Items
topic_interest is exactly
pandemic summer
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2020
Magical Summer!
Because of all the restrictions in place last summer, it was hard to watch all the kids in the neighborhood try and find stuff to keep them occupied and happy. I live next door to three little girls. So one day, when they were not home, I built a small fairy house on the tree between our yards. The girls believed that a fairy had moved in and they couldn't be more excited. Every few days or so I would go and sprinkle glitter around the house so it looked like the fairy was walking around the house. It was so much fun to hear the girls yell in excitement when they saw new glitter or a new addition to the fairy house. It made them and happy and it made me happy. Of course, their parents knew it was me, but to their young imaginations, a real live fairy was living in their yard. -
2020-11-24
Mother and employee
Dana Adkins is a Mother that works at a summertime resort. She discusses how the pandemic impacted her job. Also discussed is how her children handled the changes to their routines. -
2020-04
No Disneyland this Summer
I started following a lady on Youtube and Instagram as I began preparations to go to Disney for the first time. This Youtuber gives advice on how to have a great Disney trip for introverts. Needless to say, my trip didn’t happen and neither did hers. -
2020-07
Stay Safe and Explore
A friend shared her story about exploring close to home. “It’s been a challenge... we want to be out and doing stuff but we also don’t want to be around people, so there has been several times we’ve gone to do something but it was too crowded so we just stayed in the car and drove around. We tried to find areas not as many people knew about.” -
2020-06-01
Take this time to explore your own town
Staying home all summer when you’re used to travel and exploring can leave you weary and unable to think of things you can do. I turned to google for some ideas and happened upon a website that gave great ideas for exploring locally. I live in Monterey, California and spent last summer exploring antique shops, boutiques, and interesting restaurants. I’ve never considered myself someone who enjoys the outdoors, but I had to try some of the ideas on this webpage because I was simply tired of being cooped up. There are so many places to explore. I took the time to explore 17 Mile Drive and Pebble Beach early in the day when few people were there. I must’ve stayed for hours just walking along the beach or the little trails. -
2020-05
Lake of the Ozarks Summer
While many places were shut down, tourism to the Lake of the Ozarks rose during the pandemic. There was even a visitor who attended a party at a crowded lake bar later test positive for the virus. -
2020-09-04
Busiest Summer Ever
This shows that a large number of people traveled to summer tourist destinations that were open. There were more visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks during the pandemic than there was in 2019. -
2020-08-29T10
Pandemic Birthday
The 3 of us became friends (more like family) when we started working together in a cultural institution/museum space. We have been in constant communication with each other, sharing resources and joy. 2 of us have a birthday a few days apart so we decided to spend it together! This is our birthday vision boards and a photo of us, -
2020-05
Finding Beauty in a COVID World: New York Sunset with a Mask
This image captures a raw New York COVID moment. This is on a roof in Washington Heights with a gorgeous view of the George Washington bridge. We asked a masked stranger to take this photo and immediately sanitized the phone afterwards. -
2020-06
Finding Beauty in a COVID World: Running Alongside the Locked Up Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden happens to be near where I reside in the Bronx. Every summer and spring my friends and I plan a few trips to this lovely place to experience all of the natural beauty of the garden. However, this year however, the “Botans,” as we like to call it, was closed for the entirety of the spring and a large chunk of summer due to the pandemic. I believe they are just now, in early August, starting to open with limited capacity. I decided to capture this photo on my run to illustrate how the garden’s beauty is able to penetrate the surrounding community even from outside the gates. You can see the lavender peeking up over the gate and we were able to take a look inside through the openings of the fence to appreciate the park’s beauty. My mask reads “New York Strong.” -
2020-06
Political Activism in the Midst of a Pandemic: BLM March Columbus Circle
A Black Lives Matter Protest is disbanded early due to the city curfew. I left this particular protest at 7pm to get home by 8pm but many people chose to stay. The NYPD started mass arresting groups of people who were out protesting after curfew. -
2020-06
Political Activism in the Midst of a Pandemic: Curfew is Moved to 8pm
On June 2nd, Mayor De Blasio changed the already established curfew from 11pm-5am to 8pm-5am. This was a very historical moment in New York, as there has never been any curfew enforced on the city in my lifetime and 8pm seemed very early. I worried for essential workers and anyone who had to rely on public transportation to get home for work, as they were arresting people who were out after 8pm if they did not have a valid excuse or explanation. Photo retrieved from the New York Times. -
2020-06-12
A Vegas-ish 40th Quarantine Style Birthday
At the start of 2020, my group of college friends planned a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate a dear friend's 40th birthday. As we all live in different areas of the country, it was clear by the start of April that the trip would not be happening due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After 20 years of friendship, we couldn't let a milestone like this pass us by. We decided to throw her an over the top Zoom birthday party. I put together party packs, complete with colorful wigs, dessert plates, confetti and cocktail stirrers, and sent to each party guest. The birthday girl's package had strict instructions directing her to wait to open right before the start of the party. Together, the guests made a photo slideshow that included the top 40 things that we love about our friend and read it to the guest of honor during the party. We also decided to make a cocktail together and brought our own desserts and candles so that we could sing to her. The group coordinated with her husband to make sure that she had the cocktail supplies and a dessert to join in the fun. It certainly wasn't what she had imagined for her 40th birthday. But it was unique, thoughtful, a lot of fun, and definitely a memory to last a life time. -
2020-04-07
Viva Las Vegas! CANCELLED
Contra Costa County COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders were announced on March 13, 2020. As is typical for me, my calendar was full of various activities in the summer months. I love summer! And, as a teacher, I have more freedom during the summer months to travel and to spend times with loved ones. One of the upcoming events I was most looking forward to was a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate one of my best friend from college's 40th birthday. Somewhere between college and now, life began to move at warp speed and we don't get as much time together as we would like. So, for many reasons, this was a major trip for us all. In early April, it was clear that the trip would no longer happen. We all received a text from the birthday girl letting us know the trip was officially cancelled. While I am sad, it is definitely the right decision. I am hopeful that 2021 will give us the opportunity to reschedule! It is hard to imagine that it could possibly be an entire year before we can all comfortably travel and be together once again.