish. |
| Pitcher’s Calvert County family were watermen, working off Broomes Island before daylight every day, making a living catching blues and sea trout, grouper and white perch. He broke that tradition going into a land-based trade, his talent with engines taking him to a county further north and to a different life. And that life gave him two things — a profession on land, and a passion on the water. | Pitcher’s Calvert County family were watermen, working off Broomes Island before daylight every day, making a living catching blues and sea trout, grouper and white perch. He broke that tradition going into a land-based trade, his talent with engines taking him to a county further north and to a different life. And that life gave him two things — a profession on land, and a passion on the water. |
| The coronavirus took both of those things away from men like Pitcher. | The coronavirus took both of those things away from men like Pitcher. |
| “I try to follow the rules. I haven’t been out on the water at all,” he explained, after backing the trailer down the ramp with no need for the readjustments or redos that most recreational boaters (me) are used to. He was like a Chesapeake version of macho and capable Parks and Recreation boss Ron Swanson, complete with mustache. | “I try to follow the rules. I haven’t been out on the water at all,” he explained, after backing the trailer down the ramp with no need for the readjustments or redos that most recreational boaters (me) are used to. He was like a Chesapeake version of macho and capable Parks and Recreation boss Ron Swanson, complete with mustache. |
| “Get those lines,” he told the boys, 10-year-old Joshua Davis, his nephew, and his 11-year-old son, Bryce Pitcher. | “Get those lines,” he told the boys, 10-year-old Joshua Davis, his nephew, and his 11-year-old son, Bryce Pitcher. |
| Even Bryce was getting a little sick of isolation and Fortnite. Yup, it’s so bad, a kid didn’t grumble a bit when dad got him out of bed at daybreak to go fishing. | Even Bryce was getting a little sick of isolation and Fortnite. Yup, it’s so bad, a kid didn’t grumble a bit when dad got him out of bed at daybreak to go fishing. |
| Bryce said he was excited to get out on the water and was ready to spend a day away from the addictive video game. | Bryce said he was excited to get out on the water and was ready to spend a day away from the addictive video game. |
| “Fried,” Bryce said. That’s how he likes his fish. And he can’t wait to haul them in again. | “Fried,” Bryce said. That’s how he likes his fish. And he can’t wait to haul them in again. |
| He even told me — get ready for this — that he misses school. | He even told me — get ready for this — that he misses school. |
| But he’ll be happy fishing with dad for now. | But he’ll be happy fishing with dad for now. |
| Twitter: @petulad | Twitter: @petulad |
| Read more Petula Dvorak: | Read more Petula Dvorak: |
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