Some days I feel more sentimental than others.  Some of these “more sentimental” days are those days where the family feels especially close.  Usually this is due to spending more time doing things with one or both of the kids, eating together more often at the table, or sharing conversations that we wouldn’t normally have when life is a little faster paced.  I enjoy when we can watch a movie at night together, or go for a hike, or a drive, or have a nice conversation at dinner (especially about odd things).  There are some things that we are doing more right now that are nice, even if a lot of the mood is more dour overall...

Another thing I enjoy: watching my partner play Animal Crossing.  I mentioned the game once or twice already, but there’s this weird way that it has become a defining part of our pandemic experience.  I enjoy watching her play it not just because the game is adorable, but because she is even more adorable as she plays: I feel like I get to see some of the “little kid” in her that I otherwise would never get to meet. It comes out in the way she frolics about the Island, the enthusiasm with which she constructs her landscapes, the attention to detail of each design element of her home, the joy at discovering new things she can do in the game, her cleverness at gaming the system in ways that maximize her options and earnings – it is fun to watch her “get sucked into” this little world where she is master of all, and it is a lovely world that I can’t help but love, because she made it and it is a beautiful expression of her soul.

That is a weird thing to write about a game in which you regularly interact with a weight lifting pig and a zen-as-fuck yodelling wolf, but there you go.