Missives from quarantine: Week 4
A little family goes a little nutty
We went into self-quarantine on March 14, 2020. No one knew how long it would last, or how intense it would be. We just knew we had to lock it down and wait. Throughout our quarantine, we kept track of our day to day—what else was there to do? Here’s our family log of our first 60 days in lockdown, with pictures and the occasional audio interview.
Day 22
We ordered a giant pile of Chinese food—like enough for multiple meals—and had it delivered. The rigamarole of sanitizing and carefully plating, and the extra cost of delivery, was well worth it. Well. Worth it. Today's lunch and dinner were only the second and third meals, respectively, in 22 days that we haven't cooked ourselves.
Because I am such a very cool man who is fun and not at all boring, I wanted to make sure both lawnmowers started up in anticipation of the coming spring. Miraculously, both did. So I mowed the whole lawn in 47-degree weather. So many askance looks from passersby. Odd, because the grass is getting thick and high, and oh god I'm just going on and on about grass, please help me.
We did enjoy a family movie night. We watched "Onward" (thanks Disney+), which is about brothers and fathers, and if you make it through without gettin' all verklempt, your heart is made of stone.
Also: Camille plucked out her other front tooth right before bed. She is now bereft of front teeth, and she's pretty excited about it. The tooth fairy was out of singles, but she did manage to drum up some quarters, so the toothleth thix-year-old will wake up to some coin.
Day 23
Everyone kind of left everyone alone for much of the day. Kids played Zelda and video chatted with pals. Parents sipped coffee and watched CBS Sunday Morning because we are elderly people, apparently.
Some naps. Some wiggles.
I did get Camille to play some music with me. We were messing around with simple Eastery songs, and I hit on "Ain't No Grave" (J. Cash version)...a super simple three-note baseline, on the organ, and mostly you hang out on the tonic. Camille picked it up and could feel the chord changes pretty easily. We rocked it out.
Then she realized that she could make an entire song out of that bassline. So we jammed on it, and she vamped on the notes E - A - B. I suggested she add a middle section, and we jammed on that for a bit, and she came up with this rudimentary two-voice counterpoint. But it insinuated some neat chords. Add some lyrics, and she's got herself a unique little tune.
That was fun. And she wanted an “audience,” so she ran and got some stuffed friends to sit and listen (pictured).
Day 24
A most unremarkable day. And not really in a good way. Worky work, kids kids, barely school, some yelling.
Camille is a champion non-sleeper, and now that she's sleeping in her own room, the insomnia is nightly and long. Sigh.
Even after trying her best, she was just wide awake in the middle of the night. I gave up, and we played MarioKart on the Switch for a while. And had a snack. And then she finally fell asleep at some ungodly hour. And so did I.
Day 25
Just another day of work and "school."
Camille did her reading time on the back deck with me while I was on work calls.
Es got to do her art class via Zoom.
I fell asleep on a couch at one point.
Days 26-28
The week was a blur. Work all day, try to get the kids to sleep all night. Squeeze in some learning. Not a lot of sleep, all told.
The 5-7:30pm stretch is pretty much Dadventure Time every day. We try to do... something. We mostly go outside and screw around, on the trampoline or riding bikes (Camille is getting more confident on two wheels). And often the night ends with a game of cards before a TV show, snack, books, and bed.
Day 26 was super windy. Es was goofin' and wanted to do some kind of wind pose?
Day 27 saw Camille and me rock the bike around the school grounds. This image is her resting as if she had a book cover photo to pose for.
Day 28 was our favorite one-year-old's “brithday,” so the girls created lovely handcrafted b-day cards for her (digitized).
