Spring Break in Quarantine

Thanks to COVID-19, the kids had a two weeks (and counting!) Spring Break. Our plan to drive to eastern Oregon to check out high desert, ghost towns, and cows was scuttled even before the governor implemented a travel ban.

For the first week the kids were out of school, I still -- for some reason -- had to report to work.  But this week I was able to work from home when I wasn't using some vacation time (I'd planned to take the whole week off, but things at work were pretty crazy, so I worked a bit from home, enjoying Grandma's cottage as a home office).

Since the state ordered us to shelter in place (no trips outside the house unless its for a necessity like getting groceries, though going for walks/jogs is fine), we have watched a lot of movies, viewed a number of episodes of the Simpsons, and played a lot of video games. The kids have learned to play Minecraft online with their friends in the neighborhood, even chatting with them on a conference call while they play, using Barb's cell phone.

We've also done a lot of analog entertainment: Lego building, drawing, reading, and just visiting with neighborhood friends -- always keeping a distance of at least six feet. And, of course, we've spent a lot of time washing our hands until our skin looks like corned beef.  Better safe than sorry!

Getting some exercise is the biggest challenge.  Elizabeth has barely left the house in two weeks. She seems content to sit and draw or sit and read more or less all day.  Suzanne likes to go visit her friends in the neighborhood, but since they can only chat and not really play, her forays into the outside world tend to be short. Barb walks around the neighborhood when she's restless.  I'm no longer riding my bike to work, so I went for a run. Once.

We don't know how long this is going to last. My gut tells me we are in for a long haul, but I tend to be pessimistic about such things.  I think, given the experience of the last two weeks, that we can make it work no matter what.

Elizabeth is content to read comic strips all day long on the computer. Having Tinkertoes (who likes Elizabeth despite, or probably because, Elizabeth is the least cat-loving member of the family) as a companion doesn't hurt.

A wire in Suzanne's braces broke during our quarantine. Barb, channeling an Oregon pioneer mom, gloved up and took care of business. Wielding a rusty wire snip and a safety pin, she removed the broken hardware.

Suzanne loves Lego bricks, so at the beginning of this crisis we ordered a fairly complicated set to keep her busy. It did the trick, giving her hours of non-screen-related fun.

This was my home office in Grandma's Cottage -- airy and sunlit, with climate control, a bathroom, and separation from the family.  Until today, when -- to our surprise -- we got a booking for the cottage.  A man wanted to move in today, for a month!  So I broke down the home office and moved it to the only space available...

... our unfinished basement!  I'm sure it'll be fine, though, and it's nice to get some income from the tiny house in these troubled times.