Somehow, our daughter managed to make it through three exposures and a week of test-to-stay without testing positive for COVID. We are, understandably, relieved to have dodged the virus again. While we know this is more luck than anything else, an article I read in the Washington Post [gift link] about those who haven't gotten COVID yet got me thinking.

While constantly testing negative could be immunological mixed with luck (lots of luck), I would posit that it is because some these folks (us included) are still taking the pandemic seriously. 

Our family has no known pre-existing conditions. We are fortunate to have jobs we can do from home. We are privileged to be able to send our child to a daycare that had a more conservative response then most. This all helps a lot.

More importantly, I think it's because we don't really go anywhere or do anything. We do not dine indoors. We do not go to large outdoor gatherings. We are careful with who we see and how. Crucially, we still wear masks everywhere. I'm in a cubicle in the office. I wear a mask all day. Our daughter still wears a mask at school - even when they went mask optional. Every time we step foot inside a public place, we wear our N95 masks. 

When we know we are going to see friends indoors, we ask about symptoms, vaccinations, and the like. We ensure that others are rapid testing before they visit. We test ourselves.

Essentially, we never changed our behavior. 

I don't fault anyone who tests positive at this point. You can do everything right and the BA5 variant can still get you. We know that, eventually, we will test positive for COVID. But I think the difference is, we have not yet given the pandemic the shrug.

Our kiddo got her second dose of Moderna this week. That Garfield Band-Aid on her arm is a measure of relief and gives us a touch more flexibility. We might start doing more things, but we're still going to mask. We may be the only ones doing so, but we don't care.

At this point, it's going to feel weird when the masks finally come off for good.

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I just started reading Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien. I’m not normally a mystery reader, but I saw this on the shelf at the library years ago and the cover stuck with me. I’ve decided I’m going to read her whole Noodle Shop Mystery series.

• The beauty of the lowcountry boil. [What To Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking - may be paywalled]

• The healing beauty and community of bread. [Wordloaf]

• This is a good list of things. [Milan Cvitkovic]

• More taco trucks. Less police. [@nessguerrero]

• A dearth of Dijon in France. [David Lebovitz]

• The ERA has been ratified. It is the 28th amendment to the constitution but it's not in effect because of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. JUST SIGN IT AND BRING BACK ABORTION RIGHTS ALREADY! [Men Yell at Me]

• The dates on food are almost pointless. [Planet Money]

• Our judicial system is so broken there’s a prison consultant industry for those who can afford it. [The Daily]

• 18th century space studies were fascinating... and deadly. [Short Wave]

• Love your clothing and keep them longer. [Life Kit]

• The fishy history of ketchup. [Gastropod]

• Why the US is so bad at bread. [Johnny Harris]

• I was in the mood for a lighter movie and put on Murder on the Orient Express. This is Kenneth Branagh's take on Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. First, it was just a pretty movie to look at. In honor of the character, there was a lot of symmetry and dynamic angles. The style of the sets and costumes was lush. The mustache is its own character. I did not know the ending to this one and was surprised by how the mystery wrapped up. Finally, Josh Gad is rather underrated as a dramatic actor. [Amazon Prime]

• We also watched Death on the Nile making this a full Poirot week. The same styling carried over from the first film which was lovely. What was not lovely was a character, who I did not want to die, was killed off. It was an utter shock! The way Branagh played that scene conveyed real emotion and it broke my heart a little. [HBO Max]

• I tried my hand at a new vegetarian recipe this week: chickpea gyros. It's a lot of components but they are all tasty. The meal itself is easy to make, but the construction of my sandwich was lacking. Everything fell apart on my plate. Next time, I'll either warm the flatbread or just stuff a regular pita. I ate the leftovers by just tossing everything in a bowl. [40 Aprons]

• As a side to the chickpea gryos, I made roasted radishes. I love the peppery flavor of raw radishes, but that's not something the rest of my household enjoys. In roasting, the radishes became almost sweet. I thought the texture would be closer to roasted potatoes, but the insides were softer. I'm not sure if that was an error on my end, but it was just something unexpected. [Budget Bytes]

I have a friend who makes the cutest cookies as a side biz. Look at these adorable ghosts! [Sugar and Nutmeg]

Play Phrase let’s you type in some words and then shows you movie clips with those words. I assume people could use this for something productive, but I just think it’s fun to play around with. Free searches are limited to five clips per search, but that’s enough for me.

We leave for our WFH vacation and real vacation in less than a week. I have done nothing to plan for it yet. Whoops.