Another week, another Post from a Pandemic

Syl is learning a lot of valuable life lessons from this whole thing. One of the most important: There's always  money in the banana stand.

Friday was our 16th anniversary. Holy cow does the time fly. We didn't have a ton planned, for obvious reasons. The question of dinner was solved for us by kind friends who sent a steamer kit from Topsail Steamers, via Goldbelly.com. Putting it together was easy and a lot of fun, and the output was delicious

Syl took a sip of champagne, pronounced it intolerable, and dumped it out. Good deal!

Another beautiful day Saturday... and it felt like at least in Massachusetts, the whole social distancing thing started to crack. First, my friend and colleague, Liz, asked if she could bring her four year old, Finley, over to use the trampoline - their first time out of the house!

Jessie, their lab (who is actually related to Bruschi!) came and got more than she bargained for from our two bullies.

Ultimately, she gave up.

Back on the "cracking," suddenly Megumi, who has been strictly locked down since day one, was available to take a walk with Syl... which turned into playing outside in the yard...

... which turned into staying for s'mores.

I'd like to report they were strict about maintaining a six foot buffer at all times, but they were somewhat less than strict (although they were better than I expected).

I also took a 35 mile bike ride, and saw evidence all over of people bending the informal rules. Much more traffic, groups gathered in parks and in yards, informal "graduation" gatherings of high schoolers who now know they won't get the real thing...  Here's hoping that this thing really is waning, because at least in these parts, people are definitely close to done with the lock down.

For our part, we combined our two most faithful distanced backyard guests, with the Holsts meeting the O'Learys for the first time. It was a nice evening.

The mutts have gotten a hike every morning with Melissa, at sunrise, and then usually a family walk in the afternoon. The weekend romps with friends' dogs have them WIPED.

This is the usual arrangement on the couch in the evening. They love their mom... and they don't give her any space.

Of course come morning, they are raring to go again. The MOANING!

Looking forward to posting some Scenes from the Post-Pandemic!

...But for now, more scenes from a pandemic.

First off, Syl continues to Doodle. I feel like she's constantly expanding her repertoire. I love this minimalist cartoon.

This was her submission for the Sprinklr coloring book that some of my younger colleagues put together for the children of employees stuck at home. The splash at the girl's feet is the Sprinklr logo. Clever.

This one is a little dark. It is another of those "draw it in your own style" things she picked up on Pinterest. This one took her most of the day. There is a lot of detail in there that she worked really hard on.

Meanwhile, we continue to try and get outside every day. The variety in the weather day to day has been remarkable, even for New England.

The dogs, for their part, are reveling in our constant presence.

This may be my favorite shot of the quarantine.

Look at the FEET.

There are a lot of bad COVID haircuts out there. Sophie got one of them.

We continue to host our distanced backyard drinks. The dogs like those too.

This was taken the day after snow covered the ground!

Bruschi is even trying yoga...

At least some folks are happy with this snow

Abominable Snowman, 2.0

Dan, Syl and I were creeped out this winter by this giant Abominable Snowman blow-up guy in our neighborhood, because (1) he was never fully inflated, giving him a wonky, sketchy look (trust me), (2) he was never tied down properly, so he always looked like he was about to fly away and was none too happy about it, and (3) they left him up waaaay past Christmas, and there was something particularly irksome about seeing a lopsided, deflated Abominable Snowman in March. 

Well, he’s back, plus mask. 

Dan and I appreciate the effort, while Syl thinks he looks even more disturbing. 

Thoughts?

An Easter Weekend to Remember

 First thing first: When ordering staples on Amazon, it is important to pay attention to QUANTITY. I was so excited to see white flour, which has been impossible to find anywhere near here for weeks, that I just put it in my cart. Anyone need flour? 55 pounds ought to last us a bit.

I finally broke down and joined the mask brigade for yesterday's trip to the market. Thanks for sending these, Grandma Lynne! I think it works for me.

Melissa ordered these chairs from LL Bean. Our fire pit set up is complete.

Which is good, because the O'Learys seem to have settled in to a weekly cadence of distanced backyard beverages on Saturday afternoon.

This time, we added Easter s'mores to the mix.

What makes a s'more an Easter s'more? Why, a Peep, of course.

"The sugar caramelizes! Just like créme brulé! Eat your heart out, French.

Syl appreciated waking up to our traditional basket and egg hunt. There are some things even a pandemic shouldn't get in the way of.

We even got gussied up (a little), even though we--like EVERYONE ELSE--had no place to go.

Easter triple braid, courtesy: Dad.

Family Easter portrait.

And a version to make sure we don't forget the peculiarities of this year.

Melissa and Syl colored some eggs.

Easter also happens this year to be Syl's best bud, Megumi's, birthday. She was supposed to have a Les Miserables themed party, but that obviously wasn't happening. So her folks did what is apparently becoming a trend, nationwide: they arranged for her friends to drive by and wish her a happy birthday from a distance. Syl wanted to do something special, so she drew a portrait of her pal. I think she nailed it!

Syl also wanted to do something on theme. Les Mis...French Revolution... beheadings... "Dad! Can I throw a severed head at her!?" Hey, these are strange times (and this kid is DEFINITELY my daughter). We just happened to have an extra severed head in the basement. Imagine the luck!

The head was a BIG hit, obviously.

Back at home, our new friends and most faithful Corona visitors, the Holsts, came by for the fourth Sunday in a row. Again, there were s'mores.

Little Josie is about as comfortable with dogs as any tyke her age could possibly be. Our dogs LOVE her (and they don't have to stay six feet away).

Nice family. We're glad of their weekly company. If we get a rainy weekend before this is over, it is going to be a bummer!

Happy Easter to all! Here's to a light at the end of this peculiar tunnel.