June 2020: The Pandemic Continues
June began with the world in an even darker place than the month before. While the stay-at-home orders and safety precautions taken in the months before seemed to be helping to flatten the pandemics curve by the end of the month the number of cases in the United States was soaring again.
The protests and riots that sprung up after the death of George Floyd on May 5th have continued around the country. In many ways, the riots and numerous examples of police brutality have been far more frightening than the pandemic itself. I don’t think anyone can now deny that we have a very serious problem throughout our entire country with police using excessive force and that major reform is needed. I don’t currently have the strength or will to delve into my thoughts and feelings regarding the riots and all the chaos, destruction, and tragedy that has come about as a result. It’s been a really difficult and disturbing time and I’m trying to do a better job of managing both my mental and physical health which means dwelling less on things beyond my control.
June was very similar to May. We are thankful that Karl was able to return to work and that HMA has continued to stay operational but the permanent pay reduction and lack of overtime stings a bit. I’ve been busy working on various freelance projects for several clients and am thankful that I’ve been able to earn additional income during this difficult time.
Our roommate Madison moved out on the 6th after living with us for the past five months. It was great to have a fellow student and photographer in the house, especially during the lockdown, and I have sincerely enjoyed getting to feel like I have another little sister. We made cyanotypes together and had a fun and yummy Korean style dinner a few nights before she moved out.
With her room now empty and waiting to be painted the house project bug has finally bitten me. Karl and I deep cleaned and reorganized the fridge, making labels for drawers and shelves. We’ve also tackled our pantry, hall closet, medications, bed room closet, and most recently our bedroom itself. I’ve felt energy-less and unwell during most of the pandemic so I’m thankful that I’ve had the energy to work on some projects for myself. I am currently itching to paint our guest room, and hallway, and maybe even our living room. If all goes well I’m hoping we can paint those spaces in July.
Life started inching a little closer to normal this month. I had a couple of in-person doctor appointments, and was able to get my hair done at the salon. I don’t think I would of felt comfortable going to a normal salon. I see a private stylist which makes social distancing much easier. We had dinner with my parents one evening, and I let my mom take me to one of her favorite antique malls. It felt weird to be out, but most people were wearing a mask, and I kept my distance from those that weren’t. It’s still hard to believe so many people refuse to wear them. #sigh
I’ve done a much better job of keeping a mostly day shift schedule this month. I’ve made some new gamer friends and have gotten to play League of Legends a good bit with my friend Kaz who I met in Korea last year. My Clash team went 2-1 both days of our tournament which puts us in 3rd place out of the 8 teams that played. I’ve also spent a good bit of time setting up a new web photo gallery. My previous Coppermine installations broke and after attempts to repair them failed I decided to give an app called Piwigo a shot. It’s missing a few features Coppermine had, such as the ability to use metadata to generate captions but it looks a lot better, seems more responsive, and appears to be updated more often. Check out our new photo gallery here.
Karl and I are currently on a much-needed vacation at the beach in northeastern Florida. I was a bit nervous about visiting Florida with the recent spike in cases but we’ve been able to avoid people, and the beaches we’ve visited have been mostly empty. The fresh ocean air and breeze, and sound of the ocean waves have been quite cathartic for both Karl and me, and I’m very thankful Karl and I were able to come on this trip despite the pandemic. With the future uncertain I feel blessed to get to enjoy little moments like these.
A few favorite things from this month
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