29 May 2020

Another day, but one that offers the prospect of an escape. We’re fortunate to be able to get away this weekend, to a relative’s quiet lake house. We’ll be staring at four walls, but a different four walls than the ones upon which we’ve gazed for two and a half months now, and a space that lacks our normal piles of junk on the tables and chairs.

I had some anxieties about the trip, but at the end of the day I think it’ll be good for our collective mental health. We’re taking all our groceries, taking masks, not stopping on the way. We won’t be close to anyone else while we’re there. All in all, I think the risks seem low compared to the upside of feeling relatively free for a short time. Pandemic survival is a marathon, and marathons are mental challenges just as much as they are physical ones.

But before we can get away, a morning filled with miscellaneous work projects—end of the week, tie-up-loose-ends stuff, plus household chores. Long snuggle with the dog, who is six and a half years old. I often wonder what he’s making of our lockdown situation. On the one hand, he must love having his people around all the time. On the other, that’s not a normal scenario and he’s aware something weird’s going on. He seems to cope by sleeping all day, which is how I’d cope with the current situation if I could.

Spent the ride up listening to four episodes of Wind of Change. I’ve listened to the whole thing once before, but for me it’s worth multiple listens. Amusing and bizarre, fun to listen to with my former-metalhead spouse. We tried explaining to the kids what the end of the Cold War was like, what all this meant. I’m getting a strange sense of nostalgia mixed with déjà vu, and not just because I’m listening a second time.