Pandemic: just checking in

ONJOUR, mes amis! I've been hesitating to check in and say things like "we're all well here," because I realize how quickly our circumstances could take a turn for the worse (whenever I leave the house to get groceries or prescriptions, or Miss V leaves the house for dog-walking or errand-running, or CM leaves the house to get work-related hardware, we're potentially putting ourselves and the entire household at risk to catch a case of COVID-19. Charlie-cat, who never leaves the house -- though not really for lack of trying -- is our social distancing champion). For the nonce, we're all healthy and hoping to stay that way as long as we can, or until there's a viable antiviral or other treatment available.

Easter was a pleasant, if subdued, affair. I planned in advance (novel change of pace, ne?) and ordered a big box of See's candy by mail weeks ago, so we had plenty of chocolaty goodness for our Easter baskets. We had a short church service at home, then CM made a delicious pork tenderloin with cherry peppers and potatoes (recommended) and we watched a slew of movies: Father Goose, Meet the Robinsons, The Good Dinosaur and Coco (the English version and part of the Spanish version, just for comparison's sake). I'd never seen The Good Dinosaur before, and while it's far from Pixar's finest story work, it has its moments. It's best described as a dino-Western; it even has Sam Elliott doing voice work. It also has a scene where our dino hero and his pet feral child get stoned on rotten fruit, which I'd characterize as mild nightmare fuel, so if you intend to see it, be warned.

V has been making fabric face masks for family and friends, so she was busy cutting and sewing most of the afternoon. CM, as mentioned, has been cooking and making Minecraft videos for fun and (minor) profit. I've just been trying to keep on top of the dishes and laundry and making notes on whatever's running low around the house, so that when I do go out I can make my errands as effective as possible. I also do handwork -- basic knitting and crocheting, stuff that requires little to no brain power so I can do something productive while watching movies.

Speaking of movies, we also saw Onward the first day it was available on Disney+. It's very much worth watching and rewatching. We would have caught it in local theaters if they hadn't all closed down for social distancing purposes the weekend after it released. I got a kick out of the comment (I think it was on Twitter) that it could have been named The Brotherhood of the Traveling Pants.

Oh, yeah, also: want a random postcard? I'll send one to anybody who sends me a mailing address. I'm not a huge fan of the USPS, but it's in danger of going under thanks to a combination of pandemic conditions and no bailout from the U.S. government, and it needs all the help it can get, so I'mma send POSTCARDS GALORE. Sling an email here if you want one.

Take care this week, find creative things to do inside, stay healthy, read, try a new recipe, etc. If you're on Facebook, I recommend following the hashtag #coronavenger for some commonsense advice on how to get through pandemic conditions. And if you have advice about how to handle various kinds of stress and strain associated with social distancing, please share. I'd be delighted to get your thoughts.

For now, though, I'm going to bed. Later skaters!