As we sink further into our shelter-in-place, and it all begins to feel normal... I find myself with very little to say. There are bits of news and research and change that pop up each day, but nothing earth-shifting, like it used to be. We are adapting to our new way of life and it turns out that this way of life does not make for particularly eventful blogging! As our emotions even out and adapt too, I find myself not needing the same amount of verbal reflection. So I think posts will be spread out. And maybe not labeled by the day any more because its getting hard to keep track!
It's May! Almost a full week into it as I write this! The flowering trees in the Heights are glorious and everything in sight is spring green and brilliant, even on (frequent) cloudy days. May in Cleveland is perfection. (except for the forecasted snow on Friday, that is...
Ivy and I delivered a few May Day baskets to neighbors on the first. I am glad one of my kiddos can be convinced to jump into crafts and new traditions. She took the arrangement of flowers very seriously...
Nothing like an evening like this to start the month...
Euclid beach is great for social distance...
We also explored down by Euclid creek... a new area for us at this park. It was magical, with deer and herons and spring-greenery in the evening light.
Saturday adventure: hiking in the Bedford Metroparks. We do this hike at least 2 times a year and it is always nice to visit with our memories of living in Bedford, and doing this hike with little one in backpacks...
Sweetness... this great tall boy still likes to hold our hands and snuggle at random moments...
Sadly our hike ended in strife because our two kiddos can't seem to spend time together without incessant arguing. We had to hike back up in twos to keep them apart and keep the peace. This is Ivy's "I'm angry at my brother" face. Which is pretty much the norm about 75% of the time these days. Sigh. As Ivy has noted, "there's a lot going on right now." Have to remember that as crazy as this time and all the changes seem to me, its exponentially harder for these kiddos, whose worlds are smaller and even more rocked. The struggle is real.
More lake time... Despite these spacious-looking pictures, Rocky River beach was packed and people seemed to be far less concerned with social distance than in the past. The good weather makes it easy to forget that there is a pandemic going on...
Returned the next day to meet my mom and Pip. Sunny and 70 degrees!
The chickens are loving the sunshine and have even started laying again.
They pose with flowers. I love our chickens.
It's Teacher Appreciation week and we are definitely appreciating our educators right now, as they soldier along with us through these trenches and all the strangeness of this school year. What with distance learning, the traditional bringing of donuts and lunch isn't an option, so giant chalk-art thanks will have to do the trick. I realized I don't have a good way of sending in thank-you notes and even end of year gifts to the wonderful professionals who have give my kiddos so much. Just another sadness to add to the list.
And here we are again, in the midweek crunch, splitting our time between trying (vainly) to keep up with our teaching and trying (vainly) to coerce the children into finishing their to-do lists and take showers and practice instruments and eat produce. I've been getting out for a run most days, and keeping the house at a basic level of cleanliness but all those other projects-- and even keeping up with data collection and paperwork for my job-- just aren't happening on "school days" these days. It's wild how busy it feels to be home "doing nothing." I find myself amazed and disbelieving that we managed, just a couple of months ago, to do MORE than this. How did we do it, work and school and choirs and sports and museums and friends and the continual shopping? What an exhausting world that must have been...
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