Holiday Surprise

I flew out in mid-November right after Bundt Day, with plans to quarantine, then rent a car to drive alone to see my family in the Shenandoah Valley.

My sister got a routine covid test ahead of the family meet-up, and that was the end of our planning. She has it, isn't sure how, but any idea of imminent risk-taking went right out the window. (She's okay, it's not fun, but she's monitoring her temperature, oxygen level, and being exhausted a lot.)

We've all had some unanticipated adventures this year. Well, non-adventures, mostly, as we learned to relish the most minor novelties. Baking. Sewing. Learning about bidets. Catering to the whims of hungry opossums.

Under normal circumstances, I'd be packing up to go around the world for a year as the ten-year-anniversary of the first and second MariesWorldTour is here. My aging physical self aches a bit with the recollection of stuffing myself into a Congoloese minivan with 8 other people and some goats anyway, if I'm honest, and then along came an unexpected detour at the virtual office, so I'm not going anywhere that involves a bad wifi connection and more than a 3-hour time difference from Burbank.

Who would have thought the most mundane things we've done this year could hold so many surprises?

I agree with Jay Garrick the orange cat.