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 week I was really struck by this quote “Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go”, and I really tried to concentrate on that beauty, with varied success. Fall is usually my favorite time of year. It means camping, bike riding, visiting family, and hikes with friends. Catching the last warm days at the beach when the water is warmer than the air, and swimming is exhilarating. The world changes color. The light at sunset makes greens greener, and yellows yellower, for just a short time. Then slowly the leaves start to fall and the light fades and the colors that dressed the “forest’s fashion show” are left scattered on the ground. Then one last hoorah, to walk through leaf piles, and listen to the music of the shushing of dried leaves dancing around feet shuffling through them. The shades and shapes of brown, and the occasional dazzling burst of reds and yellows painted by some invisible hand. That’s the beauty of autumn letting go. The hard part is realizing many of the joys this year were missed because of Covid, so letting go became more the focus. The challenge was, and is, to stay focused in the present and not worry about the coming cold, increased isolation, and the after effects of the election. Feels like a double whammy this year, but maybe that makes this quote even more poignant...”how beautiful it is to let things go”...
October 27, 2020
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How has the pandemic affected your work, or your schoolwork? Give an example or two.
This photograph is of my school schedule, which will start in approximately a week. Here's what I wrote about in in my last blog post: "Also, schools are opening up in my area. There's been very little communication from them about what in-person/hybrid learning is going to look like, even though they've already asked us to commit to one option (hybrid) or another (completely virtual). I got interviewed by the local paper about it, and that interview should show up tomorrow or the day after. The way that the school district has decided to reopen is classes in the morning online, followed by class either online or in person, depending which option you opted in to. There are two in-person cohorts (one goes into school on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the other on Thursdays and Fridays) and one virtual cohort. There is no school on Wednesdays, which has been the case throughout virtual school and will continue to be the case in hybrid mode. Though hybrid school starts in a week, no one knows what cohort they belong to. Evidentially, communication is not Seattle Public Schools' strong suit. Oh well, right?" Schoolwork is definitely going to be very different than it is now. I won't be able to google questions on the homework that I don't understand, ha ha. And I won't be able to multitask and do other work during class. I'll have to actually get dressed in the morning. Also, I've never been in the building before and have no idea where my classes are, which should be interesting. I'm sure there'll be a lot of other change, too, but I can't think of any at this moment.
April 10, 2021