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 past Sunday, I biked to a nearby town to my college ... and visited a small vinyl store in a man’s garage. The bike ride was long and tiring, but I did not know what to expect when I reached this man’s house on a suburban street. Once I arrived, I was instantly surprised by this man’s collection of vinyl, turntables, and jukeboxes that reminded me of the music I grew up listening to. It was a welcome sight to see a place not seriously affected by the Coronavirus. I asked him how he manages to have a small business like this during COVID; he said sales of turntables rose as people stayed inside more and saw an influx of people asking him to fix their machines. He seemed in excellent spirit, singing along to the music and showing off individual records. I thought about this experience and the joy it brought him to discuss music and show me his turntables and it reminded me of the power of these compositions. The music itself has become increasingly important to sustain my mental health and let me for a second forget what we are going through and be submerged by the music. And as I reflected on my music dependence, I realized how important it has become in a Pandemic. We listen to music to remember the past and the times that things were normal; we listen to music to daydream, remind us of people, and marvel at the artist’s talent. Once an artist releases a song, it becomes a constant, does not waver or die, and is cemented in history. We should recognize this with all the uncertainty in the time of COVID; we are provided with a haven that can take us out of the current crisis.
October 20, 2020
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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.
I did not join family last year for Christmas. But this year I flew to the Denver area and spent the holiday with my niece's family. It was 3 days of chaos, as I suspected it would be. Most of that whirled around 1.5 and 4.5 year old girls. They both had nasty coughs. My sister caught that bug, too. But no one tested positive for Covid. So far, I have escaped it. Last Christmas I joined 2 friends at the dog park. This year my sister and I went to Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs. It has some amazing rock formations and the Rocky Mountains form the back drop. That's Pikes Peak in the background of the picture I uploaded. I had hoped to learn more about the role this place played in the lives of the indigenous people who lived in Colorado thousands of years before Europeans arrived. But there was no information available at the park and there is little information online. All of the "landmarks" have European-centric names like "Kissing Camels," "Balance Rock," and "Cathedral Spires." In fact, it was 2 white men who named the area, thinking it would make a great beer garden. I'm sure the indigenous people who knew these rock formations had names for them. So, I've made two trips to the Denver area during this pandemic. And now I will make the best of winter and cold and hope the next Covid variant doesn't crash the world. I got my booster shot in August. That gives me 2 more months of what ever protection I have. By the way, most people I saw in a large grocery store in the Denver area were not wearing masks. How sad.
January 1, 2022