Today I took Sebastian back to school in-person. It was weird to be having the “first day of school” in late April, with only maybe two months left in the semester. (Summer school is a vague possibility at this point, but as usual, three months in advance nobody knows anything.)…

This morning I went to Trader Joe’s for the first time in nine months. The closest one to us is only a couple blocks away, and pre-pandemic I was there at least once a week. When it was no longer safe to be shopping in stores, we transitioned to Fresh…

On this beautiful summer (thanks climate change) day, our whole city was out in the streets as if we had just won a war. All the sidewalk restaurants were packed. A car drove past us on Grand with a woman hanging out the back window, yelling hoarsely “TRUMP’S FIRED!” Elation…

On the recommendation of a friend, Masha purchased an Insect Lore Butterfly Growing Kit for the kids. One voucher later, a cup arrived in the mail containing five Painted Lady caterpillars and a disk of what looked like brown sugar that was to be their food source for the next…

So I was watching my son play on an empty playground today, and I found myself thinking about freedom. You know, Masha and I would be, in the absence of the pandemic, in the prime of our lives right now. We have been extremely fortunate. Here are some of the…

I must admit, at the beginning of all this I was a bit baffled at the controversy over the wearing of protective face masks. I suppose I just chalked it up to typical red state jackassery and didn’t think too much more about it. But, while walking Ollie this afternoon…

Quick thoughts: This morning we got a large food delivery and it felt like Christmas. After the debacle on Monday where I ordered 43 items literally from downstairs and we received only one of them, I frantically jumped back on Mercato and attempted to place an order with the place…

Masha’s great-uncle passed from likely covid yesterday. He was 90 and never made it to the hospital. Died of heart failure in his own home, surrounded by his family, at least. I hope none of them have it. My strongest memory of him is the way he weeped when he…

Some quick thoughts from a hard day: My cough is all but gone. Ollie still occasionally has a phlegmy one. My belief is that we had it and beat it, but considering we never had any remotely serious symptoms it really could have been anything. This is just something I’m…