Items

• 
  2021-07-16

  Since we can go anywhere... Why not Texas? Go big or stay home!

  We didn't know anyone in Texas, but we knew a few people from there, and they were nice. We didn't know anything about San Antonio except that the Alamo was there (we remembered that), and the internet said it had a Six Flags. We had no reason to go anywhere, except that it was July of 2021 and I had just finished what I could only hope would be the most difficult year of my teaching career (turns out it was). We had a tax return in the bank and a fire in our eyes. It was go time. We didn't have to fly there. It cost a lot more, and neither my wife nor I had ever flown in an airplane as children. But then again, we hadn't endured a Pandemic as children either; so we flew. How did this random trip turn out? Magical. The hotel was expensive, but my daughters loved the pool. The Alamo was full of historical paradoxes, which I completely geeked out on, and we all loved Six Flags. But the best moment of all happened as we walked the cobblestone streets of old San Antonio, sharing a box of chicken. We saw a man camping on the front steps of a church, and my daughters together decided to give him the rest of the chicken, since he was probably hungrier than we were. He thanked us with his words, but even more with his eyes, and my daughters learned that even 1000 miles from home, with nothing but a half-eaten box of chicken, you can make a fellow human smile. And that made the trip worth every penny. I could never ask for a better return from a tax return.
• 
  2021-10-14

  Jobs/Businesses Closed during Covid-19 Pandemic

  I want to begin that looking through google website I found some interesting images that went well with what I believe are very important reminders of how and when the pandemic just hit San Antonio. This is important to me because it is a reminder of when businesses/schools were closing and people were losing their jobs and being furloughed had no clue where this pandemic was taking us and so many people lost their homes, no way to put food on tables, or pay bills, etc. Not knowing if we would ever come back to the job we once had and relied on for many years a change that no one knew how it would impact our lives dramatically. For me personally at my employment when I received an email that they will soon let people go from their jobs or furloughed I was worried out of my mind, and a constant thought, of “What will I do if I lose my job.” Something like this can never be forgotten and is a reminder of how our lives can change due to a pandemic that no one ever thought would ever happen and not even prepared for.
• 
  2020-03-09

  Six Flags: Magic Mountain

  This photo was taken in the beginning of the outbreak. The amount of states declaring a state of emergency was slowly growing at this time. Amusement parks had seen a drastic decline in people. Though this image may depict a rather large crowd, it certainly was not the case. Rides were no more than a five minute wait, bathrooms were empty, the park itself felt empty. Some areas were completely vacant and it felt unsettling to see a lack of occupants.