Items

• 
  2021-07-27

  San Diego Zoo Safari Park

  Looking back at my camera roll, I chose this picture as the subject of this assignment. The picture reminded me of the first trip that I took, a year after COVID happened. The summer of 2021, my family and I were able to take a trip to San Diego, California and we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. I am a lover of nature and I enjoy the scenery and being able to appreciate the simple beauty of plants and animals. As any other normal traveler would do, I snapped a bunch of pictures as I was walking through the safari park zoo. I snapped this picture as I was on the tram and we were observing the large animals (rhinoceros, giraffes, etc.). This particular picture spoke to me, becuase I saw it as the first time I could actually enjoy the simplicity of having the means to travel and enjoy the beauty of the outside world, after being cooped up for so long. Since I live in the Phoenix area, it is not often that I get to see lily ponds or vibrant plants/animals in my area. I remember feeling free and appreciative of having the means to travel and see the outside world again.
• 2020-09

  Yosemite COVID Camping

  Living in San Diego at the time, once travel restrictions were lifted, I went to Yosemite National Park as I thought being in an outdoor open-air environment would mean less COVID-19 restrictions. As an avid backpacker and nature enthusiast, I could not wait for the national parks to reopen so once Yosemite opened its proverbial doors I jumped on the opportunity, as I had never been there before. My memories of the trip are very fond ones. I remember the emptiness throughout the park. One of the COVID restrictions implemented by the park was the limitation of people who could enter on a daily basis. Due to this finite number of visitors, and me being one of them, this made the park feel fairly empty, which was amazing. Not having congested trails and camps made my trip seem like I was in some remote forest, vice one of the most famous national parks. So, besides the stunning views and crisp air, one of my primary memories is the feeling of seclusion throughout my time due to COVID-19 entrance restrictions. Also, I remember a lack of masks and overall COVID-19 consciousness throughout the park. Even though the park had a mandatory mask policy, I remember not seeing many masked people. I honestly thought the mask restriction was overkill due to the already implemented restrictions and being outside, but I did notice we all would use masks if coming near other people on trails. Yosemite still had several COVID-19 restrictions implemented throughout the part. Aside from the aforementioned entrance cap and masks, all their restaurants, hotels and general facilities remained closed. Also, they spaced out the campsites, so each camp had at least one camp space between them, limiting the sharing of space. They even closed specific trails due to the lack of workers at any given time. The park employees were few and far in-between due to a COVID-19 restriction, which meant less accessible trails since they would not supervise them all with such limited manpower. Besides that, the COVID-19 restrictions were not abundant, which was likely a product of the open-air environment.
• 
  2020-07-22

  Comic-Con 2020

  This photo was taken during what would have been Preview Night of San Diego Comic Con in 2020. Fans made a shrine of art, flowers, and merchandise at the Tin Fish restaurant directly across the street from the San Diego Convention Center.
• 
  2020-05

  Staying Active

  San Diego has always been known for its beautiful beaches, especially during the spring and summer seasons. Normally beaches would be crowded with people laying about and basking in the sun. But this photo shows the opposite. During the lockdowns in Spring 2020, outdoor activity was encouraged for anyone who wanted to stay active. The beach was no exception. However, we could not just go to the beach to relax; we had to stay walking and moving around. There was more enforcement at the beach to make sure everyone was moving and had their masks on. Due to the lack of travel, the beach crowd was smaller than normal. Parts of the beach were even blocked off to discourage people from going too far and breaking rules. Distancing rules were enforced pretty much everywhere.
• 2020-07-13

  The Last Man on Earth

  I run almost every day. During the summer of 2020, I was undergoing prostate salvage radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is sometimes proscribed after one has their prostate removed. I ran no less during the prostate radiation therapy. I've always eaten healthy food. Still, I drank water more regularly during radiation therapy. Driving from my home to the Anderson Cancer Center was an enjoyable experience, mostly because the freeway was so deserted–there were almost no cars on the road. I live in uptown San Diego, so my long runs take me through downtown San Diego. Before each run, I spend a few minutes practicing martial arts. I imagine the neighbors watching me thought I was having some kind of fit. After warming up with martial arts, I start my run. The first place my run takes me is through the Hillcrest community, usually a place with the lively hustle and bustle of people moving about, but on this day, Hillcrest was deserted. Most restaurants were closed, and a few people were milling about–Hillcrest was a ghost town. It reminded me of the town portrayed in the 1973 film High Plains Drifter. Folks were hiding, hiding from COVID by hiding from each other. From Hillcrest, my run took me through downtown San Diego where the streets were equally deserted. The deserted streets reminded me of running through another movie, the 1964 film, The Last Man on Earth. I imagined inhuman monsters were preparing to spread COVID that would spring into action without warning. Of course, all this fantasizing made my daily run even more fun and pleasurable. I could let my imagination wander momentarily, then return to the peaceful meditation of running through deserted streets. The COVID protocols made possible the escape from the COVID reality itself. I'm convinced the long runs played a vital role in mitigating the effects of radiation therapy.
• 
  2020-08-16

  Mask Breath and Swamp Mouth

  In 2020 it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 + Celsius) in August in the eastern area of San Diego, California. I was working as a delivery driver for Amazon delivering packages around greater San Diego County. Having been about six months into the pandemic, masks were required pretty much everywhere. For health and safety, we were required to wear those masks while delivering. The picture above shows me wearing one of the masks which is made of cotton and double layered. These masks have a sleeve inside to insert a filter. Elastic strips with a stopper on the end goes around the ears to hold the mask over the nose and mouth. Because this mask irritated my ears, I took a bread wrapper twist and hooked it to the back and tied it so it wouldn't sit on my ears and was instead tied around the back of my head. This jerry rigged mask led to a tighter fit on my face. This in turn led to sweat and moisture collecting in the fabric of the mask throughout the day which led to an extremely pungent stench because of the sweat, mucus from a runny nose, and stinky breath. The other issue that caused more distress was the soaked mask. Especially on this particularly hot day, I was essentially breathing through a wet rag. Breathing through my mouth was the only option because my nose wasn't strong enough to draw in enough air. Climbing up stairs and up and down drive ways made it more difficult to breath. I had to take intermittent breaks to pull down the mask to get air and breath fresh air. Needless to say, mints, gum, and breath freshener was regularly on hand after this day. Along with lots and lots of water.
• 
  2020-05-20

  Jeff Plapp Oral History, 2020/03/20

  C19OH
• 
  2020-06

  BLM

  In the beginning of 2020, fear and uncertainty resonated within everyone’s mind. Face masks and social distancing became the norm. Shops, restaurants, and bars closed their doors. Social events were either postponed or cancelled. People fought loneliness and depression. I gave birth to my first child in March of 2020, a week after stay at home orders were announced. I was allowed one visitor the entire hospital stay due to strict COVID precautions. To this day, my child has never met his extended family in person. The pandemic taught many of us that life is precious and should never be taken for granted. It has been an eye opener for many and a reminder that we have a lot of work ahead of us. As the COVID-19 cases rapidly increased, more evidence of police brutality and racism surfaced on the internet. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others made most Americans question authority. Political controversy divided our nation. Asian Americans were blamed for the spread of COVID-19 and Asian elders were attacked in broad daylight. Although there were many instances of hate crimes, many also stood in solidarity amid a global pandemic. The pictures I’ve shared were taken by a family friend during the Black Lives Matter protests in San Diego on June 2020.
• 
  2021-04-14

  California teachers are getting one-time stipends as incentives and hazard pay

  As much as there are "reopening schools" supporters, there are about as much hesitant to do so. You might hear the hesitations from concerned parents and children, but school employees experience it as well. Schools are typically crowded and people are in close quarters at almost all times of the day. Although California regulations are to remain 3-6 feet apart in and out of classrooms, it continues to be a difficult challenge. Moreover, such precautions might lessen the spread but they're not guaranteed. This is where aid funds in the form of stipends come in. These stipends are displays of gratitude, used as an incentive and, unfortunately, hazard pay. More than $2 billion will be distributed across 42 K-12 school districts in the San Diego region. Stipends vary, however. There are one-time stipends for Lakeside school district teachers who have taught since October 1, 2020 of $450 to $900. Special education teachers in the same district will receive more, about $500 to $1000. Despite the incentives, there is an ongoing conflict over who is eligible for the stipend (to my personal surprise). One argued that only employees returning to campus are eligible, while there was a debate over whether those teaching since Fall 2020 should even be compensated for. If this were the criteria, it should simply be an incentive to return as the act of “being appreciative” would not exclude any teachers who have and will continue to work during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-04-01

  Live theaters get long-awaited reopening guidelines from state, but many hurdles remain

  San Deigo County has issued reopening guidelines for theatres. This marks the first time the theatres will be able to reopen in over a year. However, with the new guidelines theatres fear being accused of privacy violations.
• 
  2020-08-17

  Community Paramedics Help Protect Homeless Populations from Covid

  This article discusses the use of community paramedics in the Covid-19 prevention efforts for San Diego's homeless population. Community paramedics are specifically trained paramedics that shift their focus from the treatment/transport to the hospital model, to a home-care model where the patient receives treatment and stays at home. In this case, they are being used to staff clinics at homeless shelters to provide care and Covid testing to their homeless population. The article references a 2017 hepatitis A outbreak in their homeless population and how that event has influenced the efforts during Covid to prevent a major homeless population Covid-19 outbreak. The article also explains the complexities of running these clinics but that it is worthwhile to aid a community that is among the most vulnerable to Covid.
• 
  2021-03-20

  Michele Gable Oral History, 2021/03/21

  Michele Gable is a wife and mother living in a small suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. In her oral history, Michele reflects upon life before COVID-19 and shares how the pandemic has affected both her home and work life. She highlights her experience contracting a severe case of COVID-19 and how she navigated being around her family throughout her sickness. As an insurance underwriter, Michele describes the advantages of working from home while being ill and how her company handled her sick leave after the virus evolved into COVID-19 pneumonia. She shares the ongoing medical issues she still suffers from months after initially recovering as well as her thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccine as well as wearing masks.
• 2021-01-06

  My COVID-19 Christmas

  Over my Christmas break, I had a very similar Christmas to a normal one. I got the gifts that I had wished for and I went to San Diego. This has been a tradition in my family. We went and stayed on a marine core base and stayed in cabins on the beachfront. We went on bike rides through Pacific beach and we had pizza from Big Bob's Pizza. We had a great experience, however, we had to wear our masks everywhere. In every store, restaurant, or town, everyone was wearing masks. Aside from this minor inconvenience, my family and I had an incredible time over Christmas break and in San Diego.
• 
  2020-11-29

  Pandemic life

  I wanted to submit my experiences with the pandemic so that historians in the future can get a complete image of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-11-15

  Faces of the arts shutdown: Nathan Hubbard: ‘As far as I know, everything is off the table’

  The San Diego Union-Tribune has published a short series chronicling local musician's experiences and struggles during COVID-19. This story is about drummer Nathan Hubbard and how he has gone from performing almost every day to having very little work.
• 
  2020-07-12

  California becomes the second state with more than 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases

  California became the second state to reach one million known COVID-19 cases on Thursday. On Wednesday, Texas became the first state to reach this milestone. The US in total has surpassed 10 million infections.
• 2020-10-27

  Home is Not a Place, But a Feeling

  In San Ramon, I feel lonely. I don’t feel like here is where my home is. Whenever I go to San Diego or am with my sister I feel happy again and at home. I feel safe with her. I feel free driving down a winding road with the windows down, music blasting, and wind harshly hitting my face and blowing my hair in every direction. I like getting to eat good, homemade meals at her house. It’s my escape from the “real world’ or the days in San Ramon that repeat themselves endlessly. I remember going to the beach and feeling the sand in my hands as I usually nervously play with it when there isn’t any conversation. I hear my sister’s friends making a hut and blasting their speakers. I remember walking further to be alone and sitting right before the shore. I listen to my own music in my earbuds and feel the tears start streaming down my face. My sister comes over to find me and laughs, not at me but because she doesn’t understand why I’m crying and knows I shouldn’t be sad at least not now. I begin to laugh too because I’m only crying since I wish I could live there too. This memory is important to me because it was such a fun trip and I feel most comfortable in San Diego or just when I’m with her. She understands completely how I always feel and validates why I act certain ways. In the dark days of Covid and having the same conversations over and over in San Ramon, San Diego is where I go to break that cycle and stay sane to be honest. It’s my motivation to keep trying and to stay calm since I know no matter what I get to go down and see her again and again.
• 
  2020-06-04

  In Harm's Way: Marching for Justice

  After months of isolation and spending time away from direct contact with large groups, I could not help but feel a sense of anxiety and fear of the repercussions that others and I myself may have to deal with by taking part in this march. There is no escaping the news of this pandemic. News stations, social media, coworkers, friends, and family have provided me with daily reminders about the severity of COVID-19. So why am I, along with thousands of other residents of San Diego, leaving the safety of our homes and breaking the rules of our lockdowns to combat this deadly virus? Unfortunately, we could not unsee what the police had done to George Floyd. There was no erasing those eight minutes and forty-six seconds from our memory. Witnessing this reminded us of Breonna Taylor and the lives of other Black Americans who have lost their lives from mistakes made by the police. Although we were in harm’s way, we felt like this is where we needed to be. We needed to show the world that enough was enough and taking this risk was worth sending a message. With every step, I felt my sense of fear about the COVID-19 began to subside. In its place, a sense of purpose began to take over. After nine miles of marching, I did not feel like an individual dangerously swimming through countless transmissions of the virus. I felt one with the people.
• 
  05/24/2020

  Lauren Mottles Oral History, 2020/05/21

  This is a recorded conversation with a teaching colleague, Lauren, who works as the Math Department Chair at St. James Academy in San Diego. Since the beginning of the pandemic, and especially in California since the stay at home order on March 17th, teachers have done the incredible in teaching their students at a distance. Lauren shares her experiences at her school, reflections, and thoughts on the current state of education.
• 
  2020-05-08

  Kawasaki Disease parent advocate explains the science of KD after recent fears that Covid-19 causes Kawasaki Disease.

  I am a parent advocate for Kawasaki Disease. I have given talks at symposiums for parents, groups and doctors and run the Kawasaki Disease Northern California Facebook pages. Levi my son is a 2X survivor and had Kawasaki shock syndrome the first time it nearly took his life. He is 11 now and wants to help me educate the community. About a month ago doctors in the UK announced a Kawasaki like illness in children who were diagnosed with Covid-19. Since that time I have received numerous messages and phone calls from concerned community members. This video was made to alleviate fears and encourage people to donate to read watch that has begun at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.
• 
  2020-03-22

  Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians Encourages Community Not to Spread Rumors and Misinformation

  “The County of San Diego has reported today, April 22, 2020, that there is one confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in the area covered by Pala’s zip code, 92059. By law, the County is not able to provide any identifying information about who this individual is, where they live, or their current health status (i.e. hospitalized, quarantined at home, etc.)…The dots on that map are not associated with any specific address; rather, they are placed in the geographic center of the area the zip code covers. Therefore, the dot on the map for Pala is not indicating where the confirmed positive individual lives…I encourage you not to spread rumors or misinformation about this case or make any attempt to discover who the confirmed positive individual may be. This is private information that none of us has, and spreading rumors only serves to stir up fear and panic.” #IndigenousStories
• 
  2020-04-30

  Return to the beach not to normal life

  I wish I could explain the emotion that was felt the moment this picture was taken. When Covid first came about and the city began to shut down, it was the ocean that gave people in my city comort. I live in a small beach town in San Diego county. Surfing and going to the beach is an everyday thing. The ocean to many in the area is our church. The beach and the ocean is where we go to celebrate, to think, to heal our hearts after a break up. Being with our toes in the sand gives some of us strength more than breathing. When Covid happened we all lost our life source when they closed the beach. They first closed the beach to staying tanning and sitting and reading. This was a hard adjustment as going to the beach to meditate and talk to the universe and set my intentions and manifestations was something I have done almost daily for 35 years. But it was okay, we could still walk the beach and we could still feel the toes in our sand and feel the waves crashing against our legs. The day they closed the beach, it started to rain and it rained for days. Its as if the universe and the Gods all felt our loss. This past month being stuck in the house has been so feeling like being in a bucket of lobsters and they are all struggling to get out. Its funny to think just some sand and some water can have such an affect on a person. As I type this I have tears streaming down my face and I can remember that beautiful moment yesterday when finally getting back to the beach. The moment my toes touched the sand and felt the water, it was as though it was easier to breathe. In speaking and keeping social distancing to some of the surfers and locals around and about, I discovered that I was not the only one that felt that way. So many people see the ocean and the beach as their church, their religion, the thing that gives them strength, hope, courage and comfort. The ocean is like a giant warm hug with side of hot cocoa. The water looks so brown and gross I know, but if you check out the waves at the beach at night, this is the time when the waves show off their bilolumencent glow! At night its a beautiful mixture of glowing blue, purple and white. Such a great reward from mother nature for enduring the time away.
• 
  2020-04-28

  California beaches closed and empty

  This is a photograph of a beach located in my hometown (Carlsbad, CA). Due to COVID-19, beaches in the San Diego area have been temporarily closed. No one is allowed to surf, swim, walk, or sit on the sand. If you look closely, you will see caution tape on the stairs and other entrances to the beach have been blocked off. This is a beach town, the beach is never empty and temperatures have been in the 80s. We are entering the time of year where the beach is the most popular and fun thing to do, but now any beach plans will be cancelled until further notice. #REL101
• 
  2020-04-02

  Column: COVID-19 inspires a Catholic church to offer drive-thru confessions

  The article talks about how due to the effects of COVID-19 churches have had to close their doors to the public. With doing so it added a lot of limitations on what people can do as part of their faith. Thearticle follows a church in San Diego, California where confessions were made available in a "alternative" form. The Church was having confessions in the form of a drive-through, this would allow people to be cleansed from their sins, and still be considered "holy" by the time easter came around.