Our Place During the Coronavirus Pandemic –A Visual Diary
My diary is a portrait of what Rich and I and our dog Oliver experienced during the pandemic. In the beginning of this pandemic, being quarantined, knowing that scientists did not understand enough about the lethal Coronavirus was very frightening. Experiencing social islation under these circumstances created it’s own layer of concern for everyone. I was most concerned about not being able to visit my 92 year old mother since she lived in an adult senior living facility which had implemented the state’s rules of no visitors allowed other than for essential workers, a short time after we had all be advised to ‘stay at home.’
The Seven O’Clock applause seemed to bind everyone across the world and became a spirited release of emotion for me, as it had for so many. As spring morphed into summer, New York City and many other cities and states began to slowly open up against a backdrop of uncertainty.
Our place was surrounded by the pathos, the mundane, the stillness, the absence, nostalgia, and uncertainty , as well as the joy that we found and came to appreciate more than ever. Masks and gloves became our norm within a short time after the lockdown advisories had been announced. Since early theories suggested that the virus might live on surfaces for quite some time, wiping down all surfaces as well as all of our home deliveries had also become our new normal routines. Seeing the new buds of spring outside our windows were a sign of new growth and for endless, hopeful possibilities to occur.
With the rise of coronavirus cases, New York City went into lockdown mode. Only essential workers were allowed to work and to travel after the curfew. The economy had started to collapse since so many restaurants and small businesses had to temporarily close down. Testing for Covid 19 became mandatory for essential workers and the Federal Government established urgent care centers to help monitor the infectious disease. Once the Covid 19 cases started to go down, lockdown curfews were lifted and restaurants began to offer outdoor dining services.
The brutal killing of George Floyd caused impassioned protestors to stand in solidarity for justice and against our country’s systemic racism. The Black Lives Matter movement continued as protestors marched across America and many other parts of the world. The number of Covid 19 cases varies from state to state. Though many people wear mask and adhere to the ‘six feet apart’ guidelines, still, there are so many who are not wearing masks, nor are they respecting the appropriate social distancing advisories.
As summer transforms into the fall, and fall into winter, we continued to be vigilant. We continued to he hopeful for a non-politicized vaccine which will have been proven effective for an appropriate amount of time. We all look forward to returning to normalcy as we once knew it.
Thanksgiving 2020–Rich and I hosted Thanksgiving in my mother’s backyard, Riverside Park. We (Rich) cooked the turkey and all of my mom’s favorite traditional 1950’s sides. We packed them in nylon tote bags. My sister, Stephi and Carolyn baked the desserts and added them to the tote ‘take home’ bags while we were in the park. In my father’s tradition, I did a family portrait of us all with our masks on. We had a mulled apple cider toast, hung out for awhile and then everyone went back home to enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner.
Once vaccines had become available, those who trusted science, and who were in the right age group, became vaccinated with their first, then second, and their third vaccines during 2021. During the fall of 2021 the virus had mutated into the Omicron, a highly contagious form of Coronavirus. Hospital cases were rising and many who had not been vaccinated were now dealing with the Delta virus and had to be on ventilators. Others, seemed to have the milder, Omicron virus, but since they hadn’t been vaccinated, they too needed to be hospitalized. The staff at many of these hospitals were contracting the highly contagious Omicron virus and those who were healthy were overworked.
Life seems to have become a more pronounced balancing act than ever before. Our country is split politically and that has affected much of the opinions that have been formulated about this virus. There are those who are opposed to the vaccines altogether, those who accepted their importance and kept their faith in science, and those who accepted the vaccines but are now thinking that since they’ve been boosted, they should be able to carry on as normal, forgetting that the vaccines are a shield but not a panacea.
Our new normal remains uncertain. We remain vigilant but realize that if we’ve been vaccinated and boosted, perhaps we can follow the masking guidelines and carry onward with our lives!
November, 2021: This year, Rich and I hosted Thanksgiving at our place. Rich cooked the turkey, I made a few of my mother’s traditional (1950’s) side dishes, Rich’s granddaughter and her dad brought a delicious baked potato recipe, and my sister and Stephi, my niece in law, brought some of their outstanding home-baked desserts. I usually decorate our Thanksgiving table with some of the most beautiful and not so beautiful gourds. This year, a beautiful, live, floral arrangement took center stage on our table! ‘After the Party, Rich and I both reflected on all that we were grateful for. It was the first Thanksgiving without Lila who had hosted this holiday, her favorite holiday, for over 40 years. I felt a warmth surrounding me since I could feel my mother rooting us all on, with good cheer.
February, 2022: The extremely contagious, Corona Virus’ Omicron variant, continues to exist. If boosted and tested, however, the risk of being together in small groups, seemed to be acceptable for many. It feels as though things are getting better. The state of the world, continues to challenge us in so many ways. The situation in Ukraine weighs on so many, world-wide and it seems that most stand in solidarity with Ukraine. My maternal grandmother’s ancestors are from Odessa., which was formerly a part of Russia, then the Soviet Union before becoming Ukraine. With other ancestry from Russia, I had a strong interest in Russia and I studied Russian in high school and in college (for awhile). We really don’t have any control over our ancestral lineage, nor the history that enraptures the circumstances of that lineage. I stand with Ukraine fully but simultaneously feel for the peaceful protestors in Russia. We have no control over the geographical boundaries that divide a people. We often have little control over those who rule a country or group of people.
I felt a powerful connection to the world during the height of COVID-19, since we had all experienced social isolation, new challenges in caring for our elder parents, doing the right thing for our youth’s education, and overall, had a heightened awareness of the fragility of life. I now feel the same connection to those who are against dictatorial rule, including the peaceful protestors in Russia. I feel we are all very susceptible to the tensions that seem to be exploding world-wide.
February 27, 2022: Peaceful Protest, outside of the Russian Council, Upper Manhattan.