Junior high school can hold a lot of unforgettable experiences. Limping down the hallway for weeks on end is not the one I would have chosen.

With one bad long jump in gym, I had cracked the growth plates in both feet. I had also opened the door to some unexpected advantages for small, nerdy me. Gym class could now be spent with a book instead of a basketball. Teachers had to let me leave class early, so I could get a head start on reaching my next class.

None of which made up for the fact that life was moving at the speed of an arthritic tortoise. And so was I. Any minor improvement was something to be celebrated, even if dancing in the streets was out of the question.

That’s something I think we can all appreciate right now. In a carefully-paced COVID-19 world, any bit of “normal” that can safely return is welcome, right?

Which is why I’m really glad to say that the meter readers are on their way.

Some of you may remember that when the stay-at-home orders went into place in March, we stopped sending our meter readers to gated backyards (about 4 percent of our customers) and estimated their bills instead. More people and pets were likely to be in the yard, so it made sense to stay clear.

But now, as some of the COVID restrictions ease, we’re sending them back. They’ll soon start hitting the yards again – with masks and all the proper safety precautions in place, of course – so that they can get a precise read. If your estimate was higher than your actual usage, you’ll even get a credit to your account.

It’s a small piece of normal. But it’s one more way we can keep giving you the service you expect during times that none of us expected.

Slowly, carefully, we’re taking one more step.

And we don’t even need a hall pass to do it.