A virtual happy hour, a walk, and a lunch with neighbors

It’s strange, but I’ve started to feel better during the quarantine than I did just a few weeks ago. Winter in Seattle is hard for me, its darkness makes me unmotivated to do much. The second we spring forward and the days get longer, is the second I feel the darkness lift, both in the sky and in my mood.

I was texting with my next door neighbor about quarantine, and he wrote, “Want to have lunch on the patio?” And so we did.

After a morning of more taxes, we sat outside and contemplated how much longer we’d be in this weird limbo, freely able to move but constricted to our homes and the park. It was warm enough for t-shirts, and our pasty skin will likely have the slightest hint of rose by the end of the week. One of the neighbors had a coloring book and she filled the lines with bright colored pencils. “I had a harsh conference call this morning,” she said, and continued to draw.

After an hour, we departed to our units. I had a video call myself, which was glitchy and fun. Then another phone call. Then more taxes. My girlfriend group and I floated the idea of a virtual happy hour, tentatively for 6 p.m..

At 4:30, I went for a walk. Each day I head to the park, I walk past a friend’s house. I always text him to look out his window, but he’s not been home. Today, I texted…