Hello there! I would like to welcome you all to the Burrow - our lives underground, as it were. Ever since our boys started CAVA -- the California Virtual Academy -- in November, we've been staying home. A lot. As a result, I have felt a bit on the sequestered side -- confined as it were, and, surprising for me, that's been okay. The boys are having a blast with the K12 curriculum, and they are succeeding beyond anyone's dreams. I've been so busy preparing their lessons and getting used to it all, that when I realized I'd been home for two months with very little social interaction I was stunned. This is surprising for a woman used to lunching at least once every other (okay each) week and going to school functions and helping out in the kids' classrooms. To find myself happily ensconced in a daily routine of teaching lessons, running errands, cooking, cleaning and finally making time to write, I am amazed and a bit on the giddy side. My only regret is that I have limited opportunities to share what's going on. I have to plan accordingly and call friends only after lessons or email quick messages.
I realized that we have been living our lives a bit like burrowing animals -- initially escaping from predators, but now sleeping, popping into the sun to say hello and forage for food, and spending most of our time indoors and away from the clan-at-large. What could this mean? What will it mean in the long run? According to esciencenews.com, burrowing animals "buffer themselves from changing environments [to] help them avoid extinction. . . . In a way it's the classic choice between security and progress." While I'm feeling very secure about our current life, I hope I'm not impeding any progress. I guess time will tell if our current experiment leads to confident squirrels who can leave the burrow and find their nuts on their own (Wait, did I just write that?)
For now, we are exploring life in the burrow and making the best of it, even if some days we feel more like badgers or skunks, moles, squirrels, weasels, bears, foxes, and the like. Come back and visit. We're happy to have you. Really. I mean it.
