Week Eleven. The week we got jolted into an alternate universe where toilet paper is a commodity and social distancing is not just the practice of introverts, but a civic responsibility. We got plunged fully into this COVID-19 crisis and forced to confront our own vulnerabilities. Uncertainty was in the air while the news changed hourly. Our school anticipated remaining open a little longer, but things escalated faster than I could keep up, and by Friday evening the county declared a state of emergency and shut us down. It’s strange to look at these pictures and realize how ordinary the first few days of week eleven were. The threat was present, but at a distance. Then Wednesday and Thursday we felt it creeping closer. Friday we realized it hadn’t crept, it had sprinted.
Sunday
This face says, “I want you to cuddle with me. Now.” And you must obey.
Monday
This is not an unusual sight. Brian in his studio room playing video games on the less comfortable stool after Willow has stolen his warm spot. Diva.
Tuesday
I showed up late to this training (which was held in my room) because I was running ELA state test tutoring down the hall with Hobbsie. I don’t think I missed much, though. Three years in and the mentoring program has become a nuisance. But it’s also a chance to hang with these two and with the other teachers who started in the district at the same time. Some of us are in separate buildings, so we don’t see each other on a regular basis.
This picture is a complete set up. The activity was long over, but apparently Admin subscribes to the notion of “pics or it didn’t happen,” so Laura had us pose at different stations.
After walking in thirty minutes late, I caught the last few slides of Laura’s presentation then participated in her Kahoot review quiz. I’m sorry, did I say participated in? I meant won.
Wednesday
The tops of the trees look like they’d been colored in with a golden crayon. Spring isn’t often the prettiest season to photograph. The snow has melted but the earth is in the transition process. It’s like it went to the hairdresser’s and got cut too short. It needs some time to grow back. Without the snow, things look bare. But in this picture, the sun was covering the branches the way snow or leaves usually do. And it was a nice thing to notice.
Thursday
I take my duties as a citizen seriously, but Sam doesn’t believe there’s any need for me to bother with the census.
Friday
I snapped this pic because I had a sneaking suspicion I wouldn’t get to see my classroom for awhile. Turns out I was right.
Saturday
At school, Ben and Tomaino showed up coincidentally wearing the same exact shirt. When my mom came by bearing supplies for our county’s recommended quarantine, she was wearing that exact shirt (This is her Don’t photograph me! face). If we ever return to school this year, we’ll get to be triplets one day.