When I wrote the tagline for our new blog, “Adventures in Our New Life”, these were not the adventures I was planning on. Soon we’ll pass the break-even point, when we’ll have spent more time in quarantine in our new house then we’ve spent not in quarantine.

And so it shouldn’t be a surprise that our new abnormal reality is starting to feel startlingly…. normal. We’re settling in. Of course, we get stir crazy. But oddly, life within these walls feels so routine, even as life outside them is less and less recognizable.

But within these walls, we’re doing our best to continue to find adventure and moments of happiness. A week ago the kids found a caterpillar and put it in a pickle jar hours before it transformed into a chrysalis. A few days ago we celebrated National PB&J day. Last night the kids hosted a quarantine style sleep-over while Tim and I enjoyed a date night. I created a journaling form that we’re experimenting with to record what we’re up to and how we’re feeling. Tim’s learning the piano. I’m trying to learn Unix. We’re all trying to learn Japanese.

Next week we’re planning to start a virtual trip around the world. We’ll pick a region and learn as much as we can about it. We’ll visit it on Google Street View, listen to local music, view art from the area. We’ll eat the cuisine of the region. Study the architecture. After a while, we’ll move on to the next region.

Like I said, it’s not the adventure that we planned on, but it’s an adventure nonetheless.

p.s. Please, please, please. For the sake of all that you love, and all that we love, please practice social distancing!

p.p.s. This morning, the butterfly emerged from its chrysalis and we released it. I’m sure there’s a metaphor in there somewhere, but I’ll leave that to your imagination…