It was a weird December and a weird Christmas. As Covid numbers went up and we began discovering just how fast the virus spreads, a lot of people made the choice to shelter in place for Christmas and try to ride it out until a vaccine becomes available. That's what we did. As several people we knew caught the virus and experienced firsthand how dangerous it can be (including Cynthia's cousin Danny who was hospitalized and died from the Coronavirus), it became clear that we needed to forgo any holiday get togethers. So we spent a lot of time hanging out as a family this December.
Lily loves spending time with us (not so much):
The snow on our front bushes melted and refroze, creating this trippy display of colors and shapes:
Cynthia and I went on a lot of walks to get out since we couldn't really go anywhere. One morning as we walked around downtown I took some pictures of the hoar frost:
On December 21st we walked up the hill from our house to Mt Mercy to watch the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which only occurs once every 20 years. When they align it appears as one really bright star, but in Iowa it is only visible momentarily right at sunset, which makes it a little difficult to spot. We found it with our binoculars, though. There were a cluster of people with us up on the hill watching the event take place. The sky was very cool:
Cynthia caught a good shot of a sundog as we were driving one morning:
These people got together and took their annual picture in front of the "no sledding" sign where they often, you know, go sledding:
Christmas Day!
Lily is going to hide until this whole ridiculous thing is over:
Emily got a new baja hoodie:
And Rose got some stuff:
The aftermath:
Rose decided to do Emily's makeup afterward:
Later that afternoon we did had a zoom call with my family and later with the Conrads. It felt really weird to be so distant, but hopefully by this time next year we can have a normal Christmas again:
I hit a parked car! Dangit, that is the first time I've ever been at fault in an accident. Luckily it was a slow-motion collision and no one was hurt. We were sliding slowly down a hill and couldn't avoid the car parked at the bottom. Ah well, time for a new bumper I guess:
It was definitely an unusual December, but at least we are healthy.
