It's hard to believe that the last time I blogged, the phrases coronavirus or Covid-19, social distancing, and flatten the curve were nonexistent to our vocabulary. And in a month's time, our entire world has changed because of them. Schools have closed, gyms and restaurants and movie theaters are shut down, and many Americans are adjusting to a new normal of working from home offices while trying to home school kids. We traveled out of the country over Spring Break, a decision that was not an easy one, but we returned safely after six days on a sunny beach in Jamaica and were so glad we were able to get away. And now, our new normal. We are on day 5 of our 14-day self-quarantine. I have only left the house once for a much-needed grocery run. Beau has transformed the bar into his office and sends me random texts telling me when he'll be home at night. I am working on a virtual field experience for my college students with hopeful opportunities for them to build some fun learning partnerships with my friends' kids. We've built forts and Legos, started a quarantine cribbage tournament, cleaned closets and cooked a lot of food, watched movies, finished books, and doodled over the lunch hour with our favorite, Mo Willems. Overall, we are thankful for a cozy home to hunker down, a fridge full of food to eat, and jobs that allow us flexibility when so many others are working hard on the front lines of hospitals, government, and big businesses we depend on for our livelihood.
I have so much I'd like to write about, but one of the things that has continually stuck out to me throughout this Coronavirus pandemic is the creativity of people in the midst of a true crisis. Saturday night, we tuned in to a Facebook Live concert with our favorite local duo, Brad and Kate. There were around 600 other people watching, and we read comment after comment from local friends in their living rooms doing the exact thing we were doing. The kids got a little shout out, we recorded their dance moves and sent them to Taylor and Kate only to receive silly dance videos in return, and all crashed at the end of the night in a pile on the couch. The next day, I received a stationary bike on my front porch, personally delivered from the sweet owner of my favorite spin studio, Joywheel. In order to pay rent, Jess was able to rent out every single one of her bikes to members. This morning, I woke up at 5:45 and did a spin class via Facebook with one of my favorite instructors. And last night, we took our hoards of toilet paper and sat on our front porch for a few family pictures to capture this crazy time, courtesy of our neighbor and friend, Michelle Stricker. Michelle walked around the neighborhood to document families, all from a distance of course, and created a little series called "The Front Porch Project." Restaurants are transforming into "Victory Cafes" for Friday night takeout, barbecue joints are offering free kids' meals to anyone who might need one, people are using their sewing skills to craft handmade surgical masks, churches are leading Sunday morning worship for online service, and neighbors are decorating sidewalks and hiding teddy bears in windows for bear hunts. And I could go on and on and on. It's all too easy to get caught up in the endless and often depressing news cycle, but it's the everyday stories of people's resilience, creativity, and grit that give me a lot of hope in the middle of this storm.
And as funny as it may sound, I've maybe felt more connection the past five days than I do in an otherwise normal week of seeing many people throughout my day. Maybe it's because we aren't moving so fast. Yesterday, I realized I had all the ingredients for a mushroom and swiss quiche and doubled the batch to make two. I texted our next door neighbor to see if she liked mushrooms and she responded with an emphatic YES! And then she asked if we liked lattes in return. ;) We swapped breakfast dishes, and later swapped books! There's a shared, unique sense of fellowship when we're all fighting a common enemy and something tells me all this time spent under our roofs with our people may just open our eyes to some things we've been missing along the way. I'm looking forward to reading a little longer at bedtime, to more dinners around the table together, to celebrating the people who use their gifts to serve this world, and then celebrating even more when we all get to be together again. But for now...
The Jorgensen Academy of Excellence started today and so far we've had a great day of learning. But I don't think I should be the only one to tell that story. From now on, you'll be hearing from not only me, but a little third grader who will be working on his typing and contributing to this blog while home schooling with me. Cruz and I will take turns writing about our stories from quarantine. Please give him a shout out if you feel inspired to do so - I shared with him that writing for an audience is a pretty important skill to develop. :)
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