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  2020-08-26

  Grandpa & Gracie

  I’ve missed my Grandpa terribly, but we’ve able to bond during the pandemic through a continuous email exchange concerning my dog. I’ll send him photos, and he’ll help me conspire ways to keep her safe from falling in our pool. We’ve been able to connect through our shared love of Gracie, even though we haven’t seen him or my Grandma for months. It’s been one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had in this plague year, especially because Grandpa is mostly deaf and can’t communicate well in person. It’s interesting how technology (and Gracie!) have facilitated connection between us. For a nonagenarian, he’s probably more proficient with technology than I am!
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  2020-07-10

  New Arrivals

  HIST30060 Perhaps the most unexpected event in 2020 (bushfires and pandemic aside) for my family was the arrival of a proud mother duck with ten tiny ducklings. They’ve declared dominion over our pool and taken up permanent residence. I think it’s been cathartic for everyone to watch them grow and spread their wings – literally! The ducklings are just one of a number of new arrivals. We’ve also had currawongs, cockatoos, pigeons, doves, magpies and butcherbirds. They come and chill in the backyard, and mum makes sure they’re appropriately fed and watered. We think that we’ve had so many newcomers to our menagerie because of the bushfires at the start of the year, which destroyed a lot of natural habitat. But we also think the pandemic has played a role: with so many people spending all their exercise/recreational time in parks and nature reserves, disturbed birds have fled for greener pastures. I think it’s important to divorce ourselves from our own experiences of the plague year and consider how the pandemic has affected the natural world around us. We’re not alone in confronting change, and it would be selfish to only consider human experiences.
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  2020-09-26

  Family Fights

  HIST30060 My family is pretty large: I have two brothers, a sister….and a whole menagerie of animals! Gracie dog is the best, but we also have another dog, several cats, a rabbit, and a variety of feathered friends. My siblings live interstate, so we’ve been barred from seeing them since February because of border restrictions. During lockdown, we’ve been keeping in touch by having consistent arguments on our family group chat about how to rank our pets from best to worst. My brother frames it like a ‘best and fairest medal’, as you’d receive in sport. The conversations remind me of when we all used to live together at home, and they’ve provided a nice reprieve from more ominous discussions about the pandemonium enveloping society. I think the notion of ‘reprieve’ is central to the power of animals in this plague year: they distract us from our pandemic woes and force us to take a sabbatical from our anxieties.
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  2020-09-01

  Digital Barkive

  HIST30060 I created an Instagram account during Victoria’s first lock-down to chronicle my experiences with my dog during the pandemic. It’s from Gracie’s perspective and purely for fun, but I think it also represents a rudimentary ‘barkive’ with insight into how ‘stay-at-home’ mandates provided refreshed impetus to interact with our furry friends and rely upon them for comfort and companionship.
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  2020-07-21

  Pets in the Pandemic

  HIST30060 It’s been difficult not seeing friends and family, but one stalwart of this year has been Gracie: my beautiful four-legged companion. Gracie’s been a source of much needed support this year, accompanying me on my daily allotted exercise and stopping for regular belly rubs. She’s cut through the pandemonium and provided me with a constant supply of love and laughter. I think pets have outperformed themselves this year, especially when human connection has been sparse due to restrictions. ‘History from below’ might not literally mean below knee-level, but I think considering the experience of pets during the pandemic will be a valuable avenue of historical enquiry.