Have you ever noticed when someone paints a house, the actual painting doesn’t seem to take very long? What takes the most time is getting ready to paint. We call it “the story of the blue tape.” You know that blue tape that comes off really easily? When someone is going to paint a house—if they are going to do it right—they spend a lot of time with that blue tape. They put that tape everywhere. They cover up everything that could cause a problem down the road. Every window is wrapped in plastic and taped with that blue tape. I bet if it takes a week to paint a house, five of the seven days are spent on the prep work. That’s where the time is spent.

Welcome 2021. I say this with an abundance of caution after the year we had in 2020 and with hope that this year will be better for all of us. As we continue dealing with COVID-19, I’m hoping that the vaccines now available will bring the level of protection we need for our health. It would be great to return 100 percent to the normalcy we had before COVID-19 entered into the picture.