On a scale of Brinley to Avelyn, how are you feeling about life these days? Crazy-eyed with a buck-toothed grin, just letting the days wash over you? Or are you seemingly well-adjusted like the kid in the middle, fresh-faced and ready for whatever comes your way? Or, a nervous shell of a human, with a fake smile and a wandering gaze, fighting the sense of impending doom?

I seem to vacillate between all three, multiple times each day.

It’s been a while since I wrote in my journal but today I penned a short update:

“We wear masks in stores now. There’s a chance that Donald Trump may get elected for a second term as President of the United States. The kids have been home for six months.”

And MAYBE THAT IS WHY I AM NOT FEELING QUITE LIKE MYSELF.

You guys.

How are you doing? Really, I would like to know.

Here’s me in a nutshell:

The garden we panic-planted in the spring is bursting forth with more produce than I can keep up with. When I bought all the seedlings this spring, it was when I was home, without work, during isolation and the grocery shelves were bare and I was feeling the mama-bear instinct to make sure we would have food for the winter. Well. We have food. Like, approximately 9000 lbs of baby tomatoes.

I am taking three months off of alcohol, and it started today. It just feels like the next right thing for me. So, cheers to a Dry Fall!

This summer has been a blur. Lots of fun times, lots of birthdays, lots of togetherness (SO MUCH), and I am thankful for the memories.

We are still just in this strange, liminal space filled with a lot of uncertainty about what the future will look like in regards to the pandemic. Will we be back in lockdown this winter, crying into our sourdough starter? Or will we find a safe way to live with minimal risk that allows for some continued sense of modified normalcy?

Normally, the autumn months are when I am inspired to map out a plan for me to get organized and fit and healthy, but this year I find myself lacking in the motivation department. And that’s OK. Who I am right now is good.

I hope you are all hanging on, and by at least two to three good threads.