New Year’s…Resolved

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. Never have. I get it, but I don’t really find this a particularly meaningful time of year to commit to changes. Maybe that’s because I’ve always lived on an academic calendar–even the years I wasn’t a student or a teacher, Jessica was, so I never really got off that rhythm completely.

But, this year, New Year’s eve sucked. And, so while I haven’t resolved to do anything in particular, I thought I’d give a quick update on the resolution of my sickly situation…

First of all, beyond the one hour I was vomiting from COVID, I felt nothing beyond a mild headache for a day or so. So, personally, I was fine.

More importantly, we managed to “stop the spread.” As far as I can tell, I managed to not share my germs with anyone. When I first felt sick, I stayed in my bedroom at our New Year’s rental place, and when I tested positive in the morning, I left through a door that went straight outside from the room. Jess drove me back to St. Louis, both wearing KN95 masks, her in front, me in back, windows opened despite a 30-degree temperature outside. For the next 6 days I stayed in the back rooms of the house, only coming out to use the bathroom (I went to the basement each time, where I had a private bathroom–such luxury!) and once a day to take a walk with Jessica where we stayed masked on opposite sides of empty suburban streets yelling (well, talking a bit loudly) to each other.

Meanwhile, at home, I watched some shows on the computer, read, did some math work, talked/texted/facetimed with some friends, and played a few games with Jessica, my parents, and the folks I would have played games with on New Year’s Eve, all through the much needed BoardGameArena.com. Thank god for zoom.

I should add that the room service at the Hotel des Cohn was delicious. And service was top notch–a quick text to Jessica and whatever I wanted would appear: a cookie, more tea, fruit, whatever. I stayed like that in the back room for six days, while Jessica and my parents masked around each other in the house (so if any of them got it, they wouldn’t spread it to each other maybe?) until I had two negative tests in a row 12 hours apart.

So, thanks to Jessica, my folks, and some rapid COVID tests, no one else got it. Yay! Most significantly, that means Jessica and I get to go to London on time. We leave this afternoon and should arrive there tomorrow morning. Not sure what life will be like there as COVID rates are through the roof, but it will still be fun to see the city and settle into living there for the next three months…

In other positive news, I learned that I passed my first math CSET test (which I took just before leaving New York), and I’m well on my way with studying up for the next one, which I hope to take in London. I also got a note from Rio Grande Games that my game, Space Station Phoenix is likely to get printed in about two weeks (after years and years of working on it and waiting for the final details to get settled), so that’s exciting. I’ll post more about that when I know more for sure.

So, while I lost about a week of family time, missed out on my weekend with friends, and had to ditch plans to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and niece, the interim between New York and London hasn’t been without a few silver linings. It just wasn’t quite the trip we thought we had planned.

Speaking of the trip we planned…there were some nice bits of visits with family too. Pre-COVID-infection, we spent a couple of weeks in North Carolina with Jessica’s family both in Asheville and Raleigh. A few highlights:

• We took some nice walks and a great hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway (though it was cold and icy!)

• We had fun playing with our nephews, Connor and Caleb.

• A visit to the NC Arboretum’s “Winter Lights.”

• Walking through two areas of Asheville with a ton of murals and graffiti.

And, our first few days in St. Louis were pleasant and realtively normal. We ate well here too, played a bunch of card games, went to the “Garden Glow” at the Botanical Gardens, and took a great walk around Forest Park.

The Garden Glow also features some cool lights timed with music and such. It’s actually pretty fun. Check out these videos…

But, while I was isolated and after I got out of isolation, it was definitely different than our normal St. Louis visits, which usually involve daily excursions to one St. Louis institution or another: the Art Museum, Science Center, History Museum, Gardens, Zoo, etc. Jessica and I did happen to walk through the Zoo while wandering Forest Park a second time (after I recovered from COVID), and found that nearly all the animals were indoors. Between the cold and the COVID, the place was totally empty, so when we did happen upon some lovely grizzlies and a swimming polar bear, we had the view basically to ourselves.

But, otherwise, a pretty quiet time in St. Louis. I didn’t even have the pile of grading I often bring with me (thank god for sabbatical). So, that’s about all the news there is from here. I hope everyone else managed to stay safe and healthy over the holidays. Updates from London to come in the future…