We’ve been at this Quarantine Life now for more than two weeks and my state of Rhode Island found out today that remote learning will continue statewide through at least the end of April. I appreciate that my governor (Gina Raimondo) is taking it slower than the governors in states like Kansas, Virginia and Vermont who have already closed up shop for the year. That seems premature to me.
Life on the home-front continues to challenge and bless—I get to spend much more time with family at a much slower pace than usual but that also means that we can’t get a break from one another while we watch the dishes and wrappers pile up like something out of an episode of Hoarders.
We are keeping up with our weekly driveway dates with the grandparents so that we can at least lay eyes on one another and visit for a bit, even if it is six feet apart and outside. This weekend’s visit with my folks had the added bonus of my mom leaving toilet paper and candy on the hood of my car—it’s the little things these days, right?
Here’s the @esanzi Twitter reel for the past few days—this is my way of keeping a quasi-journal of this time, though I mostly share just the fun stuff here. A bit of laughter and levity and some much needed commiseration are the goal of the My So Called #QuarantineLife series. I hope you enjoy it.
I saved this one for last because it matters that we keep reminding ourselves of Maya Angelou’s poem, And Still I Rise. These are the daffodils that someone, long before I came along, planted in the woods behind my house. Angelou’s poem is about the resiliency and strength that black communities have shown through hundreds of years of oppression and discrimination but its message applies to this current crisis. The country is hurting right now but we have to believe that despite the pain and suffering of body and mind, still we will rise.
Blessings to all of you and remember that without an excess of grace, none of this will work. The learning curve for parents and teachers and caregivers is steep as hell right now—let’s be kind to one another as we make our way through it.