Featured Refresh
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
This is the scene of utter luxury. It’s early dawn. I have the house—and the world—to myself. I’ve opened both screen doors to let in the sounds of birds and breezes before the sounds of people intrude. There’s an occasional streetcar sound—much fewer lately, because who really wants to get on public transportation in the middle of a pandemic. Few cars—many of us are still working from home, or simply staying put, because that is what is called for these days, four months into quarantine, going on five. Our gardens this year flourish with cucumber leaves measuring 10” across and down. They climb the deck’s trellis more than seven feet high, protecting tomatoes, zucchini and, of course, cucumbers, from the hot sun which will soon burn away the clouds. Once the sun emerges, I’ll have to close those sliding doors, and rely on a/c to keep the summer heat from making this room unbearably hot. For now, the doors remain open, blowing gentle breezes across the chair. See that book on the side table? It’s the first paper book I’ve read in a long time, as opposed to opening the kindle app on my iPad. When it drew me into its story, I felt the familiar comfort of losing myself in pages, where I meet interesting characters, and forget the news, the void, the universe. We built this room just last year, replacing a dilapidated deck with structure designed to be totally opened to feel the fresh air, and yet closed to — while still being close to — the elements when necessary, which is most of the time in New England. We used to access this space only a few weeks a year. Enclosed, it has become my favorite hideout—day and night, and especially really early morning. We built it as a room for company. In lockdown, it is a room for reflection, for conversation, for writing and simple breathing. A space to think. A place of my own, before the day begins.
July 29, 2020
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Think about the people closest to you. Tell us about how the coronavirus has affected them, and their life.
Coronavirus has affected everyone in my family to one extent or another. My father's mother passed away in late March (not COVID related), and we were unable to have a funeral for her. That has really negatively affected my grandfather, who is in his early 90s and has to live alone knowing his wife was not properly laid to rest. My dad has been compartmentalizing that, I know. Pushing it away because there's nothing that can be done now. He has also had to start working from home, which he's actually really good at and it keeps him busy. But I know that getting away from the house is good for anyone's moral, and being home all day definitely raises the tensions among us all. My mother's father had an accident while wood-working in his garage and had to have surgery on his hand. We aren't able to go visit with them like we want to because my grandparents are especially strict with the restrictions due to my grandpa's various health ailments. Both my sister and I were laid off from our jobs, my sister's college graduation ceremony got canceled, school for the second semester this year went online completely. My partner decided to move from his apartment back home in Virginia because he has also been working online. He seems to be doing well, and loves to be surrounded by his family when he gets the chance, but as a Black man he is definitely having an increasingly hard time dealing with the emotional labor around the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and now Rayshard Brooks. He's been vocal and participated in protests, and is also concerned about catching coronvirus because he has bad asthma. There are so many people who are having a harder time than I am, and all I can do is be thankful and use the privilege that I have right now to advocate for others that do not have that same kind of privilege and try to make the world a better place for all of us.
June 30, 2020