****
(That's whatever four-word epithet you imagine it being, FWIW.)
It's just been one of those weeks. Kid's was sick for about 6 days straight, spouse was busy with classwork, trying to dodge the virus that took down most of extended family, trying to keep things from going to hell at work, watching everything go to hell in Washington, and just when it seemed like things might've been looking a bit better on a whole different front it, well, clearly wasn't.
It can be really hard to remain optimistic and positive when everything seems like it's on fire around you (mentally insert “itsfine.jpg” here), especially for someone like me who is a natural pessimist and general misanthrope. We've got planes transporting sick kids falling from the sky into residential neighborhoods, military helicopters flying into commercial jets over the nation's capital, a president who blames air traffic accidents on DEI, an unelected South African Nazi getting to pull the plug on parts of our government just because he gave an angry yam-man a bunch of money, oh, and then one of the people I love most in this world has seemingly decided to literally just give up and well, I don't want to think about that in too rich detail right now.
It can feel like too much. It does feel like too much right now. I tooted earlier today that I wanted to just quit and go live in the woods somewhere, and yeah, that does sound really appealing. Hollow out a tree stump, live with my pet falcon, and leave the world behind (I'll take my wife and son with me, but it'll mean I might have to upgrade to a cave instead of a tree stump =/)