Items

• 2020

  Finding Time

  Over the last five or so years, I've been dreaming about some event that would stir up some excitement in New York City, preferably some good event, but an event nonetheless. Never did I dream that it would actually come true, unfortunately in the form of a worldwide pandemic. Why couldn't it be something more fun, like aliens (although it seems like we might be getting there)? While the pandemic didn't bring anything exciting per se, it brought some change with it. When it began to be taken more seriously last year (2020), when all the shutdowns began to occur, I saw a major change in my day to day life. From being laid off of work, not being able to go to classes in-person anymore, and not being able to see any friends in person either, the normal, repetitive life that I had gotten so used to had disintegrated within just a couple weeks, if not shorter. It forced me to look at things in a different light, and as I was forced to be by myself for most of it, as we all were, I felt as if I needed to find some positivity and motivation in the few things I could do and had control over. I finally had time to focus on myself and made sure things like my physical/mental health and education were a priority. I took up cycling, as it was one way for me to be active and remain safe because it's not really something you need to do with others, and that opened the world up to me, especially with how empty the city was. Even my quiet pocket of Queens got quieter as barely anyone was outside, so while it did feel a bit post-apocalyptic out sometimes, it also gave me a sense of peace and freedom. Also, with having so much more time at home and not having to commute, I took advantage of online-learning to really give myself as much time as I needed, instead of the previous sense of rush and urgency I used to feel when it came to assignments, and actually turned my grades around pretty drastically. While the pandemic has been horrific on most fronts, by working my hardest to make the best of it, I've been able to better myself as it's given me time to enact real self-care. Something I've never taken the time to do before.
• 2020-03-15

  A Pause on Life

  It was March 2020 when the world found out about this new virus called the corona virus (Covid19). This virus hit the news, and my parents began to worry. It was still the beginning doctors were beginning to learn about it, not many people knew the much about it. On March 15th I started my day like any ordinary day. I had a salad for lunch, while eating my salad I realized I couldn’t taste anything, but I didn’t think much about it. At this time the symptom of losing taste and smell was not a symptom for Covid 19 yet. I mentioned it to my mom about me not being able to taste and she answered by saying “that’s so strange dad can’t smell or taste either.” I still didn’t think much about it I thought we both have a cold, but I thought it was strange that me and my father can’t taste or smell. I soon realized that it was a symptom of Covid 19. After realizing I panicked and called a doctor to get tested and sure enough me and both my parents tested positive for Covid 19. I was in shock because it was so early and I didn’t think that I out of everyone in the world would catch the virus. And just like that the world paused, business closed, restaurants closed, you couldn’t be around your friends or extended families, and we all had to stay home. Unfortunately, the timing was not in my favor. I was planning on getting married on June 4th, however at the time I wasn’t worried, I kept thinking to myself this virus will go away there will be a vaccine and by the time June would come and I can have my dream wedding. As time passed, I realized my dream wedding would be crushed. It was a hard time, every day in quarantine my wedding plans were put on hold and I wasn’t allowed to see my fiancé. I cancelled my invitation order and altered it to 20 invitations instead of 700. I wasn’t allowed to get my dress altered because everything was closed. My father had to cancel the venue. After being let down I came to a conclusion that I still want to get married on that date with just my close family. And so, it happened. I replanned a wedding to my grandmothers’ backyard. I had my ceremony with only my close family and afterwards my friends joined. It wasn’t the wedding I was supposed to have but it was the best wedding I ever had. At the end of the day it taught me a lesson a lesson that life isn’t about the external objects or flamboyant events, but being surrounded by the people that love and care for you is all that matters. I was so happy and so appreciative that I was able to have the most perfect wedding. I believe Covid 19 was a wake-up call for the world. It allowed people to focus and work on themselves, realize what the true important things in life are, and to understand the significance of life.
• 2020-02-05

  Dancing through the Pandemic

  I have never experienced a pandemic like COVID-19, most of us have not. When we were told to stay home, quarantine and social distance life just became static. I moved into somewhat of a virtual reality, taking online classes and working from home. However, being home everyday without any socializing or going to the gym became really depressing and I had a hard time focusing on my work. One day my sister and I were sitting on the couch, over with pandemic life and she says "let's have a dance party". We blasted music throughout our apartment for hours and just danced all the pressure and stress out. We did this at least 3 times a week for months during the most difficult times of the pandemic. It became something we looked forward to. It was the best decision we have ever made. Not only could we destress but we had the time of our lives and it brought us closer as a family.
• 
  2020-03-07

  Strengthening friendships and learning new hobbies

  When COVID-19 hit the states back in March of 2020, I was a freshman in college. I was sent home to and had to take the rest of my classes from home, for what we thought would be two weeks. Boy, was I wrong, two weeks turned into the longest and most memorable summer vacations of my life. When we had been sent home me and my three best friends wanted to make the most out of the time we were given, so we turned to our hobbies, which was fishing. Ever day I woke up earlier than I would have while at school. I found myself to be busier and more active during the pandemic due to all our fishing adventures. My relationships grew plentifully with my friends, and I was able to do well in school all at the same time. Throughout the pandemic I consider myself to be very lucky and blessed to not know anyone personally who had died from COVID-19, and I am beyond grateful for that. Not everyone is able to say the same. Even though I was active during the pandemic does not mean I did not take it seriously, we made sure to wear our masks, and practice social distancing. My friends and I decided that fishing would be the perfect activity to be safe while all still being together. We fished 7 days a week and gained so many new insightful skills and memories during our time. One fond memory that I have from the pandemic is when my friends and I went into a lagoon in the beginning of May when the ice had just melted, and the water was unbearably cold. At the time we didn’t have waders so we went in with whatever boots that we could find from home the water was much deeper than we had anticipated, by the time we made it through to our location that we wanted to fish in all our pants were soaked to our waists but that didn’t stop us from making it to our destination. I will never forget that day because it was a Tuesday in the middle of the day and we all had classes. It’s a great memory and I will never forget it because it was so unique compared to anything we have ever done in our lives prior to.
• 
  2021-09-20

  COVID-19 Interview (Global Pandemics)

  A classmate and I interviewed each other about our first-hand experiences with COVID-19 in the past year and a half.
• 
  2020-03

  March 2020: A Life-changing Month

  The year 2020 was looking to be much like other years that I spent in college. I was going to be going to classes, meeting up with friends, and working out most days. As March approached, my excitement grew. Spring break was coming, and I had a scheduled trip to Cancun, Mexico. There was talk of a virus spreading through China, but it was very unknown to us. Prior to our trip, we joked about contracting the virus. Little did we know, that would be the week living in the world the way we knew it. My trip to Mexico was everything I wanted it to be and more, but I was ready to come home and finish the semester. We came back from Mexico, and I returned to Duquesne. Within one week of my return, everything changed. Universities around the country started to close for, what we thought at the time, two weeks. Duquesne followed suit. School did not return that semester and the entire country began to shut down. There was a lot of fear and unknown. One minute I was having the trip of a lifetime, and the next minute I was at home with my family only leaving to get groceries. We began using masks everywhere we went, using hand sanitizer many times a day, and staying as far away from others as possible. Although life felt like it completely stopping, the pandemic allowed my family and I to experience something that we might never get to experience again: over a month of quality time together. I was now doing school via zoom and my father, brother, and uncle were home from work. During this time, my family spent a lot of time together. My father and I would find interesting ways to work out every day since our gym had been shut down (see artifact image for a picture of my watch after completing a weighted vest walk. We began these weighted vest walks during the pandemic.). We would watch Netflix series as a family, do puzzles, and even play board games together. I will never forget these memories, even though they were accompanied by fear of the Coronavirus.
• 
  2021-08-15

  Time

  For me, the pandemic brought a new found attention to the passing of time. My hope for a post-pandemic life is one where we continue to find time for the things we most appreciate and enjoy - like a walk on the beach at low tide.
• 
  2020-04-09

  How fast things can change

  At the start of 2020, and even into the beginning of March, we had absolutely no idea what was lurking right around the corner. I recently got shown this video, and I thought it did a perfect job of capturing the suddenness of the pandemic. So much happened in only a matter of a few weeks; the shift in what life was and would be like in April compared to January was stark.
• 
  2020-05

  Playing with a Bad Hand

  Alexander Krusec May 2020 Pittsburgh, PA. I’ve always liked using gambling terms to describe my life. Things like “I got dealt a bad hand” or “quite while you’re ahead” always rolled off the tongue well, and more than that they were effective at describing the situation. Unfortunately, there wasn’t exactly a good poker term for a global pandemic. The pandemic was bad timing on my part. I won’t get into the details, but my life in high school wasn’t the best, especially during my junior and senior years. To say I was severely depressed during those years would be an understatement, and I spent a good chunk of my free time crawling out of a hole of self-hate. And just as I was starting to not only feel better, but be better, my school let the student body know that we were going home for two weeks. Then a month. Then the rest of the year. I’ve always considered myself to have extremely bad luck. Given my track record, I always guessed something bad was going to happen, and often it did. That was my life, and I had always just accepted things for how they were. For the pandemic, that was the plan. I was just going to accept the hand I was dealt and try my best to play it. Luckily for me, things changed. I don’t know what it was, but one day in May I jwoke up one day and I had stopped worrying about things, stopped obsessing about my own bad luck. I went to my grocery store job that day and for whatever reason I just did better. I did a good job that day despite the fact that the store’s shipment came in about two hours late. It was as I was driving home when I realized that my life did not have to be define by what happened to me, but rather what I did in response. I could name off a dozen different books and movies that have the exact same message of “persevering through adversity no matter what”, but the movies don’t hit as hard as a real-life epiphany. Of course, I wasn’t expecting my life to change in a used Honda Civic, but the fact of the matter was that the message finally hit me. Despite all that had happened to me, from my own depression to a pandemic, the thing that mattered was that I was still standing. There’s a great quote from the video game Destiny 2 that describes the type of resolve and will I now strive to have. It’s message is simple: don’t let the darkness in our lives break us, and as the pandemic still rages on a year later, it's a message everyone can use in these times. “I am a wall. And walls don’t move. Because walls don’t care.”
• 
  2020-10

  Pandemic Birthday at the Aquarium

  Last October 2020 I celebrated my 22nd birthday. Between COVID-19 and the death of my father, my birthday wasn't high on my list of things to prioritize. However, my family and I decided last minute to go to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut as it is one of my favorite places & they had socially-distant protocols in place. I enjoyed seeing the belugas, seals, penguins, and jellyfish in a safe and distant manner.
• 
  2021-11-24

  Walking at Bear Hole with Dad

  I took this photograph with my dad when we went for a walk one day at Bear Hole, the reservoir in my town. Since the pandemic started, my dad and I would go for walks with each other, exploring new places and talking about life. My dad had recently gotten laid off, and I had made the decision in early October to study remotely instead of on campus, so we both had some extra time on our hands. We had our set of usual places that we would go to walk, but the pandemic allowed us to venture to some new spots. Even though we knew Bear Hole was so close by, neither one of us had gone to explore it much. We would plan our walks around my class and work schedule, being sure that we made time for each other a few times a week. Although making the decision to study remotely was a difficult decision because I was a senior and would be away from my friends and professors, I got to spend time with my dad in a way that we were never able to before.
• 
  2020-06

  Pandemic Gardening

  While there were a lot of terrible things that happened as a result of Covid-19, I feel that one positive was humanity's return to nature. With so many places closed down, people were forced to go outside and enjoy forests, beaches, yards, etc. I was one of these people, and I discovered a talent for gardening. I enjoyed gardening before Covid-19, but the hobby really took off during the 2020 lockdowns. I grew potatoes, onions, flowers, herbs- anything that could be planted, I planted!
• 
  2020

  Exploration Camp Main Page

  This is the main page on the Golden Gate Area Council website about Exploration Camp, which was a virtual merit badge camp offered in the summer of 2020. The session information on the side notes the camp ran from June 15 to August 7.
• 
  2020

  Exploration Camp Class Catalog

  This is the catalog of merit badges offered at Exploration Camp, a virtual replacement for Wolfeboro in 2020 offered by Golden Gate Area Council. Some traditionally-offered badges couldn't be done online, like many nature-related badges. However, the online format made it possible for other badges to be offered, like Genealogy or Game Design, that aren't offered at Camp Wolfeboro.
• 2021-08

  2 Years

  We just got back from a concert in central California. Suddenly, we realized our last concert and last trip out of town was to the same winery, for the same band, with the same friends, on the same weekend in August 2019. How much has changed since then! Felt like yesterday, but also a lifetime ago. Hopefully it won't be another two years before we can see a concert, go to a play or movie theater, sporting event, travel, get back to work, or even leave the house without a mask. Hopefully...
• 
  2021-08-21

  Mask trash

  I went to Sedona to celebrate my birthday with some friends. We decided to do the bell rock hike and as we were hiking and enjoying nature it felt like life before Covid. It was an odd feeling of normalcy. That feeling quickly fled as we got lost on our way back to the parking lot. We ended up walking on the highway back to the parking lot instead of walking through a random trail. As we walked I came across this mask, there’s no way of knowing if it came from a car or a hiker but I was quickly reminded that we are still in the midst of a pandemic. Seeing left behind masks always makes me wonder how much mask trash has impacted our environment.
• 
  2021-01

  Wolfeboro Storm Damage

  These are two screenshots of a post and comment from the official Camp Wolfeboro Facebook page talking about damage the camp sustained in January 2021 from storms. The post provides a donation link for people to donate money to fix the damage; the post notes the donation goal is $20,000. The post notes that 40 trees fell in camp and that the water heater shed was destroyed. A comment left by the camp account under the post says "At this time, about 40 trees down in camp and on the road. The water heater shed has also been destroyed. This information is as of Sunday, no news on the storms of the past 48 hours". The post was uploaded on January 27, 2021.
• 
  2021-01-25

  An atmospheric river could dump 10 feet of snow in California’s Sierra Nevada

  This article from the Washington Post discusses the possibility of snowstorms in the Sierra Nevadas at the end of January 2021. The article specifically mentions that the Sierra Nevada could see up to ten feet of snow. The article also forecasts the possibility of 80-mile-per-hour winds in California's eastern mountains. These storms turned out to be real and damaged Camp Wolfeboro's infrastructure.
• 
  2021-06-16

  Golden Gate Area Council Updated COVID-19 Policy

  This is a document made by Golden Gate Area Council in response to California's reopening on June 15, 2021. It discusses vaccination and testing status requirements for campers, masking requirements indoors, tenting, and dining service, all of which are mentioned in the Leader's Guide. The end of the document implores leaders to make sure their Scouts clean themselves at camp, and concerns about mental health that arise from Scouts not staying long periods of time away from home for over a year. Neither hygiene nor mental health is mentioned in the Leader's Guide, but both are mentioned here. The document softens some of the COVID restrictions that were planned for camp. The update states that dining halls will be open for normal dine-in meals, overriding the Leader's Guide which stated that some meals may be take-out. Additionally, the update specifies that masks are not required to be worn outdoors. The Leader's Guide said "while at camp each and every camper must wear a face covering over their mouth and nose", not addressing a difference between indoors and outdoors.
• 
  2020-06

  BSA SAFE RESTART Checklist

  This is a checklist made by the Boy Scouts of America to guide adult leaders in resuming in-person activities. The checklist is split into four parts: Supervision, Assessment, Fitness and Skill, and Equipment and Environment, which together make the acronym "SAFE". The document additionally has a list of things to consider while planning in-person meetings and during meetings. The Golden Gate Area Council Summer Camp 2021 Combined Leaders’ Guide recommends that each unit (troop) completes the checklist prior to attending any camp, including Camp Wolfeboro. A note on the bottom of the checklist says the document is from June 2020.
• 
  2021-05-14

  Golden Gate Area Council Summer Camp 2021 Combined Leaders’ Guide (Version 2.1 - May 14, 2021)

  This is a document from Golden Gate Area Council that provides a variety of information on the council's Scout camps, including Camp Wolfeboro. The guide is made for Scoutmasters and other adult leaders, hence the name of the document. Page 1 provides a summary of changes made to camps for the 2021 summer. Some of the changes the documents discusses for the 2021 year include: Page 10: Troops cannot arrive to camp early, on Saturday instead of Sunday. All troops must arrive on Sunday. Page 13: "ALL Campers must show proof of either a valid vaccination for COVID-19 (both doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer with at least two weeks of elapsed time after the second dose or two weeks of elapsed time after the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine) or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival at camp." Page 14: Dining halls at camp would be at 50% capacity, with outdoor seating available. Page 14: Wednesday meals will not be given to troops to cook, but instead will be served in the Dining Hall like all other meals (specific to Camp Wolfeboro). Page 15: Visitors are not allowed at camp. Pages 20-21: Explains COVID-19 procedures before camp and at camp, including vaccination or testing requirements found on page 13. Page 24: All campfires are prohibited, except for propane- and butane-based firepits. Page 45: The Lifesaving merit badge will not be offered at Camp Wolfeboro in 2021. Page 49: The Adventures Connection Experience (ACE) program will not be offered (specific to Camp Wolfeboro).
• 
  2021

  Drought at Camp Wolfeboro

  This National Integrated Drought Information System website shows a timeline map of drought conditions in the United States from 2000 to present by week. The map timeline shows that Camp Wolfeboro was located in the extreme drought category during the entire of the 2021 camp season. Extreme drought, according to NIDIS, means: "Livestock need expensive supplemental feed; cattle and horses are sold; little pasture remains; fruit trees bud early; producers begin irrigating in the winter Fire season lasts year-round; fires occur in typically wet parts of state; burn bans are implemented Water is inadequate for agriculture, wildlife, and urban needs; reservoirs are extremely low; hydropower is restricted". During the same time period most of the rest of California was also in drought conditions.
• 
  2021-07-23

  Time

  For me, the pandemic brought a new found attention to the passing of time. My hope for a post-pandemic life is one where we continue to find time for the things we most appreciate and enjoy - like a walk on the beach at low tide.
• 
  2020-09-16

  Sarah's kite

  When things started to slowly open up after Melbourne's stage 4 lockdown we started to have a few more options for meeting outside. I wasn't able to see anyone during the hard 6 week lockdown as I didn't have any friends within my 5km radius whom I could meet with and get home again within an hour. When these restrictions eased a little I was able to meet my friend Sarah at the beach. She had bought a kite during lockdown because she was bored and had always wanted to try flying a kite. She even wrote in to the ABC Live Blog to ask if flying a kite was acceptable as outdoor exercise. This is her with her kite.
• 
  2020-07-22

  Online dance classes

  Trying to pivot to online dance classes. Pulled my very old ballet shoes out to try to keep up with classes during Melbourne's long lockdown in 2020. Sadly it didn't really work due to a lack of space and the fact that I have carpeted floors, but it was nice to be able to connect with friends and feel like we were doing something together.
• 
  2021-03-29

  Her pet chickens were a source of emotional support during the pandemic. Then, the predators came.

  Though research in this area is often qualitative and findings have at times been disputed, studies suggest that interacting and forming bonds with animals, such as dogs, might have a positive effect on a person’s well-being. During the past year, in particular, many people have reported that pets played an important role in helping them cope with the physical and psychological tolls of pandemic life. Animals provide companionship and can offer unconditional affection, which people don’t always get from other humans, said Lori Kogan, chair of the Human-Animal Interaction Section of the American Psychological Association and a professor at Colorado State University. Owning pets can also help people maintain a schedule and feel a sense of responsibility, Kogan said. Although existing research has largely focused on more traditional pets, she said, “raising chickens can provide an incredible amount of emotional support.” Plus: “Chickens have their own little personalities. They’re very funny. They’re very cute.” For Kelly Rutkowski, 38, of Ashland, Va., her chickens are her “therapy.” “Just going out with them and just caring for them, interacting with them, it makes me happy,” said Rutkowski, founder of the Adopt a Bird Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of adoptable birds in animal shelters and rescues nationwide. In addition to hens, Rutkowski also keeps a “bachelor flock” of roosters. “I know we’re missing out on being able to go out and do things and stuff, but being with the chickens is just an experience which makes it easier,” she said. “I’d say they’re just as fulfilling as a dog or cat.”
• 
  2020-08-26

  Survey Finds Dog Owners Are Exercising More, Enjoying Working From Home During the Pandemic

  According to Gallant’s survey, more than 68% of pet parents have spent more time with their pets than with people during the pandemic. An even higher number — 83% of pet parents — said they would continue to work from home after the pandemic. Finding a "fur"ever friend has been an unexpected silver lining during this challenging time. Gallant’s survey found that of the people who adopted since the pandemic began, more than 79% originally didn’t plan to adopt. More time at home means more walks around the neighborhood, too. About 40% of dog owners reported that they are getting more than 5,000 steps in every day compared to 21% of non-dog owners. "It’s not only safe to keep pets in the home, but also beneficial, as they can serve as a source of comfort during a crisis," Julie Castle, the CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, told PEOPLE back in March. "The companionship of pets has been shown to reduce stress and lower anxiety, helping people to feel calmer and more secure when the news from the outside world is distressing."
• 
  2021-05-26

  Boucke Campsite Debris

  This is a photograph of the Boucke campsite at Camp Wolfeboro in 2021, before camp had opened to any Scouts. There is a variety of natural debris on the ground, including pine needles, pine cones, and branches. This debris had to all be cleared off of the ground before camp started because this is a campsite used by Scouts and Scouters. The week of May 26 was "Chainsaw week #2", where volunteers went to camp and helped prepare camp to be ready for Scouts to arrive. The photo was taken during the week of May 26, 2021, and was submitted to the Camp Wolfeboro Shutterfly site by Chris Chapman, who is on the properties subcommittee for the Golden Gate Area Council, which owns Camp Wolfeboro.
• 2020-06

  my covid times

  what covid was like for me was mostly just sleeping i slept through like 70 percent of it but other than sleep i did football over that summer of 2020 and starting that school year with full in person school and we then went full virtual which messed my grades up really bad due to how bad i was at getting out of bed and then hybrid practically destroyed my grades because my body and mind just couldn't handle going from sleeping in two days in a row then waking up early for school
• 
  2021-07-19T11:44

  Program Office Mask Sign

  This is a photo I took of a sign found on the inside of the door into the top (second) floor of the program office reminding Scouts and Scouters to wear a mask while in the building. The sign reads "Please remember to wear your mask in the P.O. Thanks for keeping camp safe!!!!", and has the Camp Wolfeboro logo on it. The photo was taken on July 19 at 11:44 AM.
• 
  2021-07-19T21:53

  Program Director's Monday Night Campfire Speech

  Every week during camp at Camp Wolfeboro, the Program Director gives a speech near the end of the Monday night campfire. This is an audio recording of the last portion of the speech given by 2021's Program Director, James Mizutani. He mentions and discusses the pandemic that has taken place over the past two years in his speech. Transcription: So, it, it was a lot when I got up here, uh, to work as program director in 2021, it was kind of a shock. Um, I had to— the med lodge was new, the camp director's cabin was not habitable anymore, uh, Kneeknocker¹ was all shiny. The nature lodge, my home for a year as Eco-Con² staff, is now like [in remittal?], and you can't put people in there anymore. So a lot of things have changed, some good, some less good. The less good things are fixable, we'll get a new nature lodge, it'll be fantastic and it'll be great and it'll be better than anything Eagle's End³ will ever have (audience says "woah"). But one of the things that didn't change was my feelings about camp. I love camp. I love everybody who's up here. I love working with my staff. Now I just call them my staff, instead of me being a part of staff, I still am staff [unintelligible]. And getting to see all of you every week, I get to see Scouts every week, I get to catch up with them, I get to see what they're doing while they're not at camp, and I get to see what they're enjoying about camp, why they come back every year. And I find that it's a lot of the same reasons why I come back every year. You're out here, you're away from a lot of distractions, you're with some of your friends, you're doing stuff that you don't normally do on the day-to-day. I don't mind normal days, the last two years have been wake up, move eight feet over onto the other side of my room, and sit down at my desk. Now I wake up and have to like, jog 800 feet to the PO⁴ in order to make it to the staff meeting on time. So, it's a very different lifestyle. And, I think it's a good thing for all of us to have been reintroduced into that lifestyle, into that camping lifestyle. And so I want you all to take advantage of everything that Wolfeboro has to offer. Make the Wolfeboro lifestyle a full lifestyle, a busy lifestyle filled with program, filled with excitement, filled with singing, filled with swimming at the Waterfront and shooting at the Rifle Range and going on hikes and being out here in this beautiful valley looking at the stars. There's no light, there's no artificial light in the valley after 10:30pm. And that's something that you can rarely get anymore. Um, I want you all to take hold of all the advantages that you have here at camp and make the most of it because after two years, you have a lot of catching up to do. So, have a good week everybody and I'd like to reintroduce the 2021 Camp Wolfeboro staff (applause). Footnotes: 1: A bathroom (with showers starting in 2021) found between the Program Office and the Mess Hall 2: Short for "Ecology and Conservation". A program area on the Tuolumne side of camp that handles nature-related merit badges and activities. 3: A program area that handles civic-related merit badges and activities. Eagle's End staff and Eco-Con staff were engaged in a prank war during the summer of 2021. 4: Program Office, where the camp director and program director offices can be found.
• 
  2020-10-07

  Pandemic gardening: More than half of Canadians were growing their own food at home this year, study shows

  Gardening and growing one's own food became more widespread during the pandemic, led by worries about food shortages and prices along with the desire to engage in new hobbies during the pandemic. This article discusses a study done by Dalhousie University regarding Canadians' growing their own food during the pandemic and compares the current gardening trend with the victory gardens prevalent during World War II.
• 
  2020

  Humorous Memes About Quarantine and Covid

  During quarantine I collected many humorous memes about staying at home and the problems that brought. All sorts of subjects were covered: cooking, getting along with your spouse/roommates, homeschooling the kids, learning to bake bread, being stuck at home, sanitizing, facemasks, people hoarding toilet paper, boredom, effects of isolation, etc. Here are a few of those memes.
• 
  2021-07-10

  Quarantine with the Breakfast Club

  I tried something new. And that’s not something that I do often. I pushed myself to go to boarding school… During a pandemic. I spent one (Covid safe) month at a boarding school and kept a journal every night for the first week. Here’s my experience of sweaty masks, making friends, and living in my dorm.
• 
  2021-07-07

  Two Weeks

  "See y'all in two weeks!" we joked as my cousins left my house after a long game of Monopoly. There was talk in the news about some new virus and having to be on lockdown for two weeks. This was all still so new and unbelievable, literally. We never thought a quarantine would happen, especially since being isolated for two weeks felt like an eternity. A few days later when we realized we were going to be separated for two weeks, we could not imagine how we were going to get through these two weeks without seeing each other. Two weeks, that is it. Looking back, that sounds like nothing. Two weeks turned to three, weeks turned to months, and months turned into over a year. During this time, the things I missed the most were the little things. I missed watching my little cousin do cartwheels in our backyard. I missed hearing my older cousin's deep laugh as she tried to teach me how to dance. I missed stressing out over getting ready to go out. I missed arguing over the rules of Monopoly with my cousins. Fast forward 15 months, we are all vaccinated, and hopefully will return to rejoicing over a game of Monopoly soon.
• 
  2020-09-30

  No Room for Activities

  I am not overly social. Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic’s stay-at-home orders were not a big deal to me. However, the mandate meant no after-school activities for my kids who had a very hard time with it. My ten-year-old son took it the hardest as it meant no soccer, no chess, and no playdates which also meant no touching, no tag, and absolutely no wrestling. After classes, I would pick them up and chauffeur the kids around town to all their activities. If we had time we would sometimes stop by the mall and grab a bite to eat. If we had an hour to kill, we would run into the arcade for a quick game or two of Mario Kart. But all that stopped once COVID struck. There was no room for the kids’ activities—no sports, no music lessons, no mall eateries, no more Sbarro on the run, no arcade—so in essence, no more fun. Due to COVID constraints, my boy developed a small case of depression from not being able to play with his friends and soccer buddies. Seeing my son miserable affected me, especially after reading some children were committing suicide due to these restrictions. I forgot just how much bonding with friends and socializing meant when you are ten and surrounded by thirty other kids for five days a week. While the pandemic gave parents like me a respite from all their children’s after-school extracurriculars, it was not worth seeing my son sad like that, and socializing was not the only aspect affected. My kids really missed getting their hands-on activities with other kids at the playground and soccer field. Kids simply love playing anywhere and touching everything, so not being able to do so hampers their growth through play and touch. Soccer was an outlet for all my son’s pent-up energy and once it and the other sessions were taken away, he felt trapped at home. We would play in the backyard, but it was not the same for him. Although he may complain about school now, he still needs his friends. Luckily, the pandemic is over, and soccer and their clubs are all back on. My son is back to his normal rambunctious self again. My children are back to being full-time kids again!
• 
  2020-08-15

  Laughter is a Girl's Best Friend

  The image I included shows the sense of sound. In the picture submitted my two close friends and I are laughing in a picture together. The story I am regarding with this is the fact the pandemic deprived me of hearing not only their voices in person but also their laughter. In my state we started the lockdown by late March, so all of us were not quarantining together, so the time when the pandemic was the worst was the longest, we went without seeing each other in person. Of course, like other people, we would use technology, like Facetime and Zoom. Like most other people know, Zoom is not the same as in person. So this picture shows us laughing and for the first time in a really long time to hear us all laughing was musical. I think this particular sensory history shows the importance of what a person hears from day to day, or on a regular basis. It becomes clear in times of global pandemics what gets taken for granted until it is taken away. I think when this history gets studied in years to come, historians are going to see a recharge in what people think is important. Those simple things, like a friend's laugh, were lost in the time of quarantine.
• 
  2020-12-04

  Henshin! The nostalgia wanes and reality sets in.

  Overcrowded movie theaters, expensive popcorn, and escapism entertainment made for the best days as a child of the 20th century. Surrounded by an ever growing crisis of climate change, the rising political tensions domestic and foreign; nearly every issue fades away as the lights dim in a theater, directing all attention to the action set pieces of the latest blockbuster hit. Unfortunately now, there are no lights to dim, no popcorn to smell, the once intense reverberating sound and art of audio mixing, is now forced to protrude from broken TV sound bars. The magnificent subtle nuances of orchestral scores, become muffled by the yelling of neighbors. As basic and selfish as it may seem, Covid-19 served as a reminder of the unobtainable nostalgia and senses that surround my past, the art of escapism through film. In 2020 I witnessed the passing of loved ones, relationships dwindle, and ironically the comfort of escapism...has now escaped me. Movie theaters were closed, the discomfort of the slightly course and rough woven stitched seats, became a desperate dream, a return to normalcy. The artificial smell of buttered popcorn, along with the overpriced snacks, became memories of an easier past. I wrote Henshin, as a manifestation of the changes of Covid-19. It isn't necessarily that films can never be enjoyed again, but the ability to truly escape, is gone. We view, smell, feel and see things differently now. The bombastic sensation within a theater, sharing the laughs, cries and emotions with other children, is now replaced with a constant checking of watches to return again to the world. The smell of artificial flavoring may be gone forever. Loved ones will never carry us out of a theater again. The inconvenient sounds of crowds, machines, and other viewers, are now replaced with conventional house noises. Undoubtedly film will return, theaters will open up again, but the once wholesome experience from the past has changed. The families laughs have now turned to cries, quoting movies with one another has turned to editing eulogies, smells are now memories instead of new experiences.
• 
  2020-06-24

  Rediscovering a Family Passion

  In the pandemic, Kimry reached back to her roots and decided to create a garden. When asked by friends on Facebook what did she put into the ground to make it so fertile? She replied "I put love into my ground, I put hope into my ground, I put patience into my ground and I put heart and soul into my ground. In life you can try and put this into people and yield no love back, no real friendship, and no real kindness. But, I tell you, Mother Earth will show you, that you deserve all that you put into her and more. God's time can be so quiet, calming, and so peaceful."
• 
  2021-06-19

  Pet Adoption Comic NPR

  This comic is fun, engaging, and informative. It talks about the increase in pet adoption during the pandemic and how pets helped a lot of people deal with emotional trauma. It cautions would-be pet owners not to jump blindly into adopting and to think about what will happen when life returns to normal. Separation anxiety can be difficult for pets to deal with, and owners need to have a plan for that.
• 
  2021-06-20

  The Best-Laid Plans Go Awry but Mojitos Soften the Blow

  The pandemic torpedoed a very important trip for me – a trip paid for by my place of business to attend a conference in London and give a presentation on an archival project and connect with fellow librarians. I intended to bracket my trip with a visit to Ireland, the home of my ancestors, and conduct some genealogical research. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I probably won’t be working at my current workplace when the next conference is held (once every three years), so I don’t expect to have the opportunity to get a free trip to a lovely part of the world from them in the future. And I need to have boots on the ground to conduct more research: following up on facts and documents my family has shared with me and which I wanted to confirm or debunk during my research in Ireland. So my genealogy work has stalled as well. There hopefully will be opportunities in the future to visit the UK, to conduct research in Ireland, and to attend conferences, but the perfect combination of all of these that had been arranged for summer 2020 is lost forever. Since I live in a very hot locale during the summer months, and count on getting out of town to maintain my sanity, I wasn’t able to create a staycation to counteract the lost of this trip and vacation—unless you count being huddled in the coolest room in my home with my feet in a kiddie pool sipping mojitos and reading travel and Irish history books to be an acceptable alternative. Although, come to think of it, those mojitos were pretty good.
• 
  2020

  Working at a Restaurant, Winter 2020

  In the wintertime, I work at a restaurant inside a ski resort. This past winter, NYS had just opened up restaurants with very tight restrictions: no more than 4 to a table, close at 10 pm, must order food with alcohol.... and so on. Anyway, as the restaurant floor manager, it was my responsibility to police all these restrictions. Some people were very kind and understanding about the whole situation. They would split up their party of 5 in two groups; one of three and the other of two, and thank us for our willingness to work during this time. Others, however, were not thrilled about the restrictions and argued with us, as if it was our idea to put in place all the restrictions. We had so many people complain about the rules as if we could actually do something about it. Many left or demanded free drinks because of their inconveniences. It was very stressful to deal with this! Be kind to your servers!!
• 
  2020-03-30

  The Real CovidBusters

  This is a drawing that I created in Mar 2020 after I had been let go from a 14 year factory job. In 2020 I created a series of drawings to get through the loneliness of the lockdowns. Now in 2021 I am going to school to become a PSW, which is a hospital worker who helps clients with things like bathing ,and dressing etc... hopefully I can make a difference in the future.
• 
  2020-06-04

  Guerrilla Gardening in the Time of COVID-19

  The operation will take only a few minutes. I don my mask and slip the gloves and pruning shears into my back pocket and take to the streets. Walking briskly, I pass a row of 1900s brownstones, each with a small garden plot in front. On this block the specialty is roses, and every home seems to have a different variety growing. Towards the corner, there is a house with its iron gate ajar, and an overstuffed mailbox by the front door. I had already removed two small bags of garbage and moldering cardboard and a crushed toy fire helmet from the front yard, and also ripped out a row of mugwort that was blocking the big rosebush. I don’t know what variety they are – a peach-colored hybrid, with massive blooms that bent the rose stalks down. I deadhead the big old roses and the stalks spring up, attempting to gash my face. One does nick my arm, and I wipe the blood off on my mask, not thinking that I have left a red splotch of blood in its center, like a tiny pair of lips. Pretty soon I have collected about thirty roses – all massive and past their prime and bring them home in a plastic bag I brought with me. I don’t think anyone would mind, and I am sure the person who planted these roses doesn’t mind. A hybrid rose plant like this needs a lot of tending, but the blooms are enormous. As part of my quarantine routine, I take walks in the early morning. After a while, I got tired of seeing weeds hiding the “nice” plants and began reflexively pulling them. It was fun! Especially after a rainfall, when the weeds pulled out so effortlessly. After a few minutes work I would have a sheaf of shepherd’s purse, lambsquarter and mugwort under my arm. Fortunately, there is always an empty construction yard in our rapidly developing neighborhood, and that’s where most of my weeding crop ends up, lobbed over the green construction fence. Nobody has ever bothered me, except for the times older women will ask if I eat the weeds. Since the trees planted by the city have little tags on them that give tips on how to take care of them, including one that instructs citizens to keep the tree pits free of weeds, I consider that my carte blanche. “I work for Bette Midler!” I want to tell somebody, but nobody asks. Some houses show evidence that they were owned by gardeners that took a lot of pride in their plants but abandoned them this year. I see mugwort and lambsquarter cropping up in beds of well-tended plants –gardens that might have received some care earlier in the season but, for some reason, have been untouched these past few months. I reach over and – yank –problem solved. I know they would do it, if they were able. One home I pass by regularly had an infestation of mugwort that covered some nice lilies and other shrubs. After a few days I had cleared all the mugwort out, and stopped by every so often to rip the tiny mugwort sprouts that persisted – some of the roots are tough, baseball-sized clumps that live for years, and you often find odd things wound up in them like bottle caps and corks. This past week, our local news had the notice of the death a Haitian doctor in our neighborhood of longstanding repute, who had died of COVID-19. For the obituary, they showed not a photo of the man, but of his doctor’s office, which was the old house where I had been waging my war against mugwort. So many have died in our neighborhood – so many gentle people who once sunned themselves in front of their houses and apartment buildings and maintained the cheery tradition of saying hello to all neighbors. When they moved here, Flatbush was cheap, and a family from Trinidad or Guyana could buy decent homes for an affordable price, in what was then a highly unfashionable neighborhood. The untended gardens of my older neighbors are hard to miss, when you know what to look for. “Maybe they just went out of state, you don’t know,” say my kids, when I showed them the peach-colored rose bush I had been surreptitiously tending. They were horrified, and nervous that I was breaking a law. My daughter even closed and latched the small iron gate, while sternly looking at me, warning that I could get arrested, or worse. But I’ll be back. Those roses need me.
• 
  2021-05-27

  Slower Pace of Life

  It’s probably a bit tiresome for my best friend when I say “oh man, we haven’t been there in over a year” because for our family, that is everything. Every week, we open up a little more, cautiously, as our case rates continue to decline (under 50 new cases in our county today!) Disneyland, our go to hangout is still out of the question, so we returned to the beach. It’s crazy to think for over a year, it sat 20 minutes away, so close but so far. I feel like COVID not only has made us more appreciative but has also helped us embrace a slower pace of life. Two years ago, a weekday would have seen me at school AP reviews or department meetings, my mom and I coordinating pick up and drop offs for Kumon, gymnastics, piano lessons. I would have squeezed in a Pilates class before picking up my daughter from the gym. My husband wouldn’t be in the equation at all, April and May are full travel months - we barely see him. But here we are. Our pace of life is much slower. My husband is still working remotely, and will probably continue to for at least half the week for the rest of the foreseeable future. Kumon and piano seem simpler to do now that we’re all home. Even gymnastics seems less stressful. If everyone is home on a weekday at 3, why not hit the beach? I know our lives will inevitably speed up. That’s the rat race that is Orange County and I do love our lives. We like being busy, why else would someone live here? Yet, I hope the togetherness we’ve had in the past year and the realization that maybe we should just take more time to run around the beach, get excited at finding a Sea Hare, and just watch the waves without an agenda or a clock will last beyond this pandemic.
• 
  2020-06-20

  Quarantine Bingo

  I created this art journal page in June of 2020. It's a bingo card and each square represents an aspect of the pandemic, from popular shows at the time to trends to ways our lives changed.
• 
  2021-05-24

  10 things to do while quarantine

  This book is a guide to something that I try to apply in my daily life and that is to take the positive out of every situation. Although this global pandemic has affected all us directly, I truly believe that we can do valuable things with the time and resources we have.
• 
  2021-05-10

  Universal Hopes

  This work was done as an assignment for Paula Flynn's Fifth Grade class at Franklin Elementary, in Santa Monica, CA. Hogwarts soaring above my head, the ecstatic Harry Potter fans walking around, amazed seeing their favorite book come alive. Hagrid’s roller coaster, and the long-but worth it 4 hour line to ultimate Harry potter ride The sunlight shining down on Hogsmeade, the fake snow shining bright The sound of chattering people, and the whoosh of the rides The excitement bubbling up inside me, this is my dream, being in Hogwarts When can I go back?
• 
  2021-02-22

  My day

  My first half of spring break was pretty great. On Saturday, I went to Big Sky, Montana to ski. I brought my friends Brett, James, and Patrick with me. My good friend Brandon was also up there so he stayed with me. My family has a house up there, so we go once during the winter and once during the summer every year. Sadly there is not a direct flight to the airport in Bozeman Montana. That place is about an hour drive to Big Sky. We flew Delta Airlines and had a connection flight in Minneapolis. In the New Orleans airport, we had chick fil a. The airport was very crowded. Then in Minneapolis, we had about an hour layover. We then arrived in Bozeman Montana at around 8:15 at night. We then went to Dairy Queen and got ready for the hour drive ahead. During that drive, I basically just listened to music. We then finally arrived in Big Sky. We were all pretty tired so we went to bed. The next morning we woke up and then ate a big breakfast. After that, we drove to the Ski Rental shop. We then got our skis and began skiing. We started off with a blue to see how everyone would do. James was not the best and kept falling. After about 2 runs we left my dad and met up with Brandon’s older sister. We then went to the other side of the mountain and skied there. There was a new chairlift that had like a bubble you would pull over you. It also had heated seats.
• 
  2021-01-01

  Curtain Call on 2020

  This past year was a crazy one. Since it’s now 2021, for the first time, I’m really looking back on 2020 and reflecting on my memories and moments. The year started off normal, and simpler. I had just made friends with a group that I liked a lot in December of 2019, I’m still with them, so that was pretty important. I imagine my life would be different, and I wouldn’t have many of the memories I have today. I don’t remember much about January or February itself, but I do remember Mardi Gras. At the time, the USA wasn’t really concerned about COVID-19, so being with friends during Mardi Gras were some of the best and last moments of large gatherings and celebrations I’ve seen in a while. After the 2 weeks of festivities, March rolled around, a month that stands out for everyone when looking back at 2020. Halfway through the month, we learned that we got out of school for 2 weeks. I was in media arts and my friends and I got super excited. The tone dialed down quickly though, as my entire math period following the announcement was Mr. Milling answering questions from kids about the virus and explaining the CLP. My friends and I hung out one final time that night on March 13th. After that, we split up and resorted to talking through phones and headsets as a communication system. In April we started meeting up again at Audubon Park for bike rides, and that continued through June. Then it seemed like school came fast, and all of a sudden, we were back in person, and things felt just a little bit normal.