We weren’t off the grid, so much as adjacent to it

There was a house with a roof & plumbing & electricity & internet, after a fashion. I liked the fashion: satellite. It was just fast enough to work, barely, but not fast enough to want to wait for it. It was far too slow for social media.

I’ve been trying to do this for at least nine years

For the kiddos: mosquito bites & sunburns & splinters & riding in old cars with no seatbelts. Every day: tubing in the river & milkshakes.

The dog refused to get back in the car to come home.

For me: a tiny glance back over my shoulder to the life I had Before. Before the Internet, Before my Thirties, Before Kids, Before Jenny. I used to live a third of the year outside.

I am glad to be back in the city, I am a city person. But this was a real conversation we really had:

the kids are already schooling remotely

we are already working remotely

why are we doing it in the city?