I was Toastmaster for the Silicon Valley Storytellers tonight. Our theme was “A Change of Pace”, which seemed very appropriate given what’s happened today.

We awoke to the first really cold day of the year – our roof was covered in frost (at least I know our insulation is working!). And our trainer texted us to say we couldn’t do our workout outside; fortunately, we had the entire exercise room (maybe 20×30 feet) to ourselves, so I felt OK coming inside.

Our usual custom on Mondays includes a quick walk after our workout to go see what our neighbors have created with their skeletons. Today, we were surprised to discover that they’re going to be taking a break for the foreseeable future! (One of the signs in the photo says “Day 237/Display Day LAST”.)

I’m not planning to take a break – not yet, anyway. See you tomorrow!

For the first time since Tuesday, I haven’t gotten a “Screen Time” alert on my phone telling me that I’ve been on Facebook and Twitter too much. I haven’t felt compelled to check the New York Times and Washington Post sites every few minutes. The only TV I’ve watched was the last few minutes of last night’s SNL.

And to add to the decompression, we spent the afternoon with friends in their pool – safely distanced, of course! We might still be there if it hadn’t started raining.

I could get used to this.