A sign, perhaps, that the world is slowly coming back to normal

The Illinois Judges Foundation has announced that its annual golf outing will take place this year on Friday, July 30, at the Odyssey Golf Course, 19110 S. Ridgeland, in Tinley Park.

Here is yet another hopeful sign that, despite new viral variants, and rising case numbers, COVID-19's stranglehold on our lives, our purses, and even our tortured dreams may finally be lessening: With hopes fueled by increasing vaccination rates, normal events, like golf outing fundraisers, are being announced for normal times.

I can hear the hue and cry from those who want all judges dragged into the courthouses yesterday, and chained to their benches, without hope of release until all backlogs are dissipated. These unhappy souls would say that judges should not be setting up social events until their work is entirely caught up. What these folks miss (other than the income they would have no doubt enjoyed had the courts stayed open lo these past 13 months) is that the announcement of a live, in-person, social event, complete with beer carts (presumably), also means that normal, everyday events like regular work schedules, even jury trials, are also coming back above the horizon. Because normality will mean a return to work as well as play.

Of course, the IJF has not put out this Save the Date announcement as a beacon of hope for the pandemic-weary.

Actually, as you'll notice, they are looking for sponsors: Interested persons should contact either Judge Helaine Berger (ret.) or IJF Auxiliary Board Member Dawn Gonzalez to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.