tales from a far-land

One of Madilyn's true joys right now is cheerleading.  She thoroughly enjoys going to practice each week, even this past year during the pandemic when practices were held outside at night, in the cold.  At the end of January, her cheerleading organization held a virtual competition since they had not been able to do so in the fall.  The participants were dropped off at the competition site already dressed in their outfits with pom-poms and masks.  Parents watched the performance via Zoom and then immediately picked up their child.  I watched the entire performance in my car which I parked in a neighborhood nearby the performance site as there was not enough time to travel home and back in the allotted time.  It embodied all things pandemic, but Madilyn was so excited to finally perform once again.  Maybe sometime in 2021, we will be able to see her perform in-person once again. Madilyn, January 2021 Screenshots I took while watching Zoom Video of the P...

My parents hosted our Christmas Eve celebration.  With the pandemic and all, they wanted to have a more traditional and special celebration in their home.  Since Lynsey and Mina could not come home this year, our evening started with my dad's annual reading of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas."  All of the kids joined via Zoom.  It was so cute to watch all of their faces.  Wish my sister and niece could have been with us, but thankfully technology allowed us to still connect with them to celebrate the holiday.   We then transitioned to the living room to open presents.  The kids were so excited to receive leather jackets, boots, jewelry, and football flags from Grandma and Papa.  They are going to look so fashionable and sporty. For dinner, we had crab legs, twice baked potatoes, salad and bread.  They were magnificent!  I am not sure that the kids thoroughly enjoyed them, but, at least, they did try them. After dinner, Dad introduc...

One of the questions asked during a Passover Seder is, "Why is tonight different from all other nights?"  Well, this was an easy question to answer this year.  Unlike in the past years, where we traditionally celebrated surrounded by family and friends.  This year, we celebrated Passover virtually via Zoom.  Thus, we had a Zeder.  In fact, we had two Zeders.  One with our Phoenix Jewish family, the Pattees and Goldsands.  And then, we were able to join our California family, the Vorobiofs, Reismans and Selma.  Each seder was uniquely special and offered us a insight into how different families chose to celebrate this year's holiday virtually.  We missed being with everyone in person.  Plus, we had some technical and ritual issues this year.  Also, our kids may not have really enjoyed sitting through two different Zeders, so we may have had that challenge too.  Either way, it was a night we will not forget and we were blessed to...

One aspect of COVID-19 that I have found thoroughly amusing is that everyone is embracing technology in a whole new light.  Every week, I spend most of my work day in some sort of web-based meeting.  Everything from Zoom to WebEx to FaceTime or Skype.  My kids also spend half of their homeschooling day reliant on virtual connections.  They meet with their Lookout Mountain classmates and teachers through Google Meet and with their Blossom Park instructors on Zoom.  And after school, they are FaceTiming their friends so they can play Minecraft together.  I am even volunteering on my non-profit board meetings virtually now.  And then, there are the other moments of my day that I connect with family and friends for virtual "happy hours."  It amazes me how easily we were able to transform our lives into communicating with each other through screens.  Now, I am not arguing that this is all for the good, nor is it ideal.  I definitely miss th...