Dear Young Padawan,
Much has changed since the last post. Most of the World is on lockdown now, trying to control the spread of COVID-19, the novel Coronavirus. As of today, April 19th 2020, according to the CDC website, more than 35,000 people have died in the US alone. That number is still rising, but not as quickly as it has been. It looks like Seattle’s peak was reached in early April after one month sheltering in place in our houses and practicing social distancing.
It is still unclear WHEN we may be able to get back to normal. The Seattle Times stated yesterday that May 11th might be a first step in being back to normal, thought our Toddler-in-Chief has continued to fan the flames of misinformation and actually incite protests to the scientifically-based stay-at-home recommendations. School has already been cancelle through June and many of your summer camps have been called off. There’s so many people out of work and businesses closed, it doesn’t look like there will be a normal to get back to, unfortunately. There have been more jobs lost in the last six weeks than all the jobs created in the last twelve years since the 2008 financial collapse!
Our local Safeway now has One-Way aisles
We take lots of walks throughout the day – the colors now are beautiful.
You and Alexandra have done a lot of YouTube drawing tutorials.
When we go out now, we wear masks and keep our distance from others. Here’s Mommy waiting to pick up our Greek dinner order at Yannis.
This is what used to be a busy intersection at 8am on a Monday – now there was no car in either direction.
I’m on the last day of my Spring Break 2020, sadly, and I’m feeling the Sunday Blues in a bad way. Considering the circumstances, it was a fun spring break. I got a LOT of quality time playing with you….roughhousing, playing Jedi, dressing up as pirates, jumping on Julie and Erick’s trampoline, going on bike rides, or playing “puppy in a box” which you’ve made me play for over three years now. My 48th birthday was Friday and you had a whole list of events planned for me, starting with a breakfast picnic at Kirke park.
At the end of week one of our quarantine, you had a breakdown…..”I miss my teachers, I miss my friends, i miss doing fun stuff.” You’ve had to spend ALL your time with us, but you have done pretty well since. There’s not a lot of good news at all anywhere except for some pocket glimpses of Some Good News here and there from inspiring and creative people.
The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:
Here is the 2019 Year in 1 second clips.
and here is January – March 2019
What you’re doing these days:
Since our extended home stay, we’ve watched Star Wars several of the movies. You’ve enjoyed them, which warms my heart, though you ask questions incessantly throughout the viewing. I suppose that is good that you’re inquisitive and curious, but it is also being impatient and controlling, which is tedious. At this final scene in Episode iV, A New Hope, as Han and Luke are about to walk down the aisle after blowing up the original death star, you asked, “Dad, Is Luke getting married?”
A recording
Here’s you reading with Gaga in February 2020….you the emerging reader! and motivated by cookies 🙂
In my life these days:
I’m wearing readers now all the time. It started this summer and now that I’m in front of a Zoom computer most weekdays, there’s a set always in my pocket.
Letter from the Wild Mountain Cafe owner.
I was really looking forward to joining a Grand Master Ultimate Frisbee team in Sardinia in June to play in a world tournament, but it will not be happening? Lots of things are up in the air and most of the other events are called off.
In the last post, I summarized our Africa trip last summer. One of the highlights was this lion cubs kill of a Thompson gazelle in the Sarengeti. Check it out.
In the news:
I’m going to skip this section today 🙂
A summary of a book or podcast I liked:
I’ve been able to up my book and podcast digestion lately…..I just finished Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and There There by Tommy Orange. Neither books help me be proud of my whiteness, but I heard about them and wanted to explore them. Homegoing was a book that one of the English teachers at my school wants to study in class.
Just three days ago, you started and finished the audio version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets…..at least an 8 hour read! You were captivated by it – Mommy and I were so impressed.
If there is a silver lining to this home schooling and quarantine period, dear one, it is that we’ve got to spend a lot of time together reading, listening, chalk drawing, and roughhousing.
Love you,
Daddy