Week Nineteen felt at odds with itself. It started so bright and sunny and optimistic. It ended so cold and dark and uncertain. Week Nineteen was the first full week of May, yet it snowed two days in a row. Our weather patterns are changing and it’s freaking me out. In fact, everything’s kind of…
Essays
2020 April – Week 18
Week Eighteen brought us the announcement from Governor Cuomo that schools will be closed for the remainder of the year. I am okay with this. Of course, OF COURSE, I miss my students and think online teaching kind of sucks (Did I say kind of??). But the ELA teachers and I have a plan. As…
2020 April – Week 17
Another week of social distancing in the books. Week Seventeen saw repeated news stories about the daft man “running” this country and reported on protesters in some states with signs that literally said, “Sacrifice the weak” and “Give me liberty or give me death!” These were so ridiculous, I actually wondered if people were trolling…
2020 April – Week 16
Week Sixteen sort of felt like the week that wouldn’t end. Or was that last week? Or every week? Forced to stay still for so long, I am realizing that hiding under the layer of stress I usually feel by the hundreds of things that keep me busy during a week, is an anxiety. I…
2020 April – Week 15
EVERY DAY IS THE SAME DAY. Which is pretty much the exact opposite of the lesson I set out to teach myself with this photo project. Maybe looking back months from now Week Fifteen will stand out to in some kind of way. After all, it is the week they announced they’re pushing this “pause”…
2020 April – Week 14
Week Fourteen… Another week “quarantined”. We’re leaving only for exercise or essential foodstuffs. We’re handling groceries with gloves and walking to the other side of the street when we see another pedestrian. My parents drop things off on the porch and then chat with me from their car in the driveway while I sit at…
2020 March – Week 13
Everything slowed down in Week Thirteen. Not necessarily in a bad way — it feels as though everything has slowed to a walk. The news is no longer changing hourly (or maybe I’ve just started tuning it out). The stress of creating an infrastructure for remote learning and teaching has passed. The urgency we all…
2020 March – Week 12
It’s not mandated that we stay at home, but it’s strongly suggested, and it seems safer. Which means Week Twelve brought us a new normal that we weren’t fully prepared for. Sunday I guess this was day one of “quarantine.” The sun has started to make its presence felt more, and it’s been nice to…
2020 March – Week 11
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…
2020 March – Week 10
Maaarch! Maaarch! It’s March! (Sung like the line from Rent when Mark introduces himself to the Life Support meeting) The year still felt quite young when I was able to label the posts February. March is the equivalent to turning 30. You’re supposed to have your shit together. The New Years resolutions are supposed to…