It's been almost two months now that we've been under the COVID-19 restrictions. My area of PA is still on quasi-lockdown though some rural parts of the state are opening some things up now. Given our proximity to Pittsburgh I figure we won't see a lot until June. And with Anthrocon already canceled and Furnal Equinox canceled two months back, I now have no furry cons scheduled for the year. I've given half a thought to trying to attend a new one in the Fall and may still do so, but for now I'm content to just see what happens.

I have grown in my distaste for the media who seem intent on creating a sense of malaise and devastation which has certainly impacted me. I've had many days where I know I'm feeling depressed and the fact that my gym is closed means one of my normal outlets for keeping my emotional stability is gone. I need to do more here but have not managed to do so outside of the rigors of household chores.

I am of mixed opinion on the response of various leaders at both the state and national level. Some of the decisions seem appropriate, some seem ridiculous overreaches, and other things have me scratching my head. All I know is that I have essentially no voice here except in November.

I am still hoping the rest of my Summer vacation plans can go on. I signed my daughter up for Zoo Camp in late July, and we're supposed to go to the beach in mid-July with my family. And we rented the same cabin we've rented twice before in August. That last one I'm still pretty confidant will be okay given the studies showing the virus very susceptible to heat and UV radiation.

But given that doom and gloom and uncertainty, you may be wondering at the title of this journal. One of the consequences of all of this is spending more time at home with my wife and daughter. Angie is seven years old now and for now home-schooled thanks to the school closures. In this time she has many times made forts out of our couch pillows and blankets, and once made a spaceship out of a huge cardboard box we'd saved for storage. I was laying on pillows inside the fort last week while Angie was prowling around pretending to be a wolf staring up at the blanket which cast me into shadow and I was thinking about how these were the years of being a father I had always longed for. For a few more years yet my daughter is the age for this creative play and I can be a part of it with her, sharing in forging these all so important childhood memories. She will remember this time not as one of fear and uncertainty, but as one where her dad was home from work and did all sorts of crazy things with her. We made our own soap bar last weekend and will make another this coming weekend. I took her for a drive and let her pick which way we went at every intersection a few days back. We've planted new vegetables in our garden. We're watching classic cartoons like "Adventures of the Gummi Bears" together (highly recommended, man I really am enjoying it). Through all of this stress and honest to goodness terror getting to do these things with her is the greatest gift I have right now. These very well could be the best years of my life right now in that sense.

I definitely want to capture some of these moments in the convention-style sketches I normally get, just as I did Angie getting to hold her puppy for the first time. And I look forward to more fun in the weeks ahead no matter what comes to pass.

We will get through this. It's been hard and it may get harder, but we will get through it.

Dominus vobiscum