May you live in interesting times.

Amazing how a word that nobody had even heard at the start of the year is now having such an impact on our lives. Our family is quite fortunate compared to many though, and we are extremely grateful for that. Liz is the least affected, as she is still working from home as usual, albeit with a bit heavier workload. Luke has a different caretaker (me), but he is handling that pretty well. I guess I am the one whose life has been upended the most. I am no longer working on the house in Monteagle due to needing to watch after Luke while Liz works. That is frustrating, as it is very close to completion, and this is perfect weather to be working on it. But I am trying to maintain a positive attitude and enjoy spending so much time with Liz and Luke. I am wanting to do a lot of work here around our house, but again, it is tough to do anything while watching Luke full time.

We are trying to make the most of the nice weather and go to various parks as much as possible. Unfortunately all of the state parks have been closed. Luke also enjoys picking up sticks in the backyard. I am doing a bit of reading in the evenings as Liz works. It has been quite enjoyable. A few of the books I’ve read are pictured below. I have several more in the queue.

Other than that we are just making do. We try to buy groceries for two weeks at a time and have no other interactions. Yes it is very tedious, but that’s what he times require. It will hopefully be over before terribly long and our lives can return to normal.

Sunny and active Sunday.

The day started, as most good days do, with breakfast cookies prepared by Luke and Liz. After that we went for a walk at a park in Spring Hill. Lots of folks were out but we kept our distance. Luke really enjoyed throwing rocks into the stream. We cam home for lunch and a nap, then went out again. The plan was for a hike at a place that Liz and Luke had never visited, Cheeks Bend Bluff, but it was too crowded when we got there, so we did some scenic driving instead. Afterwards Luke helped me put water in the refrigerator and then we had dinner with special guests Sock Monkey and Bear.

14 in dog years.

What a great day! It was a long one, jammed with activity and familiar faces. We started off by making breakfast cookies. Then we went out to a construction site and saw some big equipment in action. I think Luke would have been happy to watch the excavator all day. Next we had snack, then played a bit and prepared Luke’s cake. Lunch was tasty, followed by a three hour (!) nap. After that things got really exciting. We did a Zoom session with family and they were able to see Luke eat his birthday cake and open a present. Since the weather was so lovely we went on a hike at the nature park after that. Dinner was excellent, then he went to bed.