For the past year and a half, we've been living in Connecticut with family. It's been earthy, warm, and cozy, and a fascinating experience of multi-generational living. The locale itself is very different from anywhere else I've ever lived or spent time in. Somewhere between suburban and rural, slightly closer to rural: very wooded, a rotation of only several restaurants nearby, and a quiet and restorative pace to life. 

It's time to go back to NYC full-time though! Even though I've enjoyed my time out here, I have felt homesick for the city and for what makes up my community. This is our last month here, and this week kicked off the goodbye:

1. bit by a tick ! 
While I've been out here, I've become a bit of a gardener (though mostly via weeding). I am constantly warned of ticks, and somehow escaped most of my time here without a bite. But this week I finally got my Connecticut Credentials™ by getting bit by a tick (!!), while harvesting a beautiful crop of bok choy a family friend grew for me 🥬💛. Obviously, tick bites are no joke and this could have been very bad if I didn't catch it early, but am glad I have the experience under my belt so I know what to look out for in future

on the right: holding onto the tick so if my health takes a bad turn, we can take the tick in for testing to figure out what I might be dealing with

and, I get bit by mosquitos everywhere, no matter where I am, but continuing the theme of creepy crawlies I also got bit by a mosquito this week , , , this time on my 👁lid 

Hey You Guys

and to commemorate the bug-laden week, here's a temp tattoo of a bug on my ankle

2. a carnival ! that whole americana thing 

no rides for us because we saw Class Action Park

Sure, we have Coney Island in NYC and I also used to live above Williamsburg's Giglio Fest, but being an urbanite, I can't help but romanticize rural carnivals à la The Notebook. I played whack-a-mole for the first time and won a lil moocow

3. ciao
while we've been here much longer than we thought we would be, we've gotten really used to things. I've come to know the area better than I ever thought I would. It's been a safe haven for us during a scary and uncertain 2020, and it does feel weird to finally say I'm leaving a place that I was lingering in, but didn't fully feel that I belonged to. While we used to go places and visit different sights to attempt distraction in such a placid place, it feels a bit like we're going places to say bye now

( ﾟдﾟ)つ Bye