I've thought a lot about risk assessment and tolerance today. As a result of some conversations I've had, I'm aware that Noah and I may be unwelcome at some social gatherings tentatively planned for Prague. It stung—it still stings—but there is absolutely nothing to be done for it; we did a detailed risk assessment and made a decision that not everyone in attendance may find comfortable. It may well just be us, on our own, for five weeks.

I've started calling it "The Zombie Apocalypse Game."

• Don't get bitten, sneezed, or coughed on.
• Wear your amulets, your gauntlets.
• Carry your warding cloths.
• Use your potions.

While picking up a couple of last-minute items at Fred Meyer, we were bemused to note the outages of hand sanitizer and tissues:

Hope you don't need hand sanitizer!
by domesticat. Hope you don't need tissues!
by domesticat.

It's good to know that others want to carry warding cloths and potions, too.

Today, we bought a gorgeous hardback copy of Emily Wilson's new translation of The Odyssey for shared reading on the trip; something about that choice of book feels right and satisfying to my soul. A sprawling story about the lure of adventure and yearning for home feels exactly right for a trip deeply fraught with uncertainty, and the idea of sharing pages back and forth with Noah is a pleasure.

Perhaps it can be our spellbook.