The Lake House

I think that's the name of a movie with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, but that's not what this post is about.   Tomorrow morning we're driving to the lake house of the children's sitters, Morgan and Tristan who live in our neighborhood.   They and their parents have been spending most of the COVID-19 time there to keep secluded from other people.   They invited us up for a day to visit them and swim in the lake at their vacation home.

It's always a tough decision to decide to see people while we're in the middle of COVID-19.   We weigh every encounter carefully.   There is a conversational dance it seems we do of late.   It feels important to let people know, offer the information up without being asked, about how you're personally handling interactions with others.   At the same time, it feels rude to directly ask people, "so, who have you been seeing and how careful are you being?" 

The good news is most people offer up the information directly.   My son starts school on Wednesday and will be socially distanced around other students.   He will only be entering and remaining in his one classroom, which has been prepared as best as possible including extensive safety protocols they will be following. 

Still, though, we have to get food and one of us goes to the grocery store.   Doctors can't always be seen virtually, for example, I had a steriod injection in my spine today (something that horrified my children when I explained where I was going due to the needle, not the human contact.)  

People are seeing each other from a distance outside, such as my children socially distanced playing with one family two houses over.   I go for walks at a safe distance with a neighbor, and we also spent a weekend with my parents.    

The hope is we are all making good decisions.   Only there is still risk.   We are trying to make good decisions with people we believe we can trust, who also believe they can trust the decisions we've made as well.   

The Big Boy Update:  My son has a volume problem.   When there is noise and he's listening to something on the television, he turns the volume up...and up.   When the noise stops he doesn't think to turn it down.   It's been constant reminding him this summer to turn the volume down.   He doesn't even seem to mind the requests, I'm just surprised he doesn't realize how loud the volume is.   Why is it as we get older our eyesight gets worse but our hearing for loud noises somehow gets more sensitive?

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter has been on a Google Meet with her new teacher and classmates three days this week.   She's been excited to participate and see her friends.   I am so relieved.   She was so over virtual at the end of the school year in June.   It helps a lot that she likes her third-grade teacher a lot.