It has been seven months since the world learned of Covid-19 and the destruction it has left in it's invisible but deadly wake. When schools went out on March 13th, students were ignorant enough to fantasize of a long spring break only to have joined millions worldwide in a very real global pandemic.
Since then, I and many others have found ways to cope with the drastic affects the virus has had on our daily lives. Personally, I have taken a great interest in improving my cooking skills during quarantine. I had the privilege to live with my grandparents for two months when large shutdowns began. During my stay, I was spoiled with Filipino dishes and learned a lot about my families history through food. On September 1st, my family decided to adopt a dog! Shelby has been a great outlet of activity (and frustration) at home.
Although I do not drive, I make a great effort to get outside as much as I can. My involvement in Elmo's Cross Country Team has played a great role in my mental and physical health over the past couple months. Daily runs coupled with sufficient amount of time in the sun has helped keep my spirits up and help motivate me during
distant learning where one can easily fall into a rut. Besides catching a ride to practice, I rarely travel except to my grandparents house every other weekend and to visit a friend's house once in a blue moon.
I have found that I look forward to the weekends more now than I had ever before. Before Covid, I associated my home as my space of relaxation and school as my space of work. But since Distance Learning began, my peace has been invaded and I now find myself struggling to balance between work and relaxation. Most weekends, I stay at home and take a much needed mental break from all the work assigned throughout the week.
Although my peers and I live in the age of instant messaging, I can attest that Facetime and texting does not satisfy our social needs. For that reason, my brother and I attend a controlled, small, and safe gathering with friends every now and then. We find that loneliness and isolation as a constant threat during these times so my friends and I make an effort to check in on each other at least once a month and discuss our struggles.
This month, I went on a trip with my close group of friends to Los Rios Ranch for a day of apple picking. Here are some pictures captured on our trip.
Here are some pictures of the landscape surrounding the farm. The area experienced a severe fire back in April and the mountain sides remain scorched. While on our drive up, we saw the remains of orchards and smelled wisps of smoke in the breeze.
Here are some portraits I took of my dear friend Rose while picking apples. Even though she was wearing a sweater, the mountain air did not save us from the heat of the sun.
Here is a picture my friend Rose took of me nearing the end of our journey. I was really happy to have been able to go out that weekend and go apple picking for the first time with good company.
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