Now It's June

In June we spent a lot of time outside, riding bikes and relaxing in the backyard.

Since we didn't get to go on our previously-planned summer vacation, we went to the exotic land of Des Moines instead and found some safe, social-distancing things to do. Like going to Zombie Burger:

And Living History Farms. If you don't like the vintage-y looking filter I'm using that's too bad because I really got carried away with it:

It was a hot day and some of the staff were actually baking pies over a wood stove in this house, which (like most of the buildings there) did not have AC. And they were wearing their thick pioneer costumes with long sleeves. That would be a rough job.

The bank was our last stop. I spent a lot of time at the printing shop (which is my favorite place), but of course forgot to take any pictures. 

We drove by our old house. It's kinda sad to see the way the current owners have let it go. We spent 5 years working hard to fix that house up and we hoped the people who came along after us would pick up where we left off. Oh well. Also, what's up with the orange shutters and the painted orange brick?

We were the first ones to stay in this Airbnb which opened for business the day we arrived:

In the evening we paddled around Gray's Lake for a while:

I found this nifty old postcard at the Brass Armadillo:

Father's Day! We grilled salmon on cedar planks and the girls washed my car:

Come What May

Guess what, we survived May, too. The warmer weather helped because we were able to spend more time outside in the sunshine and fresh air. Puts things in a better perspective.

Rose before she got her braces off. I forgot to take an "after" picture, so you'll just have to visit future posts to find other pictures of her smiling:

 

Riding bikes! We rode bikes a lot.

Rose, Cora, and Emily sitting on the sunroom roof recreating the iconic scene from 3rd Rock From the Sun:

More outdoors. Lots of walks. Lots of bike rides.

Cynthia had a socially-distanced birthday in the Conrad's garage. We were very careful, but it's so hard to remain in isolation from everybody. Even still, it was fun and the weather was perfect for it.

We also had a birthday party for her at home, too. Rose and Emily made a cake out of fruit:

Not April Fool's

Nobody is laughing. The COVID-19 virus has quickly become a pandemic and the only means that epidemiologists and medical experts know to slow the spread are being ignored by much of the country. The problem keeps getting worse while the orange man shouts out nonsense, causing confusion and chaos and much of the country is politicizing something that is simply a fact. No amount of denial, accusations of "fake news" or rejection of science is going to make it go away. Stockpiling toilet paper won't make a difference and neither will buying guns and ammo - you can't shoot the virus - and feeding on irrational fears will only exacerbate the nightmare. It sounds like a B-movie, but it's what 2020 is turning into. We started off with weekly mass shootings and then spiraled into a rapidly-spreading viral outbreak that is taking lives at an increasing rate. It's scary how divided the country has become over the past 3 years and the recent events have brought those divisions to the surface more than ever.

As bleak as the situation is, there are some good things that have come out of this. For one, we've spent a lot of time together as a family now that our hectic schedules have been cancelled. I'm permanently working from home full-time now and the girls are no longer in school. That last part seems troublesome, but the school district is doing the best they can to adapt and provide some sort of learning from home.

Which brings me to a more positive note: CRCSD began following what other schools across the country have been doing since March and distributing At-Home packets so that elementary and middle school students can keep working on their math and language arts skills since they can't attend school right now. Emily's school began distributing weekly packets that look like this:

So what? Well, imagine my surprise when I opened the first packet and saw this:

Page after page of i-Ready Instruction lessons designed by... me. This is what I do for a living. I never expected to see them appear in the wild, though, despite how much the company I work for has grown. I've been working on these things for years, trying to create and refine lesson formats that are intuitive and can hopefully be clear enough that a student can learn the skills and concepts themselves, even with limited teacher involvement. These lessons may not be super exciting to look at, but I literally created every visual element you see above. That is my FONT. I spent months researching, creating, and revising that font specifically to meet the legibility and accessibility needs of students who struggle with reading comprehension and the ability to distinguish between similar characters and numbers. And that is my LAYOUT where I tried to break down the instruction text into easily "digestible" chunks so students wouldn't feel overwhelmed with the information being presented to them. I only wish they could be printed in color because then you can really get the full picture, but I know the cost of color copying is prohibitive. I'm not trying to brag about any of this, I'm just pleased that the things I've toiled, sweated, stressed over, and tried my best to create for years have hit the mainstream. It's a small thing, but it's a big deal to me. Schools all over the U.S. - not just in Cedar Rapids - are downloading these lessons (which are being offered for free to schools during this crisis) and distributing them to students. Whew. OK, I got that out of my system. And one more thing: CRCSD is now purchasing our curriculum, so elementary and middle school students will be seeing these lessons daily once they return to school.

Another upside to being stuck at home: we're gettin' fancy with our meals nowadays. Cynthia and I have branched out and started making Vietnamese meals and I've added chicken parmesan to our meal rotation (cue Homer Simpson drooling sound):

Social-distancing in the great outdoors:

These people keep taking pics on my phone when I'm not in the room:

Easter looked a little different this year. It felt empty to not spend it with the whole crew, but it's just temporary... right?

Halfway through the month we got enough snowfall to make a snowman:

Bing:

Outdoors, outdoors, outdoors...

Marchuary

March is the month when we celebrate Emily's birthday! Emily turned 12 this year. She's growing up so fast.

Her friends stayed over and partied and made noise most of the night:

Free cone day at DQ! Er, wait, we showed up on the wrong day. Oops. Who cares... cone day at DQ!

Rose and Emily are having a great time sheltering in place:

Running off some steam jumping on the trampoline:

We sat outside around the fire a lot, too. Not having places to go is getting a little old, but we're getting by and finding things to do.

Badass

atomic dye, boiling, burning
compiled subroutines
drowning out echoes
crossing cold signals
whatever they mean
a beckoned force
stepping over uncrossable lines
strap on your boots
it's reckoning time

the warning was issued
but returned no reply
the summons like ashes
on sunset's rays die
scattered lights pierce the hillsides
the call has gone out
searching hounds set loose now
as darkest night falls about

diplomacy is gone, bulletins torn down
an olive branch gesture
rescind the offer
get out of town
extend a warning
to those you hope to spare
the apparatus awakens
wheels turn slowly
meet its gaze if you dare

teeth, but no taste
caustic acid turns sweat
through fibers that are melting
on this number no one will bet
get the lead out
and pick up the pace
finish your clichés
it's time to pay up your debt