As the pandemic continues, I’ve kept on riding mostly alone or with Dad. Now, after finally getting fully vaccinated, I expect to start riding with other people again, so this will probably be the last bike selfie post.
From November through May, here’s where I’ve gone. As usual, I took pictures on sunny days. I didn’t take many pictures of all my indoor rides — and I did a lot of indoor riding, taking advantage of being at home to avoid riding in cold, rainy, dark weather.
Before COVID times, we got together with a group of friends every month to watch a movie, share snacks, and just chat and connect.
Of course, pandemic restrictions have completely shut that down. We initially couldn’t figure out how to get together with people, and we put movie nights on hold along with nearly everything else. But at Christmas, we always watch A Muppet Christmas Carol on our movie night. It’s usually such a joyful evening, with kids joining us as we watch this excellent and familiar movie, sing along, even quote along.
The pandemic rages on unabated here in the US, with no prospect of improvement — and that means I continue riding mostly alone or with Dad. And that means I continue taking bike selfies to prove to myself I’ve gone places.
In this edition, Dad and I took one excursion to Whidbey Island. You’ll see several pictures from there. Also in this edition, you’ll see more sunsets and evening shots as days get shorter and my after-work “commute equivalent” rides stay at the same time but change from late afternoon to evening rides.
Brain complexity fascinates me. I like how different senses trigger different memories. For example, whenever I eat cinnamon rolls, I think of my Grandpa Archie, the first person I ever saw make cinnamon rolls from scratch — and he was blind, so he did it all by feel and from memory. When I listen to Hampton String Quartet, I’m transported back to the table, strewn with flash cards, textbooks, and notebooks, where I spent hours studying for calculus finals in the basement apartment we lived in my sophomore year in college.
I don’t want to minimize the challenges of staying home — those remain. But, looking on the bright side, I’ve been able to take advantage of the occasional nice weather by working outside a bit. It lets me keep Benji company while getting a little bit of work done.
I also took advantage of the sunny, breezy weather and being home all day to hang our sheets out to dry in the back yard. I love the sunshiny smell and feel of sheets hung to dry.
Back in May, Ian and I made the difficult decision to not send Benji to in-person YMCA camp this summer. At the time, COVID cases were slowly but steadily trending downward and things looked better all the time. Even so, we opted for safety (in retrospect, a very good idea) and signed up for the YMCA’s new “Camp in a Box” day camp option.
Now, for six weeks starting this week, the YMCA provides us with a box of supplies and activity instructions. Twice a day Monday through Friday, Benji participates in a Zoom call with camp counselors, who play games and do activities pertaining to the week’s theme. The rest of the day he can choose what activities from the box he wants to complete. Most require little adult intervention after he gets started. There are usually two main activities per day: One thematic activity, like making a superhero cape; the other just fun and interesting, like making a straw rocket.
Many things have changed since COVID-19 became a reality in our lives. One is church: How we do church, who participates, and what it looks like. Over the weeks our church has slowly evolved to a Zoom-based format. This week we took communion for the first time since Stay Home, Stay Healthy started.
For me, the few minutes we spent hearing those familiar words — this is My body, broken for you… — and taking the elements brought me closer to a sense of community than I’ve had in months. I thought about all the Christians all over the world still doing this in all their different ways, and all the Christians over time who have done this in innumerable different circumstances, and for a moment I saw us as a tiny part of a huge group joined by bonds deeper than just physical proximity. And I felt, in that moment, that we were together, more than just our church, but all people who love and follow Christ. It blessed me.