Between pruning, weeding, and replacing plants, springtime spells the return of allergy season, but at least provided warm weather to enjoy our neighborhood. Earlier this month, Westley joined his first Easter egg hunts at the local park and church in between batting pinatas at his friends’ birthday parties at Pioneer park. We also did some spring cleaning with our windows washed, car detailed, and outdoor counter sealed. By the time I was boarding my flight to New Orleans for ARVO, I was too tired to be productive, and instead binge-watched all of Netflix’s Beef. I was impressed not only by Allie Wong’s acting and Steven Yeun’s singing, but also the traumedy’s delicate blend of emotions and dark humor. My conference trip was short, sweet, and efficient. With the exception of my first night’s mediocre Cajun dinner with my lab and ex-post-doc, my subsequent meals were hits – including fresh gulf oysters at Peche, fried oysters at Herbsaint, and oyster po’boy at Felix’s. I also made a solo run for Cafe du Monde beignets on the way to cheer on my two students at their talks before my flight home. Sadly, my whole family fell sick shortly after my return, and despite initially testing negative for COVID, turned out to be the real thing. We quarantined at home for the remainder of the week over seaweed soup, bun rieu, hot pot, and ramen kits from Tokyo. I even made a solo grocery run to 99 Ranch to stock up for our continuing journey through the Lands Between, as we await with excitement our next video game adventure.