I like being home during the weekdays, as I’ve gotten to do this week thanks to an arctic chill that blasted Denver with snow and negative and single digit temps. I like watching the daily rhythm of the animals. They play and bounce and chase toys in the morning. Then they fight for the blue chair by the window so they can watch the neighborhood happenings, and, in Ringo’s case, bark at the dogs who walk by. Finally they settle into a napping schedule. Ringo starts on the couch, Faye on the blue chair. Faye moves to her hidey hole cave bed, her paws just sticking out because she’s on her way to outgrowing it. As the sun moves across the sky and starts to shine in through the kitchen window, Ringo follows it, laying in the sun spot as it shifts across the kitchen floor. Sometimes Faye tussles with him for it. Eventually, they return back to the living room—Faye on the rug in the sun that’s now coming in through the front window and Ringo on the couch again. smacking his sleepy lips.

Working from home was something that began to feel strangely exhausting, claustrophobic, and isolating (and this coming from a pretty intense introvert) during the worst of the pandemic. I returned to the office in the spring of 2021, and was thrilled to see my coworkers, and rekindle and strengthen our friendships and relationships. The dynamic in our office certainly feels different, in the way that everything feels different now, and yet I like it. We share unexpected conversations that give us insight into each other’s lives. We plan for the possibility of Development Team Pastry Fridays. We are energized by each other’s dedication to our work.

However, in the last six or so months, I’ve begun to miss slow weekday mornings at home, easing into my workday, taking a break to workout or do laundry or walk Ringo, making lunch in the kitchen, running the Roomba (I love watching it cruise back into its home base). I wonder where the new in between, the new settling point, will be. Where will we all land after these years of upheaval, all the back and forth and readjusting? Will we even really know what kind of a life—professionally and personally—we want in the end? I’m not sure I do. I think I’m still figuring that out.