Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Tipped and returning

Talked on the phone with a friend on solstice, it was a nice reconnection. Actual solstice happened at 4am on the 21st here so we were already past the hinge when we woke up that day. Let's get through the dark weeks and move towards hope. 

Plague Christmas was better than I expected. We feasted and played games and enjoyed our toys. I continue to appreciate not having to travel at holiday time.  

Rain and sleet today means inside feels like the right place to be. I'm grateful that we're getting any sort of precipitation. December has been very mild and we're in drought conditions here. 

Oldest daughter is packing up and getting ready to say good bye to her housemates. We'll be driving her to Evanston to move into her dorm room next week. 

She's had one more housemate-related brush with Covid. We're all waiting to hear the results from the housemate's test tomorrow. K will get tested this weekend and we'll hope we have the timing right and Of Course hope that it's not needed. Such a lot of moving parts, this human society, it reminds me of the early computer game Life. I try to be conservative and stay home but all our interactions carry a bit of risk and I'm starting to cross my fingers more often.   

Just finished The Sealed Letter by Donoghue. I had thought it was about a love affair but it is instead a historical novel based on a London divorce case in the 1860s. A bunch of non-heroic characters, very good. I was concerned that my sympathy for one of our narrators was going to be terribly abused by the ending. Luckily not. My favorite character is said to have lived to be fat and happy into their 90s. Huzzah!    

Time to get working on my book club book: Against the Grain nf. I've read 2 chapters but am finding it much drier than my enthusiastic friend's retelling. I wish we could just get beers and have him bring up his fave ideas.  

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