American exceptionalism & weddings

I think the author of Weddings to Die For outlines a very cogent argument that “COVID weddings” are just the latest incarnation of American exceptionalism that, largely, does not care about who it damages in pursuit of individual happiness. Here’s the thesis to her argument:

“The very stories America tells about itself encourage us all to be selfish, to shift the costs of our actions onto others.”

Weddings are a particularly sharp example to use because of the associations we have around love and marriage, and because of the super-hyped expectations of what one’s wedding day represents.

School, Day 2

My door signs….we will see how effective they are.

First Day of School!

All virtual. Not what we hoped for back in May, but we are making the best of it.

End of the day…

Third grade for the Pickle

Baby Bug is in 8th grade!

And sophomore year for Fast Turtle…

Day 112: Lettuce Say Goodbye…

Bye bye, red romaine. You’ve gone bitter and I need to tear you out. But you provided many salads over the past two months!

Towers of red romaine

Still waiting on tomatoes to ripen….very impatient gardener here.

I accidentally left the “gate” on the small side garden open and the deer feasted.

Day 101: ThunderGarden

So evidently it is true that thunderstorms are good for your garden – after two days of thunderstorms interspersed with beautiful sun, there’s a very visible difference in the garden!

garden magic

Day 88: If My Son…

I would. And every mother should be outraged.

Day 85: How Does Your Pandemic Garden Grow?

Coming back home after a couple days absence, I was thrilled to see how well the garden was doing. And promptly spent two hours in the sun weeding.

Everything growing well in the original garden!

I’m amazed at how well all the tomatoes we started from seeds are doing. We have three groups of tomatoes – the largest ones of course are the ones we bought, but the second and third we propagated in our kitchen window box.

Round 2 tomatoes growing strong

I’m especially shocked that our newest transplants appear to have all – or nearly all – survived the transplant process. They looked terribly sad for the first couple days, but I’m tentatively optimistic that most of them are going to make it now..

Baby tomato transplants seem to be doing well…

#30DaysofSalad is Back!

Day 77: How did we get here?

“The number of confirmed virus deaths in the U.S. has surpassed 100,000. The United States has had 28 percent of global deaths despite having only 4 percent of the world’s population.” Link.

Day 76: Lake at sunrise

Someone (Turtle!) wanted to get up to see the sunrise…so we all got up. It wasn’t spectacular as sunrises go, but the lake in the early morning has its own undeniable beauty. Water like glass and the fog creeping in…

Day 75: Sibling Love

I love these three photos because they show the bright silver lining of all this craziness: kids loving & taking care of each other. Bug got the sunscreen out and so carefully put it on Pickle, Turtle was holding Pickle on his lap because she was cold, and all three snuggled together to watch the water and giggle. They are so lucky to have each other, and we are SO lucky to have them.

Day 64: Boys vs. Girls

For my husband

Day 62: Two Months In

Our “new normal” is actually feeling pretty…normal. Each day follows very much the same routine; pre-COVID we lived by our calendars to know when to go where and which child to deliver to which practice. It was quite the undertaking to keep it all straight. Now? Every day is pretty much the same. I don’t have to set an alarm. I make one solid, good meal a day for the family; the rest is leftovers and scrounging and kid-concocted. Bedtimes are soft requests. Exercise, for the kids, is jumping on the trampoline. For me it’s long walks where I chat with friends; the only adult-time I get. We all wear pajamas all day. I haven’t blow-dried my hair in two months and haven’t colored it in over three. I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve ordered delivery since March 13. My commute to work is 10 steps and my hallmates will not stop talking in the hallways.

It’s a grand experiment, and lord only knows how it will go if we ever have to get back to the old normal.

Let’s hope the asteroid is NOT coming…

Just