It’s been a while and for that I need to apologize. The writing process has gotten busy. I just made it through the first round of edits on Atom & Go: Genesis. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but it took some concentration and it made me wicked thankful for all of my beta readers who provided massive amounts of feedback over the months of writing the first time around.

So, as we all hunker down to wait out this Coronavirus I think we have been forced to evaluate our daily routine.

Thankfully, much of what I do is from home. I thought I would simply roll right into the new routine of writing around the family . That perception was about as far off base as I could get. Imagine trying to write a book and explain elementary math or middle school history at the same time.

I don’t have the mental capacity to multi-task.

Even writing this requires me popping in headphones and ignoring the creative learning happening around me.

I’m blessed to have a wife who is a teacher, so she is here in lock-down with us to help facilitate the learning. Imagining the couples trying to work from home while adding in the wrinkle of children learning leaves me shaking my head.

Ah well, I have coffee and a computer.

Henry is working on spelling.

Kate is mathing.

And Mer is flopped on the couch working on her own math.

Jordan is swirling to and fro, bouncing between a puzzle and the children. She multitasks like a champ and leaves me feeling less than adequate for the situation. But we are a team, and this quarantine is actually more enjoyable than I thought.

For some reason I pictured myself as Steve McQueen bouncing a ball against the wall for four weeks.

As we draw to the close of week one I can say this is actually fairly smooth. I think single people should create family groups to survive the solitude. There may be some tense moments, but it beats solitary confinement.

Corning is in semi-quarantine. People are avoiding large gatherings, but we are getting out in the fresh air and enjoying the scattered sunshine. A lot of places are semi-closed. Restaurants are offering takeout without the sit-down dining. Supermarkets are open and settling down after the first waves of crazies who seem to be prepping for a toilet paper Armageddon.

The upside of all this is that I was able to take my kids to their first Dropkick Murphy’s via a livestream St Patrick’s Day show. In my youth going into Boston for the show was an annual event for my best friend and me. It was fun to share it with my children.

Bottom line, we will get through this together. Our families and friends will pull us through.

My advice, call your grandparents.

My grandma is in real solitary confinement in her assisted living home. Being in the most susceptible demographic she is confined to her room and her only contact with the outside world is the phone and the two nurses who check on her and bring meals.

Call them. Be the lifeline.

In the meantime, be safe, keep on reading, relax, and keep on flying the Black.