Friends of ours perform in the Minnesota Dance Theater's Nutcracker Fantasy. We went to see them dance.

Really it's the kids that perform. Weird line to draw, since we've known them since birth, as we've known their parents as long as they've known each other, and longer in one case. The kids dance, is the point.

We grabbed masks and raced downtown to the performance, as the afternoon had slipped away from us. We showed our proof of vaccinations and made our ways to our seats at the front of the balcony. Everyone settled in for some delightful music and dancing. Everyone kept their eyes out for our friends as they might make their way on stage. The little little got a bit restless, and sometimes annoyed with having to be still and quiet.

At intermission we made our way through the restroom and queued for some water and snacks. After a few minutes of leg-stretching, we took our seats for the conclusion. We changed seat order a bit, separating the littles and put the squirmy one between mom and dad. He again bounced between engaged and enraged. At one point, while engaged, the dancers did a hand-spin move he likes to try. He shouted out "hey! That's my move!" Thankfully the other parents in our section were not put out by the crowd participation, some even chuckling at the thought.

We met with our dancing friends' mom after, while waiting for the dancers to recover and change into street clothes. We chatted a bit, as we're not getting together as often as before the pandemic. She went to get her dancers, and we made our way toward home, a fun night at the ballet behind us.

I feel a little better that everyone wore masks, and generally the right way. Of course, none of us are wearing truly medical-grade PPE, and most of our masks aren't making great seals around our faces. Certainly not by the end of a long afternoon of performances. The State Theater, where this happened, is a bit old, and the seats aren't generous, and there was no space between parties. The closest to separation after reaching the theater was that big people tended to choose to put little people between them instead of lean against each other. There isn't room to be separated while queuing for the restroom, or waiting for snack service, or moving between those areas and the seats.

I'm optimistic that the right moves were made, that people behaved responsibly with their health and the welfare of others. But, as we considered not taking the little little (he was a bit disruptive before, and proved to be quieter but still disruptive throughout), the wife pointed out that this wasn't a "skip at the last minute" kind of event, given the friends involvement and cost of tickets. I wonder how many people might have thought "this nagging cough and sore throat isn't enough to worry about skipping" for the same reason. I have (and always do in the early winter) persistent congestion and related ails because of postnasal drip. I didn't think to stay home for the sanity of others, but instead chose cough suppressant lozenges to soothe my ails. I know I'm not infected with COVID, at least as recently as last week's test. We tested this morning, too, but won't get results until later. But what if I'm wrong and carried this to others. What if others did the same?

Crowds have started to concern me, and that concerns me even more. I'm fine being a little bit away from people, and was even before the pandemic. I'm not so fine that I'm not so fine being closer to people, just because that's how crowds work. We avoid restaurants that aren't all spread out, or that have too many people in them. We don't queue at stores, and race through, sometimes without getting everything we need. I'm getting bothered that this bothers me. Hopefully it's winter blues stuff, and not me cracking under the pressure.

The show was awesome. We had pizza after. The kids were glad.

Everyone is healthy.