What happens now?
Y’all, I think the bird of paradise in our backyard may be trying to compensate for something.
We are on [Some Large Number of Days] of The Howells All Being Home At Once, and [Some Other Number of Days] of Santa Clara County Residents All Huddled Up Together in Their Separate Spaces.
The good news is that early indications are that sheltering-in-place is helping to keep the numbers down in California. Still, we have a few more weeks to go before the numbers of hospitalizations and cases from people exposed before the shelter-in-place went into effect stop climbing. My fingers are crossed, and our car safely tucked in our driveway.
In other news, I’ve been doing some thinking lately about how to continue Caterpickles during this pandemic. Looking at the stats on how y’all use the site, you still seem very interested in learning things like how do I reset my storm glass, how many colors of corn there are, and (heaven help us) what else pops balloons.
So, since there are tons of spots out there for you to find hard news and troubling facts about the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m going to return to answering the sometimes bizarre and often entertaining questions my daughter asks, reviewing books, and telling you the occasional story about funny things my family says/does.
I’ll be honest, it feels strange to be writing about such relatively trivial things in a time like this, so I’d love to hear from you.
How can Caterpickles be helpful to you right now?
Today’s Project:
The Caterpickles Educational Resource pages
I made a big push today and published the various resources I’ve been collecting for parents who want to supplement their kids’ science, math, history, and reading, while schools are closed. I also posted a list of virtual field trip ideas for folks who miss going to art museums, natural history museums, operas, and zoos.
Check it out, and let me know if you find something I’ve missed. I’ll be honest. I am most interested in finding activities that can be somewhat self-directed / self-entertaining. I don’t know about you, but I’m still trying to work a day job here.
Today’s tidbit of humor
My funny t-shirt collection has been getting quite a workout lately. Every time she sees me in this shirt, The Thirteen-Year-Old collapses into helpless giggles. It’s not great for her ability to focus, but it does improve my mood.
Before you go… Drop a line and let me know how Caterpickles can be helpful to you during this time.
Related Links:
- More Pandemic Diary entries on Caterpickles
- Educational Resources on Caterpickles
CATERPICKLES 
What are you thinking?