Well that was a lovely life interlude in Utah. Lasted far longer than I’d’ve thought. Some highlights for posterity:
- The harrowing drive south, through a blizzard.
- Mattie and Scout greeting me in the dead of night.
- Walking up the stairs the next morning.
- Mattie’s glow cloud project.
- Hayden’s graduation and shaving video.
- Hayden’s programming and math homework.
- Binging BSG with Dad.
- Only being able to do that because of the new antenna setup.
- Popcorn and movies and sourdough bread.
- Hiking the Y.
- Exploring Alpine.
- Finding new places to work remotely every day.
- Video games with the siblings.
- Star Wars.
- Doing both of the above on the jumbo screen.
- Out-door movie nights.
- A new smart plug for a new fountain.
- A quick trip back to Washington to make sure my place hasn’t burned down.
- Getting the old iMac ferried back from Washington, powered up, and loaded up with old games.
Now that I’m back, life has definitely slowed down. I can go a few days without seeing another living person. On the other hand I don’t have to hunt for a place to work each day. In fact, I’m using my upstairs room more than I have ever before. In the past I could go weeks and weeks without even setting foot on the upper landing. But it’s a pretty sweet room, great view and lighting and chair.
Some pics from the drive back with Dad:
Dad stuck around for a couple days, and we had some good times; walked to the beach, dusted off the slow cooker, watched some Doctor Who.
Boarding up just in case of protestors. 
Since then it’s been pretty quiet. Did have some friends over on Friday to play games and watch Knives Out. We figured out that I can bring the projector over next to the couch and project up above the dining room, allowing us to make better use of the couch.
Saturday I went down to the CHOP / CHAZ area in Seattle to check it out.
All the food here was free, from donations. Guess this is home for people. 
Came across a game of pick-up dodgeball and had the time of my life. 
The design here kind of harkens back to Battlestar Galactica. 
Didn’t get up to much the next week. Pulled an all-nighter on Friday for dumb reasons, but for better or worse I found myself eating a bowl of cereal out on my deck at 5am, and remarking that it would be nice to go for a walk in the light rain down to the beach. So that was fun.
Saturday was the baptism of an investigator that I’d had a lesson with once, over Zoom. Very few people attended; it was held in a large hot tub in the back yard of someone in our stake presidency. Immediately after there was a pizza + hangout party in the church parking lot, the most ward members I’ve seen in one place in months, so that was nice.
Tomorrow I’ll be heading in to the office for one of those special operations we do from time to time, and will be preparing for a four-hour virtual workshop I and a co-worker will be running on Tuesday.
Looking forward to the cabin!