Well, like that, April is over and our first full month in lock-down is officially under our belts. There has been a lot of discussion on when to “open up” and with our neighbors to the west, North Dakota, ending their restrictions, we have a growing uneasy feeling. On our side of the river, the stay-at-home order has been extended to May 18th and our governor has talked a lot about the phases of opening up and how our state is going to  “adjust the dials” to make the transition safe.  

We’ve been talking a lot about what that means for our family too. 

Knowing how to adjust the dials has been interesting. We’ve been really, really good at practicing social distancing by obeying our Stay-at-Home order, wearing masks during grocery runs and maintaining six-foot distance from anyone we interact with. But, on Friday, we broke the rules and headed out to my parent’s home to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary. Did it feel like cheating? Yes. But, we did reasonably well at maintaining social distancing. All hugs were air hugs, our masks were mostly worn, we helped by socializing baby chicks and even planted some plant babies. It felt like we were adjusting the dials in a reasonable way. 

The adventure out to my parent’s was the cap to a nice week. Kris took the week off of work to reset his brain after the craziness of the last couple months. It’s been pretty non-stop for his job and with the added adjustment of working from home, it was time for a breather. He spent the time taking over my duties as the Anton-Entertainment-Machine. They played learning games, took lots of walks and maybe snuck in some video game action here and there. 

His time off allowed me to have a week to focus in on my business without too many distractions. I read a couple books, worked on a business plan for Ekta, and hashed out a plan of action. It felt really, really good to care about my livelihood again and to actually think through why I do what I do and who I do it for. When will I physically get back to work? I have no idea. But, I’m motivated to kick ass at my craft and now have better clarity on my path. 

This week also brought some surprises. On Tuesday, I did a deep clean of my studio and found some old camera equipment. To my surprise, my first digital camera, the Canon 10D, still works! I gave it to Edith and she has been spending the week photographing everything.

And on Friday we were surprised to find several baskets of goodies from friends to celebrate May Day. We live in the best community with the best folks. I cannot wait to see their faces and thank them in person. Soon.