Two years ago I walked out of my 2nd grade classroom on a Thursday in March.
Two years ago we prepped for a month-long "spring break."
Two years ago we tried to flatten the curve.
Two years ago we haphazardly tossed toilet paper and soup into a shopping carts.
Two years ago we didn't know anything about sourdough or how to unmute ourselves.
Two years ago we had no idea.

A lot has changed in two years. A lot has changed in the world and a lot has changed in my own life. We've all had to make pivots, sacrifices, and we were given a whole lot to think about (and a whole lot of time to do it).

Luckily, all of those feelings and all of that time resulted in some pretty great picture books about our collective experience. Right now we might be feeling like it's time to move on, but I'm glad we have books like these to preserve this moment in time in case our lives ever become precedented again.

Well, hello.

It's been a minute or two since I've written a blog post. In fact, it's been an entire pandemic length of time. How are we measuring this thing, anyway? My last post was in December 2019 and, you know, just a few things have changed since then. BUT! That's not what this post is about.

Today is Tuesday. It is still very much winter. BUT! The sun has started to peek out more often each week. The days are getting longer. It's not dark as soon as I get home anymore. The sun woke me up this morning! You guys, it's happening.

Today was, as you might guess, a very sunny day. The temperature creeped up towards 40 degrees, but she was a liar and the surprise wind gusts every few seconds made that number MUCH lower. BUT! The sun!

I left work determined to spend a bit of time outside (did I mention the sun?) Bundled up, the dog and I hopped in the car and found a beach to walk. The recent snow and newly unfrozen lake were all sparkly as the sun began to dip below the horizon. As I stood in 100 mph winds (okay I don't know what the real number was, but it was a lot, okay?) it was such a breath of literal fresh air.

BUT! That's when I realized I wasn't alone. The closer the sun got to sinking into the water, a few more cars trickled into the lot. Some of us were on the windy beach, some stayed in their cars, one didn't stop their phone call, and two more didn't even throw on their coat for the few minutes it took to watch the sun go down.

The sun set, the sky turned pink, and everyone shuffled back to their cars to continue their evening. BUT! For five minutes in a world full of chaos, a handful of people stopped what they were doing on a Tuesday night in the wintery almost-springtime to witness a bit of beauty. I hope you get the chance to do the same.