A day in the life...

So I thought I'd go through a typical day here on the island. Mornings start with the Things waking up around 6 or 6:30. Sweetie and I aren't up until 7, so the Things watch TV or play video games until I stumble downstairs. Breakfast is usually something quick - toast or cereal - and then Thing 1 and I head down to school. If it's not rainy/muddy, Thing 1 will ride his bike (see video below - thank you Aunt N for the helmetcam). I walk. Most days, I catch a ride in to work with my friend John, who lives over by the lab, and needs to drop his kids off at school.



The first thing we do upon arrival at the lab is check our mail. Since there aren't mailboxes at the houses in town, all our mail is delivered to the lab. Or, if the roads are muddy, nothing is delivered.

John and I are currently sharing an office: two desks, two computers, two laptops, two filing cabinets, a full-sized refrigerator, and a small coffee maker. On warm days, we open the office door to let the breeze in. Around noon, most people at WMSC go back to town for lunch. I tend to go up to the dining hall. On nice days, I sit out on the patio to eat. (And most days are nice.)

School gets out at 2:20 (except on Thursdays when it ends at 1:30). Most days, Thing2 goes down with Sweetie to pick up Thing1, and they play at the playground for a while with one of Thing1's friends (let's call him Y). Y lives on a boat. Thing1 had a sleepover on the boat last weekend. Apparently, it was a lot of fun.

If it's warm, and not muddy, John and I sometimes take a walk around 2pm to refresh our brains and get some exercise. We hike up the ridge, passing by the lab webcam. Around 4:30, most people finish up work at the lab, and head home. Some walk the two miles for exercise, some carpool in the EV's (electric vehicles), and some ride ATV's.

I get home just before 5pm and play with the kids some. Sweetie makes dinner, and I do the dishes. Thing1 does his homework, and Thing2 distracts us all. After a little more playing, the Things brush their teeth, get into pajamas, and we attempt to keep them in bed long enough to fall asleep.

Repeat.

It's raining pretty well right now. The island is saturated enough with water that even a small rain will turn the roads quite nasty. The other day we actually had to catch a shore boat over to the lab because a van full of construction workers (the guys working on the water tower) got stuck going up the hill out of town. I'm wondering if I'm going to be on a shore boat tomorrow as well.

On a brighter note, it looks like our cell phone service is back on. So feel free to call whenever you like! In addition, they're done trimming the trees in Avalon. I don't think I wrote about this yet. The road into Avalon (Stagecoach Rd) is lined with mostly eucalyptus trees. The fire last spring damaged many of them, so the Island Company hired a company to come out and trim. For a month, the only road into Avalon was closed daily from 7:30am to 1pm, with one window from 9:30-10 when they'd allow people through. Needless to say, this made getting groceries even more difficult. But that's over now! And in about another month, we'll get daily ferries again. Hurrah!