Featured Refresh
Text & Image
How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
For the past couple of years I have collected autumn leaves that have freshly fallen. I usually tuck them in the pages of a book and they become pleasant little surprises when I open a leafed book. This year I was going to do that and photograph them using a great ultra macro lens I bought for my Nikon camera. I picked up vibrant or interesting leaves, set them on my dining room table that has become my mini photo studio, and...nothing. Within a few hours the leaves dry and shrivel. Plus, that great lens is less great because I have cataracts and I can't see well enough to closely focus on whatever I put in front of that lens. But, I can use a different lens and take pictures of leaves that are still attached to a tree. This one was taken in October when I went on a photo trip to the Leelenau Peninsula. The leaves are importantly predictable. They mark the beginnings of withering daylight and hard cold that eventually slips gently into longer days and green. I hate the cold and the dark. I sang 4 concerts this past weekend, fully masked. There were 80 of us onstage, shoulder to shoulder. We were all masked and vaccinated, but Omicron now stands in the wings. Who knows when it will enter and how it will change us. The leaves loosened by fading sunlight and cold temperatures are predictable and at least dazzle us with color. Covid isn't predictable and it doesn't dazzle.
December 8, 2021
Text Only
Talk about how the pandemic has affected your closest relationships.
The pandemic has been a really weird time to live through. I see so many changes in my closest relationships that it might be hard to pinpoint. My own kids have gone through times where they have felt isolated and unmotivated. Having two high schoolers in distance learning was interesting. I felt at times like I was part teacher, part cheerleader in helping them maintain their enthusiasm for their coursework. Some of the time this caused some “friction” between us because I was helping them more than usual stay on top of things. One other major change was my relationship with my dad. He’s 76, lives alone. We used to see him every weekend, but for safety reasons we kept him isolated. We still talk on the phone every day of course, but admittedly, it’s different. Now that everyone is vaccinated in our home, we will be able to see each again, right in time for Father’s Day! As for my local friends it has been weird not seeing them - but for my far away friends - I had more time to reach out and talk and now text more frequently. Lots of changes!
June 17, 2021