Never once in my life have I thought the word “ceremony” was difficult to spell. I was apparently wrong.

Each week on Wednesday night I skim through the fresh edition of the Sentinel-News to see if any errors jump out and bite me. Last week, I was bitten red and raw. Not only did I spell the word ceremony wrong twice in two separate Memorial Day photo cutlines – “ceremoney” on Page 1 and “cermony” on Page 3 – I also screwed up the counties represented by Iowa House District 3 in our candidate Q & A article. I wrote that the district encompasses “O’Brien and Clay counties as well as parts of Plymouth and Sioux counties.” Clay should have been switched out with Cherokee, and I swear I know that – I’ve gotten it right 100 times before and did so in my other election article last week.

But, as this profession repeatedly makes clear to me, I’m not perfect no matter how hard I try. Everything in this paper gets proofread at least four times by multiple sets of eyes before we send it to the printer, but some weeks just kill. So it goes.

You have to laugh at yourself, though. I was annoyed when I saw “cermony” on Page 3 and mad when I saw “Clay” instead of “Cherokee” on Page 1. When I came across “ceremoney,” I laughed loudly and quietly swore a blue streak.

I have nobody to blame but myself. Working from home has had me pushing things to the last minute a lot of the time, but honestly, last week wasn’t one of them. I guess the universe thought I needed my annual reminder that I should never get too comfortable.

• COVID quitter

I still can’t understand why there has been so much pointless outrage from Americans who’ve been told to wear a mask in public during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a scientifically-proven way to reduce infections, but apparently all the social media warriors have posted enough “clever” memes to make the whole thing political.

I will refrain from elaborating on how stupid it is to ignore science, but nonetheless, I do consider myself a “COVID quitter.” I didn’t want to, but with the daycare center reopening and Kaity (who is in charge of it) and the kids spending each day there, I’m not able to limit my exposure anymore. I’m now in direct contact with three people who are in direct contact with more than 20 people each day, and those people are in contact with who knows how many others, and so on and so forth. I’m at the mercy of fate.

I’m still deeply concerned, though. I’m an immune-compromised individual and other members of my family are as well. As much as I don’t like it, I’ve got to stay the course and avoid them. I don’t feel OK bringing myself around them while being cognizant of the fact that I don’t know whom I’ve been in inadvertent contact with.

I still wear my facemask in crowded grocery stores or other locations I deem necessary. I also wear it around my friends and family members with compromised immune systems. I should wear it every time I venture from home, but I don’t. You could argue that makes me the stupid one. After all, I can’t even spell the word “ceremony” correctly.

We’re all only human. Stay safe, but more importantly, keep the vulnerable people around you safe.

Nick Pedley is the news editor of The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News.