Items

• 
  2023-03-21

  Escaping from Fear at the Shoreline

  Submission for #LockdownStatenIsland exploring Fear and the complexity of emotions during COVID Lockdown while at the beach - a place I visited often for a little peace and tranquility during that scary time.
• 
  2020-05-29

  Water, Water, Everywhere

  Looking back at 2020, and thinking about what event(s) really tapped into my senses, I needed to look back at all the pictures and videos I took throughout that year. After doing so, I noticed a common theme: water. Seeing, hearing, and touching water was a common theme for my whole family. My little ones learned that year, that it's fun to splash in puddles after a big rain storm. They learned that our wonderful state (Michigan) has some pretty awesome beaches. We also started making a point to visit local nature preserves. One we found had a giant river running through it. We found a spot to safely dip our toes and let the water wash over them, while sitting quietly and listening to the calming sounds of the river flow. The video I've attached to this is of the rain chain that runs down the side of my house. I love sitting outside when it's warm and just listening to the water trickle down. I will sit quietly, with my eyes closed, and just enjoy the calming sounds of the rain flowing down the chain. I couldn't immediately remember when I started sitting on my porch and doing this, and then it dawned on me that it started the spring of 2020 (first spring of the pandemic). When life was forcibly slowed down on us, I found myself really enjoying the sounds that nature provides, specifically, water. In a time of such stress and uncertainty, the sounds of flowing water were (and still are) so therapeutic.
• 
  2021-11-14

  Emotionally Exhausted Teacher

  This item is a screenshot from a Twitter account known as the Diary of a COVID Classroom Teacher. This account's response to a picture about children with big emotions shows the frustrations that many teachers are facing during the pandemic. Many students have struggled due to the lack of routine and disruptions in their lives caused by COVID-19. Throughout the nations, behavior issues are being seen. Teachers are struggling more than ever while they try to help these students who are acting out while also staying on top of their other responsibilities.
• 
  2022-02-01

  Patio Sounds

  I never heard the sounds of my backyard and cared – now, it is my favorite sound, and my patio is my favorite place to work. I work in education, in March of 2020 our campus went virtual, and we began to work from home. My two kids, age 3 and 6 were home with me as well. Fast forward to today February 2022, our campus is still working virtually, however my kids now age 5 and 8 are away at school for 6 hours a day; this is the first time in my work history I have been able to work from home, and the first time I have been able to work kid free in two years. Prior to the pandemic, I was a busy person, work, school, kids, home, husband, dog – I did it all – what I didn’t do, was stop and listen to the peace I literally had in my backyard. Now, I sit on my patio from 9:00am to 3:00pm, rain or shine, and even though I am working, I listen and take it all in, I feel recharged to take on all my daily tasks. The calm and quiet time on the patio is much welcomed in the hustle and bustle life can become. Listening to the bird’s chirp, leaves rustle, dogs bark, sometimes the hum of a hummingbird, or the light drops of rain – it is therapeutic. The pandemic has been many things, but for me it has given me time to discover the peace the sounds around me can bring. This recording was taken on my patio, listening to the sound of my backyard as I wrote this description, appreciating the time I have.
• 2020-03-16

  My life with COVID

  The COVID pandemic has affected everyone around the world. Going into march of 2020, I had a lot of pressure put on me by my parents to either quit my job, or take time off because they didn't know how serious the virus was and wanted me to take no chances. I also have an autistic brother who cannot speak so I didn't want to risk giving COVID to him. At the time, nobody knew how severe the virus was, but as time passed I witnessed first hand how serious it was. When I got back to work after taking time off, I saw what I thought was a joke. Shelves of foods completely empty, and all toilet paper sold out as well other cleaning products. This went on for about a month before people stopped buying a lot of things in fear. There would be lines outside of my job because too many people were coming and we didn't want to have a lot of people gathered in one place for safety reasons. More time passed and things sort of went back to normal but people now wore masks and practiced social distancing. Now over a year later, things are more calm and people are finally doing the right thing and wearing masks to prevent the spread of the virus and end this pandemic.
• 
  2021-02-02

  Website on "How parents can support their kids through the COVID-19 outbreak"

  The website provides a list containing 6 ways in which a parent can support their child through the pandemic. Reading through the many stories under that "children" collection I have come to notice that many of the posts are by children who face difficulty with daily life during the pandemic, whether that be through school, unable to physically socialize, or the fact that their childhoods are passing while sitting at home. This website gives an inside on how parents can help their children as well as gives reasons on to why these can help positively support their children.
• 
  2021-01-17

  Spending Time in Nature Will Get You Through the Pandemic

  My story and photographs talk about the beauty and power of nature and how spending time in nature can help us get through the pandemic.
• 
  2020-04-15

  Painting In Quarantine

  During quarantine, we were all very bored and going a little stir crazy. I really wanted to get into painting because it is relaxing for me, and it takes up a lot of time. This is important to me because it was something during lockdown that made me feel relaxed and calm. It was a stressful time for everyone, and we all had to find hobbies that would keep us busy, which is important to understanding 2020 and the lockdown. I think that is what this says about the pandemic, we had to find these little things to keep us going throughout the long days stuck inside, and painting really helped me do that.
• 
  2020-11-06

  Gardening During Quarantine

  I, like most people, took up new hobbies to help pass the time. I built this raised garden from random pieces of wood laying around my backyard and even began to compost. I planted two tomato plants that have since grown very well and all of a sudden there were these plants growing from my compost. It's been nice having this small project to help pass the time. When I need a break from online school/work I come to my backyard and check up on it. It's essentially a source of calmness and relief in the world right now.
• 
  2020-05-01

  Boonville, IN: City Hall 9

  These photographs were taken to document some of what people in Evansville and its Tri-State region saw and experienced as the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic came to the area in the spring of 2020. Many of these images represent literal signs of the time, while others figuratively depict signs of the pandemic.
• 
  May 1, 2020

  Boonville,IN: City Hall 3

  These photographs were taken to document some of what people in Evansville and its Tri-State region saw and experienced as the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic came to the area in the spring of 2020. Many of these images represent literal signs of the time, while others figuratively depict signs of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-07-05

  "...come all the way back around to the plague doctor posey mask"

  A tweet by author Anne Thériault featuring a screenshot of a Facebook post extolling the benefits of putting herbs in the pocket many masks have in order to make the experience of wearing a mask more pleasant. The intended purpose of these pockets is as place to put an added filter to cloth masks should you need to enter a high risk area such as a hospital. The tweet itself points out how this is essentially identical to the practice of placing dried herbs and flowers (posies) in plague doctors masks during Bubonic Plague outbreaks- in that case to keep the scents which were thought to spread the disease at bay.
• 2020-06-01

  Mad, mad, world

  COVID-19 Black lives matter : June 1, 2020 The news of the riots and looting that have broken out at BLM protests is horrifying. There are so many supremacists, instigators and fame whores trying to remove the message that Black Lives Matter. There also seems to be a misunderstanding in the slogan. All lives should matter. They don't. Black lives matter, too. Despite the agitators, I was so pleased to hear that the Marches in Decatur and cities around were peaceful. Last night, I talked myself out of participating in a March out of fear of violence. The very violence I want to be standing against. I'm disappointed in myself. Age and illness have cost me some of my fearlessness. The Freedom Fighters traveled the segregated South, facing beatings and possible death. Such courage they had. I kept my phone away purposefully today. It seems every hour we have something and strange to react to. Space Launch! YAY!!! Riots! WTF!!?! Two hours later, more info is available that modifies the initial reaction. Then, by the evening, reactions change again after we're bombarded with opinions and news links from social media. We try to get our bearings and then we're confronted with something new and equally mindboggling. UFO's? Barely a mention. Conflicting opinions abound, with no consistency from our state and federal governments. It's hard not to long for the days when I trusted Walter Cronkite and thought the government was looking out for my best interests. Illinois Governor's Kerner and Walker shattered that pipe dream. Watergate ground the pieces into dust. It was another gorgeous day, today. Bright, sunny with a gentle wind. I kept the windows open and putzed around the yard. We found a new home for our old pool. It will have five playful kids enjoying it, rather than sitting in pile outside our shed. It can join it's Toy Story buddies and return to its life as a pool filled with children. I needed to be outside today. Away from humanity. I'm out on my sleeping swing, listening to wind. At times, it almost sounds waves rolling in. The moon is just bright enough that I watched Rocky Raccoon searching for grubs, not ten feet from me. I didn't disturb him. He slowly meandered across the yard. I think a Mama Deer may have a fawn stashed in the ditch across the road. I heard a huff and stomp. Maybe Rocky got too close. The stars are bright and fireflies are all over the place. The other night the grands were convinced they were falling stars. Nights like this, during times like this, I wonder why humans were given dominion of the earth. Then I remember I'm just a tiny grain of sand. A grain of sand that helps forge canyons. I'm grateful I can find peace and calm under Mother Nature's mantle.
• 
  2020-04-01

  “Actually, I believe in an odd way it has made my faith stronger..."

  “Actually, I believe in an odd way it has made my faith stronger and my beliefs more solid. Instead of falling into the frenzy and the panic that is out there because of that unknown, my ability to lean into God and rely on my faith has really made me calm I guess you could say.”
• 
  2020-04-26

  the view from Ukraine

  Описал за 20 минут мои ощущения об эпидемии и разместил их в архиве для будущего поколения. Такое маленькое поле для описание столь глобальной проблемы, как CORVID19-20. Пишу данный текст на русском, ибо нехватка знаний английского. Прочитавшие это славяни из будущего будут приятно удивлены. Мне 26 лет, без трёх дней 27. На моём веку происходило разное, сейчас же глобальная эпидемия. Попробую описать её влияние на меня. В связи с опасностью для здоровья мир вынужден сидеть на самоизоляции, делать покупки онлайн, кушать ресторанные блюда из коробочек и сушить свои руки спиртовыми антисептикаи. Последнее очень сушит кожу рук, так что кокосовое масло стоит на прикроватной тумбе, ещё томик Антона Чехова скрашивая мысли о великом иронией и колким словцом. Моя самоизоляция проходит за городом в кругу родных, благо у нас большой дом и пересекаться постоянно нет надобности. В это время я прочувствовал свою интровертность ещё лучше, мне хорошо одному, как бы современные учёные не говорили о важности коммуникации. Я человек своего времени, постоянное общение онлайн и тонны информации не дают мне оставаться наедине с собой. Отличное время: я учусь не спешить, работаю над самодисциплиной, много читаю (Чехова в частности). Время когда всё остановилось, когда у людей появились новые возможности, но и новые проблемы и чего больше пока не ясно. Территориально я в Украине, город Днепр. Небольшой город до миллиона жителе, с огромной еврейской общиной. Шаббат Шалом, ребята!) Кстати ведь можно провести параллель между этой традицией и происходящим сейчас, когда ты сидишь дома, ничего не делаешь и только молишься. Молитвами в данной ситуации думаю не поможешь. Ситуация в моей стране не критичная, смертей не много, люди ещё не обозлены, государство принимает минимальные меры, которых я думаю должно хватить для прекращения и старта привычного ритма жизни. Вопрос, будет ли эта жизнь привычной? Неизвестно. Мы же существа легко адаптируемые, если открыты и готовы принимать настоящие каким оно является. Да, читаю немного философии, что собственно и влияет на такие вопросы и мыли. Кстати, рекомендую Кришнамурти - это для вас из будущего. Он будет актуален и при вашем времени. Буду ли я в нём, непонятно. В целом ситуация не выбила меня из колеи, я её принял и стараюсь работать с ней, не скучать и унывать. Вдруг, это кто-то прочтёт, хочу сказать что мы такие же как и вы в вашем сейчас. Те же люди, ведь мы не меняемся уже тысячи лет. На просто становится больше. Сейчас чуть больше семи миллиардов. Интересно, если вас там меньше. :) В целом современный мир отлично справляется с эпидемией такого уровня, мы сильные и умные существа. И такая злая мысль, пусть это будет естественный отбор, в мире, которому и без нас хорошо - стало лучше в этом спокойствие. Животные размножаются, природа восстанавливается. Так что из страшного, это невозможность сходить в бар с друзьями, если у вас есть такие. Спасибо, если прочли. Обнял! Всем любви и улыбок. Двигайтесь, не забывайте об этом.