How are you living day to day in the pandemic and with social distancing? What's working for you or bringing you solace? What challenges are you facing?

How are you living day to day in the pandemic and with social distancing? What's working for you or bringing you solace? What challenges are you facing?

From March 2020 through March 2021, we asked readers to submit photos, drawings, and “snapshots” in prose to report on their day-to-day lives during the pandemic. Here is what they shared.
— Matthew Bernstein, Letters Editor

Last updated 03.15.2021

The wonderful Martha Sheridan of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau sent me an invitation to join a virtual walking group about 200 days ago. I haven't walked for exercise since pregnancy (a long time ago), but it's a pandemic, so I figured, why not? Since that day, I've logged more than 170 entries and walked more than 500 miles. It's been a wonderful stress reliever and a great way to connect with a friend at the end of the workday. We've seen some beautiful sights along the way too. Here's one of my favorite shots from February.

Mary Talbot - Barrington, R.I.

Monday, March 15, 2021

We used to have a dining room table; now it is the site of mask assembly and other art projects. The OED has been shoved aside for fabric samples.

The artist is my son Perry (pictured), who does music videos, short films, T-shirts, photo sweatshirts, and lots of COVID masks. His first big customer was a local pizza chain, which ordered 90 masks to start.

Chris Kerr - Dorchester

Monday, March 15, 2021

Please get vaccinated if you can. We are very tired.

Sincerely,

A dialysis social worker

Maureen Crocker - Lowell

Monday, February 22, 2021

A couple of weeks before Hanukkah, I lamented that we would not be able to gather in person with anyone outside our two-person bubble to celebrate the holiday. Then I realized that our menorah collection, which numbers close to two-dozen, includes one designed for outside use since it is enclosed in metal and glass with little chimneys at the top. With this menorah we could safely defy our isolation. On two evenings, we invited an assortment of family and friends to gather in our front yard to communally light the menorah and sing Hanukkah songs. Together we celebrated our liberation from the oppression of this pandemic.

Miriam Rosenblum - Newton

Monday, February 22, 2021

One word: birds.

These amazing creatures have kept me calm and given me an outlet to release stress as a health care worker.

Elaine DeBitetto - Concord

Monday, February 22, 2021

Down under we have faced lockdowns, opening up, then lockdowns again. The borders of our states have often been closed. Air travel has been restricted. We’ve seen panic buying, oddly on toilet paper, which exposes priorities. Much of Australia is COVID-free, so it's quite surreal to look out at what is happening in the United States. We have not started our vaccine program yet. We have seen about 900 deaths in a population of more than 25 million, so it's easy to forget a killer lurks unseen.

Peter Veal - Laidley Creek West, Queensland, Australia

Friday, February 05, 2021

Since I rely on reading lips to hear, masks make it difficult. My winter coat hides my T-shirt. Now I carry a clipboard and pen so that cashiers and salespeople can write down responses. It takes a long time to buy shoes when the salesperson has to write down every answer. Recently, I was excited about “traveling” to Florence via live video on Zoom until it dawned on me that the speakers would be wearing masks. There is no traveling overseas in my future until masks are obsolete. COVID-19 is isolating me and altering my life.

Leslie Voiers - Harrisville, N.H.

Friday, February 05, 2021

Dear Lips:
Remember me — Cherries in the Snow?
I miss you. I miss seeing my trace on your coffee cup. I miss seeing your kiss when you greet your granddaughters.
Each morning before breakfast, you’d gently turn my cylindrical body to the right and apply your favorite color: me. You never looked in the mirror. We’ve been going together for so long, there was no need.
These days, however, you’re covered under sad, plain masks. You need color. I know these are challenging times, but I want to assure you that I’m still here. Just look on your dressing table.
Forever yours,
C

Beverley Douglas - Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

My partner, Rob, and his sons, Drew and Ryan Healy (my "bonus sons"), built this for me. Everyone needs some.

Jenny DiGregorio - Scituate

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Since we can’t see our real grandchildren this Christmas, we made snow-grandchildren! Meet Molly, our skier; Nora, our swimmer; and Cullen, our ballplayer. (P.S.: Real grandchildren are better.)

Ellen Albanese - East Falmouth

Thursday, December 24, 2020

My annual gingerbread people — with masks.

Dorene Lengyel - New London, N.H.

Friday, December 18, 2020

We projected a menorah onto the side of the building during Hanukkah, adding a candle every night.

Rabbi Danny Burkeman - Wayland

Friday, December 18, 2020

Our pets have given us so much joy and laughter during this pandemic year. This is my puppy, Frodo, enjoying his first big snow with Stacia Biel of Winchester.

Deborah Kemp - Arlington

Friday, December 18, 2020

The children in our neighborhood bring us so much joy. So when their parents asked us to get creative and provide a safe trick-or-treat experience, we stepped right up.

Jill and Erik Berg - Jamaica Plain

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

My dear friends — all seniors — had a pandemic potluck for Thanksgiving. We each cooked one element of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, then brought single servings in containers to an outdoor masked gathering the day before. Each person went home with a fabulous complete dinner, and we all Zoomed together on Thanksgiving day.

Robin Tartaglia - Cambridge

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

Many in our little town have decorated their homes with lights and signs of hope to brighten the winter sky during a challenging time for our community.

Kim Cromwell - Provincetown

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

On Monday, Nov. 2, the winds were blowing strong. Perhaps Harvard Square’s windiest place is near the soaring, white, smooth-finished William James Hall. Sparrows shelter in the bushes skirting the 15-story structure that was designed by the architect of the World Trade Center towers. Against the wind, two workers plant trees on Kirkland Street. Water from a 5-gallon bottle is poured into the green Tyvek collar around the tree trunk. Greening urban landscapes today, we prepare for our future. Come what may, we’ll be sheltered and comforted by trees. American pragmatism lives.

Rob Moir - Somerville

Friday, November 20, 2020

How I cope? Daily "pandemic postcards" to four grandkids. Not being physically with grandkids since March (except occasionally) has been a bummer. About a month ago, I started sending one postcard a day — birds, flowers, trivia facts — to each grandchild. I ask a question or tell them something about me. I look forward to writing, and they (ages 5, 8, 10, and 11) look forward to receiving them!

Allyson Gall - Scituate

Friday, November 20, 2020

I’ve been drawing a series of COVID-19 memoir drawings.

Patricia Myerson - Manchester-by-the-Sea

Friday, November 20, 2020

I sent a postcard in March when I started my cartoon diary documenting life in this pandemic with my young daughter. I've been keeping it going, and sadly — notably — I recently completed my 200th page of this project (I call it "Extraordinary Times"). It's full of my notes and observations on what our locked-down, preschool-less life has been like. It's amazing to me how much we've learned and changed since March, but still, none of it feels "normal" to me.

Maria Photinakis - Waltham

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

We have been meeting outdoors once a week since March with friends for drinks and snacks — we sit socially distanced at little tables, and people bring their own drinks, snacks, and chairs. We decided to try the same thing for a family gathering for an early celebration of my 80th birthday. We basically followed the same rules, but we provided the food, and my masked wife Paula served it to folks, one masked couple at a time. We all had a great time.

Tom Duston - Chesterfield, N.H.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Each week, my son, Matthew, occasionally works from home. I am retired and try to stay over a few days a week to assist with his two children, Fox, 4, and Wren Donna, 2. Recently, a situation came up at his work that required his immediate assistance. I took this picture as he was focused intensely on his computer and his son was doing everything to get his attention — even climbing on his back while he worked. This picture captures the intensity, the closeness, and the balancing act of a son and father that working from home often requires.

Bill Milhomme - Foxborough

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

During the pandemic, I’ve stayed close to home — well, at home, actually. And during these months, within these walls, I’ve focused my lens a good deal on our cats, who seem to love the attention. Of late, I’ve used my camera, which means that I have to wait some time to have the film developed. It usually takes a week or two before I see the results. And as the development of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics will also require more time, I hope my patience as a photographer helps hold me steady.

Deborah Vatcher - Plainville

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

There are some days when the only happiness I find is when I'm buried in TikTok. Those are the days when sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, still laughing.

Mary Ellen Mulhall - Framingham

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Inevitably, the subject of Rapunzel (or Shakespeare) comes up every time we visit my mother these days. We are so grateful that her little Juliet balcony faces the sidewalk at her senior community so that we are able to see her from the street.

Katie Fallon - Wakefield

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

When you reach a certain age, you stop asking too many questions and start to do a lot of navel-gazing, pondering things such as the ancient legend of the immortality of the frog.

The frog asked: "Who am I? What do I have left to do?” She sought the answer in the silence, and in her dreams.

How sweet life was then. She cherished doing nothing, and, after having done nothing, she found pleasure resting.

Such were the days of the pandemic in 2020.

Nora Klynjan - Carlsbad, Calif.

Friday, October 16, 2020

I started a new job on March 16, the first day of the state's mandated work from home. I was worried, but I learned you can meet and bond with people even in 2D virtual form. Teams have come together in a new way, and thankfully, it works.

Lisa Heard - Reading

Friday, October 16, 2020

Good advice on a napkin: Changing one letter makes all the difference. Take the advice on the napkin and vote in person or by mail. In Massachusetts, the last day to register to vote is Oct. 24, and applications for mail-in ballots must be received by Oct. 28. So don’t forget to register and then vote. (Thank you for the reminder and the advice, folded napkin.) With the uncertainty of the pandemic, it’s the least we all can do.

Helen Zazulak - Natick

Friday, October 16, 2020

I call it my morning constitutional — the 50 or so steps from the car to the door of the nursing home. There, I hand my daily love letter to the receptionist for delivery to my husband of 56 years. The ritual began in March, when afternoons by his side were prohibited. No more hugs and kisses. So I had to do something. We might be physically separated, but no damn virus was going to keep us apart. Today I will bring my 209th letter to my sweet John.

Mary Beth Fletcher - New Bedford

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

Planning our wedding during the pandemic was a stressful task for us. After many tears, worries, and guideline changes, our wedding day came. We got rain — lots of rain! It was the only thing we did not plan for.

It did not matter. We were married.

Natalia Vargas-McCusker - Lawrence

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was asked to integrate my two professions — singer-songwriter and mind-body psychotherapist — into a weekly livestream called, "Songs from the Heart, Meditations for the Heart." Providing uplifting music and an inspirational meditation has proved to be a valuable resource.

Linda Marks - Waltham

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

I never used to write poetry. These days, it's all that feels right. By putting things under a microscope, I can forget that the world itself feels smaller, one-dimensional.

When the pandemic hit, it felt like all of my creativity evaporated. Everything I wrote felt stiff and stunted. Now, when I pick up a pen, I write a verse in five minutes and it's finished.

There are fewer rules in poetry, real or imagined. It's all emotion.

I write poetry now. I am a different person.

Can you feel it? A shift in yourself?

Susannah Bruck - Framingham

Monday, September 28, 2020

Organized religion has been on the decline in the United States. But boy, am I glad I belong to a synagogue in COVID times. Zoom prayer services and programs galore. Getting a couple of personal calls just to ask how I am doing. A drive-by gathering at our synagogue parking lot so that I can make donations for area food banks and can pick up a bag of goodies for our High Holidays. How valuable is this? Priceless.

Allyson Gall - Scituate

Monday, September 28, 2020

Spending time with my grandson and his puppy, Tug, at the beach. Since he has not returned to college, he has spent time with us talking about uncertainty in his future. This was a bonus for all of us and filled many days of our isolation.

Cynthia Spencer - East Freetown

Monday, September 28, 2020

Early in COVID lockdown, I planted dried black beans and a variety of other seeds, mostly from foods we were eating then. I wanted something to look forward to, some purpose to all of this staying at home. I’ve now been harvesting a bumper crop of fantastic kale and basil, gorgeous tomatoes (when Johnny the squirrel doesn’t steal them), green beans, oregano, and the black beans, which are a bit useless for eating unless you grow a lot more than I did. But these are still a visually beautiful part of this chapter, and they make me feel wonderful.

Victoria French-Sanches - Stamford, Conn.

Friday, September 18, 2020

Enjoying an afternoon on the front porch with my husband on a beautiful Saturday in early September, just the two of us.

David Davidson - Eliot, Maine

Friday, September 18, 2020

“We’re all in this together” — sea gulls social distancing while awaiting their fast-food dinners.

Ed Bayard - Salem

Friday, September 18, 2020

Seeking solace and happiness in the world of nature is a perfect solution. I have sought comfort by watching my bird feeder and taking long walks to see the flowers and the birds and animals. All I needed was my smartphone to capture hundreds of images of the world beyond my four walls.

Neha Shah - Westford

Friday, September 11, 2020

I feel like the world around me is falling apart. All these stores are shut down, and there are all these new rules and regulations we need to follow. Our classes have resumed, which adds a sense of normalcy during all of this craziness. I also feel like things are beginning to calm down. It's times like these where you're reminded of the importance of family.

Shane Korygoski - Lanoka Harbor, N.J.

Friday, September 11, 2020

I'm pleased to announce that Ponyhenge in Lincoln is in tune with the times.

Barbara Weinstein - Lincoln

Friday, September 11, 2020

I was thrilled to get my ballot in the mail. So at the age of 98, pandemic or no pandemic, I would never miss the opportunity to cast my vote.

Mary Murray McCarthy - Boston

Wednesday, September 02, 2020

This summer has been interesting, definitely. Quarantine was a dark time for me. As an extrovert, it was difficult spending so much time in solitude when I'm used to going out a lot and being around those I love. Once quarantine was lifted, I was blessed enough to get a new job and work on the Ocean City boardwalk with two close friends. I've been making the best of this pandemic by trying to stay positive despite the circumstances, and staying in contact with friends and family. I'm glad I have been able to see most of them and reconnect, since it had been so long since I had seen them last.

Joelle Myers - Somers Point, N.J.

Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Saturday night, Aug. 29, 8:10.
The Alewife train has reached Charles/MGH station.
And it’s a T rider’s dream come true.

Jon Vargosko - Arlington

Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Cooler nights are coming. The porch heater will extend the socially distanced outside visits.

Dennis Noonan - Wellesley

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Shrewsbury School Committee member Lynsey Heffernan passes into town folklore for her resourcefulness. During a recent online public meeting, a lightning strike took out power to her neighborhood. But she was back in minutes, using her cellphone and pointing a flashlight at her face in the darkened room.

Melanie Magee - Shrewsbury

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

My chorus, the Mystic Chorale, has been hosting weekly virtual sing-alongs for months. These create a wonderful sense of community and connection. In the center of this photo from the spring is Berklee professor Jonathan Singleton and his wife Deborah Freeman leading everyone (more than 350 of us) in a rousing gospel song.

Nick Page - Melrose

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

My pandemic lunches are usually solitary. At first I looked at Facebook while I ate, but cats or political posts got to be unsatisfying. I wanted more engaging lunch partners. So I began the practice of “Having Lunch with a Poet.” Schools make poetry intimidating by demanding a “right” interpretation. I decided to ignore “right” and to simply respond to a poet’s insight, in one line or image, or in a whole collection. Lunch became an adventure. I felt filled with beauty and myster, not just a sandwich. My recent poet companions: Wislawa Szymborska, Andrea Cohen, and Christian Wiman.

Kevin Groppe - Wellesley

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

I turned 81 in April. A dozen family members sang "Happy Birthday" to me from the grass and parking lot outside my condo, with a big sign and balloons. So very special. Gotta love 'em.

Jeanne McCallum - Easthampton

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Remotely teaching sculpture classes for a half semester with students, widely scattered, at their homes, away from tools, materials, and technical instruction, was far from ideal. The classroom shrank from an equipped shop, with access to clay, plaster, wood, plastic, and metal, to the shallow space of our laptops (the image here of my laptop propped up in my Boston studio is from late May). Students gamely stepped up to each assignment, substituting cardboard, string, paper, and cloth for other materials, and addressing the space of their bedrooms to meet requirements in the midst of much uncertainty. Perseverance!

Marilu Swett - Jamaica Plain

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

I am used to moving around. As a preschool teacher, it's all I do. Since March I have been home. When I started paying more attention to my surroundings, I would go to the backyard and listen to the birds chirping and see the skunks and bunnies checking out what might be there for them. I started walking over to the private beach nearby. Early mornings are my favorite, and getting to witness the amazing sunrises gives me a great jump-start to the day.

George Anastos - Quincy

Friday, August 14, 2020

Heading east on the mid-Cape toward the sea on an August morning, we laugh as a turkey flies up beside the road, as graceful as an airborne mop. The bruising semester of not being with my students is forgotten until a sign on a bridge overpass: "Teachers Want to Teach, Not Die."

Kathryn Mudgett - Norwell

Friday, August 14, 2020

I have a big postcard collection from a lifetime of picking them up wherever I went. Now I am sending them all out. I find it's a great way to tell my friends and relatives I am thinking of them. It's funny because it's also like a diary of my life so far.

Susan Tournas - Marblehead

Friday, August 14, 2020

I watch the world in my small backyard, where I’ve planted, with no landscape logic in mind, indigenous flowers and plants to lure butterflies and hummingbirds. I’ve replaced the grass with clover, which the bees love. I feed and watch blue jays, sparrows, finches, mourning doves, and cardinals. A pair of shy voles raise their young in this urban eden. I look forward to mornings, when squirrels hang upside down from the wrought iron grille on my back door to get my attention. But mostly, I watch the bumblebees. Sometimes, if I’m careful, I can stroke their fur.

Rebecca Jung - Pittsburgh

Monday, August 10, 2020

Two furloughs, one family member lost, three health insurance changes, two months of job hunting, one part-time job found. Countless books read and shows and movies watched ("Hamilton," anyone?). One birthday. One Zoom Seder. Two separate tailbone injuries. One sprained foot. This is my quarantine by the numbers. No one’s is alike, though many of us now know about Zoom backgrounds and "Tiger King." I used to walk miles daily in my neighborhood, grateful to see the city skyline and to be alive. Now my air cast prevents me from walking far, but I’m still grateful.

Jennifer Leavey - Roslindale

Monday, August 10, 2020

Let's hope a Dr. Seuss-inspired plea will convince some holdouts to wear a mask.

Michael Zimmerman - Brookline

Monday, August 10, 2020

Ah, my golden years. A long-awaited opportunity to see and do all that could not be done when working. COVID has thwarted this. No volunteer work, no trips, no concerts, no plays, no movies on the cinema screen. Not even lunch out with retiree friends. I’ve gone grocery and CVS shopping (masked of course) and done Netflix and Zoom and takeout. And there is the gym’s pool, just reopened. Limited occupancy and constant sanitizing. But I'm grateful for that escape. It’s both exercise and a cocoon for tired bones. I can almost forget the new world order that has wrecked all my plans.

Regina M. Pacitti - Waltham

Friday, July 31, 2020

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” sang Joni Mitchell. Watching sports (mostly football, basketball, and baseball) is one of my favorite things to do. Now I'm especially missing football. I long to see those Hail Mary passes, fumble recoveries, and interceptions. I yearn to watch the games with my brother and dad in our matching Patriots jerseys, and to yell and root for the Pats while sitting in the bleachers or at home. I miss trash-talking my friends who support the Jets and Giants. I can’t wait to return to my crazy superstitions, like crossing my legs, arms, and feet. Mostly, I wish to be together with family and friends again, bonding over something we all share.

Sanya Nadeem, age 11 - East Walpole

Friday, July 31, 2020

I'm sad not to be with the man I love, who is in Mexico. I've not seen him for almost five months, and it could be a couple more before it's safe to travel. But in the meantime, I'm finishing and will self-publish two children's books I wrote almost a decade ago, and I'm slowly completing a quilt for my granddaughter. I've also made friends with Oliver, a Steller's jay who calmly walks up my arm to take nuts. I'm grateful, explaining that this bird is the only living being I've touched in nearly five months.

Sharon Franklin - Eugene, Ore.

Friday, July 31, 2020

I stayed at home starting March 18. I had lots of projects — made cloth masks, started turning my lawn into a terraced garden, upcycled fabric into a painting. At the end of May, I was asked to come back to my job. About half the people weren't wearing masks, or were only half-wearing them. Now more people wear masks, but there are still some who don't. A week ago the first employee was diagnosed with COVID-19. People who were in direct contact with this person were told, but I'm not sure if they are required to be tested. I think that's the extent of the contact tracing. I'm worried and unsure if I should continue working there because of my age — 63.

Charlene Weinstein - Lambertville, N.J.

Monday, July 27, 2020

My family is nearing the end of a three-month project where we are walking every street in Arlington, and there are a lot of them. Using the map from our local phone book, we set out almost every day, sometimes twice a day, and pound the pavement. In the process, we have discovered extraordinary architecture, amazing views, secret nooks and crannies — and also how the Black Lives Matter movement has transformed our town. Every week we take a photo of the map to show our progress — we started May 1 and will finish Aug. 1. And almost every day we learn something new about a town that, after 17 and a half years, we thought we knew. We've discovered that we had barely scratched the surface.

Adam Pachter - Arlington

Monday, July 27, 2020

I am a watercolorist. For the past 20 years, I have focused on polar and frozen places. Once the pandemic hit, everything my work was involved in was canceled — shows, classes, etc. In a class I was taking, we were assigned to paint an interior landscape. The images of animals moving into “human” spaces during the pandemic captivated me. I’ve made over 30 paintings of these settings. “Penguin and the Cesari” encapsulates both my wonder at this new world and my longing for the old one.

Lisa Goren - Hyde Park

Monday, July 27, 2020

With the exception of our sheets, I’ve been hand-washing all of our laundry since the end of March. We live in an apartment without a washer and dryer, and I found myself dreading the laundromat when laundry began piling up at that time. At first, I thought of it as a stopgap, but I found that by doing a little every day, I was making quite a dent in the baskets. Now it is just part of my daily routine. Clothes hang in doorways and over chairs, but until things are much improved, we aren’t having any company anyway.

Trudy Gredy - Tampa, Fla.

Friday, July 24, 2020

I've been a widow for three and a half years. I thought I was doing OK, and then the pandemic hit. The loneliness was almost unbearable. I belong to a poets group, and I put together a poetry reading on Zoom that we recorded and shared via the local access TV station. Writing poetry has helped a lot of us get through this.

Karen Hayden - Methuen

Friday, July 24, 2020

I had gotten used to seclusion before most others since I was going through chemo treatments for breast cancer in the fall and winter and into spring. The loneliness came when I could not bring a loved one with me into the hospital for my lumpectomy, the last set of my chemo treatments, and my radiation treatments. I had a scary reaction to my first dose of this last cycle, and I had no one holding my hand telling me I was going to be OK. People are whining about having to wear a mask into stores. I cannot have a hand to hold while fighting cancer. It's a scary battle that deserves a hand to hold.

Sarah Cook - Gilford , N.H.

Friday, July 24, 2020

Caption: "Incognito"

Ros Winsor - Auburndale

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Finding places to be normal when nothing else is.

Kathleen Young - Salem, Ore.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

I had to evacuate from a Vietnam holiday and leave everything behind in China, including these two sweet girls I rescued from the side of the road last summer. I am desperate to get them here to the United States, but without flights, they must be shipped, and it’s insanely expensive. I am losing hope.

D’Anne Graham - Richmond , Va.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

It’s been hardest on my 92-year-old mom. She still lives independently in her home. Loneliness is tough. But she enjoyed her drive-by birthday celebration in April.

Joanne Robertson - Wareham

Thursday, July 16, 2020

I was doing pretty well with the lockdown for the past few months. Reading and watching movies. While sitting outside, soaking up nature in my green and bird-filled yard. Then, pow! The heat wave hit. Summer in the Deep South means no going out except to get the mail. Now I am stuck inside, looking out the window.

Laura Brady - Hammond, La.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

I'm raising praying mantises after staring out the window all winter at the egg case on a rhododendron. One day, the window screen was covered with a dusting of baby mantises. They are now almost 1 inch long. Amazing to watch.

Karen Shine Nelson - Somerville

Thursday, July 16, 2020

I had gotten smug, bragging about how I had saved the day when my daughter broke her ankle. Super Me jumped into gear, merged our households, took over caring for her young children, and rounded up volunteers from among my friends to provide meals.

After nine weeks passed, I proposed a Phase Two plan for the summer. She listened.

"Sure, Mom, whatever you can do to help would be great." The answer came from some faraway place. "But what if there is no school next year?"

Judi Meirowitz Tischler - Newton

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

It’s so nice to be able to share my homesickness with you. My husband and I are stranded in our winter home in Las Vegas, where we never envisioned living year-round. In late January, I realized that the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan was going to head our way, but no one really believed me, so I did not reschedule our April flight back to Boston. Big mistake.

Needless to say, we are still out here, and I think we will remain so for the foreseeable future. I don’t believe it will be safe to fly home until there is a significant breakthrough in a treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19.

I miss New England. I miss Boston. And I miss our home in Haverhill. I miss lobster rolls, fried clams, Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee, green grass, woods, lakes, and everything about home. But at least I can still read my Boston Globe online every morning. Still, I long for the day when I can walk out my door and pick up a copy of my Globe to read over coffee in my Haverhill home.

Alice Magrane - Las Vegas

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Here is a photo of our COVID protection rack, which we installed in late March, right by our front door — sort of like our key rack, but for our different methods of staying safe when we venture out beyond our front door. It now shows the accumulated methods we've been using: first, our "Covid cloths" in plastic bags (inspired by the Globe's March 17 letter to the editor, "Have 'Covid cloth,' will travel"), then a variety of bandanas, then an N95 mask or two that we scrounged from the tool closet, some hand-sewn masks made by someone in our synagogue, and finally, some store-bought blue paper masks.

Mark Schafer - Roxbury

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Spending lots of time in the gardens. They're the most weed-free ever.

Nancy Bryan - Hingham

Friday, June 19, 2020

Here is my son-in-law, Rob, showing off his new son, Montgomery, born during the lockdown. They are at the sliding glass door to their deck so that their friends can see the baby. Here is unconditional love, pride, and hope in the midst of chaos. This is Father's Day 2020.

Judith Kackloudis - Foxborough

Friday, June 19, 2020

Like many people, I find solace in sunsets, baking bread, and children's laughter, but I caught myself especially at peace helping my father with yard work and observing his method of stretching out a new leaf bag. It seems ridiculous initially, but then you realize it's actually the most logical way to do it. Now I see why the elders are always the wisest. Thanks, Dad, for always being Dad.

Bobby Conlon Jr. - Lynn

Friday, June 19, 2020

A volunteer picked up groceries for me. I opened the bag, and there was a bunch of lavender tulips. Confined to home by both the pandemic and health issues, I had been longing for flowers to bring a bit of spring into my apartment. A stranger had granted my wish. When I texted her, she told me that she thought they would brighten a difficult time. I placed the tulips in a vase on my living room window sill, gazing at them often, until the petals dried and fell to the floor.

Elaine Gottlieb - Cambridge

Monday, June 15, 2020

Early in the pandemic, my three granddaughters came up with the idea of porch visits. They sat inside by the window. I sat outside. You published a Postcard of us on April 20. Now that warm days have arrived, our visits have evolved. We set up a picnic table on the porch. The girls sit on one bench. I sit on the opposite bench. We keep a safe distance, but we feel closer without the window separating us.
Recently, the girls devoured quesadillas while I read to them, and they savored ice cream cones on a hot day. We still can’t hug or share lunch items. But it’s good enough, for now.

Monica Stuart - Waltham

Monday, June 15, 2020

I have been taking pictures of flowers and anything outside that attracts my attention. It's a great way to start or end the day, and it always brightens my mood. There is beauty all around us.

Linda Encarnacao - Andover

Monday, June 15, 2020

We can all use a chuckle during these times, and this door fit the bill.

Michael Zimmerman - Brookline

Friday, June 12, 2020

My mom has been growing plants, and I’ve been helping her. It is acutely hard work, surprisingly. But other than that, I’m just outside all day or I’m doing homework.

Xavier Leveille - Blauvelt , N.Y.

Friday, June 12, 2020

Please don’t pass judgment or think that I am crazy. Here’s one thing that is getting me through the pandemic: the squirrels. Yeah, OK, I know. These abundant rodents are destructive to homes and property. But I just can’t help it. They are so entertaining, performing on-the-spot acrobatics for a few peanuts, and they are much better to watch than TV during the pandemic.

Helen Zazulak - Natick

Friday, June 12, 2020

One day my wife painted the balusters on our staircase while my mind was elsewhere. The pandemic is helping me to improve my listening skills.

Alan Bodnar - Wellesley

Monday, June 08, 2020

In the evenings, after another day of terrible news, I have been doodling and drawing cartoons in a COVID journal. It helps me. I drew this sketch of my dresser while in bed, about to go to sleep.

Robin Herman - Waltham

Monday, June 08, 2020

I’m a dining room attendant for AdviniaCare at Seashore Pointe in Provincetown. Since the outbreak of coronavirus, I’ve been dressing up in different costumes to bring some levity to the residents, since many do not leave their rooms. I just want to brighten up their day.

Kymberly Wilkinson - Provincetown

Monday, June 08, 2020

We’ve weathered the stay-at-home order very well in my piano studio in Newburyport. All 40 of my students switched to online lessons using FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom, and we are now completing our second virtual recital since mid-March. I divided the recital into sections by personal attributes that my students and their families have shown during this epidemic. The sections were: We are brave, we are resilient, we are creative, we are optimists, we are confident, we remain playful, we remain positive, and we remain grateful. Here is one of my students, Eliza Burton, age 10.

Penny Lazarus - Newburyport

Friday, June 05, 2020

I am a teacher, teaching Wayland students from home during the pandemic. I miss my students. Most days, the sadness is palpable. But last Friday (May 29), during a small-group virtual meeting, I dismissed a girl in order to work with some of the other students. She asked if she could stay because she was very happy there. Made my day!

Jacqueline Moquin - Arlington

Friday, June 05, 2020

With a dear friend’s 70th birthday approaching at the end of April, we wanted a party. But it had to be safe. A small backyard fire pit, with masks, maybe? Then the weather turned raw. A virtual party seemed unlikely since some in our group had never used Zoom or didn't even have a smartphone. A few days later, though, a spectacular party happened. A bag was delivered to each house with ice cream, candle, and mini bubbly. Everyone learned Zoom, and we toasted and serenaded our beloved birthday girl, Annie Hale. Can’t share birthday cake? No problem, thanks to our cake-themed face masks.

Lynn Hewes - Holliston

Friday, June 05, 2020

This is a shrine to what was not to be: my new white shoes for singing at Tanglewood this summer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. And the wee cake celebrating the Tanglewood Festival Chorus's 50th anniversary this — well, next summer. See you then!

Martha Reardon Bewick - Hingham

Monday, June 01, 2020

Spending time outside has really helped me with this pandemic. I love playing games outside or reading in my backyard. Having my parents around has been essential too: bonding with them over shared experiences and challenges, watching shows together, and just getting that social interaction. I miss hanging out with loved ones, but my parents have been a wonderful support network. This pandemic has been hard, but we will all get through this stronger.

Grace Van Dyck - Wellesley

Monday, June 01, 2020

My sister suggested I share this image that I took of my dad’s 65th birthday, on May 6. I’m a professional photographer, and I knew that with the right lens I could not only drop off handmade cards (and blueberry muffins) to him; I could also capture a picture or two of my parents at a safe distance. It’s not easy to be away from family, and we miss spending time together, but we are all making the best of it. These two have been married for 44 years, and I look up to them both so much. They chose wisely, not knowing all those years ago that they would be spending countless days together during a quarantine in 2020.

Bridget Parmenter - Shrewsbury

Monday, June 01, 2020

Here is my Day 73 photo. It has been fun being part of Postcards from the Pandemic, but this is the last bearded photo you will get from me. I’ve decided to shave it off. My reasons: COVID-19 restrictions are loosening up, I’m tired of the beard, the weather is getting warmer, and barbecue food does not look good in a beard. And perhaps most important, my wife doesn’t like it. (Editor's note: To see the "before" picture, check out the March 18 postcard.)

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Friday, May 29, 2020

My Tae Kwon Do online virtual classes, long walks, knitting, music, occasional baking, and my pet Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza, have all helped give me solace during these stressful times.

Miki Polumbaum - Somerville

Friday, May 29, 2020

During this pandemic, I have been learning how to play the piano. I now know how to play several different songs, including "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran, "Ode to Joy," and other, more simple songs.

Michelle Mancia - Blauvelt, N.Y.

Friday, May 29, 2020

I have been creating one small artwork each day and e-mailing the artwork to friends, often including photos of the day.

Dianne Jenkins - Swampscott

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Walking between buildings at the hospital about a week ago (I am a social worker), I was struck by how many beautiful days we have had — sunny, crisp wind — weather that makes one question how something could be in the air, on surfaces, and on our breath that kills those around us so swiftly. For a moment, I imagined the beauty of ignorance — of believing that the sunlight takes away our danger, that the bodies stacked up at nursing homes and hospitals around the world are merely hearsay. Denial can be beautiful in its own way, and I understand this. But make no mistake, we will pay for such ignorance. Fighting against the allure of ignorance takes effort: Ask any health care worker for advice on how to live every day with the intense need to stare ugliness in the face, fight for little bits of hope, go home exhausted, then wake up and do it again. To deny the truth of this fight is to spit in the face of all those fighting for the hope that one day, we will be out in the world again (yes, in the new normal), free of the unrelenting fear that the sun is only a facade, that the cool breeze is only carrying death, and that we will forever be just one moment away from the paralyzing reality of being afraid of something invisible yet deadly.

Johnna Marcus - Boston

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

I've been inoculating logs with mushroom plug spawn to grow edible mushrooms. Some of the advice I read on how to do it is conflicting, so I've been trying various methods and combinations of woods and mushroom species, resulting in a little mushroom farm on the side of my house. It's a delayed-gratification kind of project, since the mushrooms will take at least six months to start growing, and some much longer than that. I look forward to eating my first quarantine mushrooms but wonder what version of normal we will be living in by then. Regardless, I'm sure they will be delicious, and these days it's always good to have something special to look forward to.

Melanie Mendez - Arlington

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Honking cars filled the cul-de-sac, children cheering through the windows. My little brother Theo was celebrating his 9th birthday, and his classmates’ families had driven to our house to give him presents and cards. I caught paper airplanes and Hot Wheels in my gloved hands while Theo talked to his friends and the kids’ parents chatted with ours. Of course, everyone wore a mask. Despite the 6 feet of separation, we enjoyed one another’s company. In these difficult times, Theo still found a way to have a birthday party with his friends.

Maria Maier - Walpole

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

My dog, Daisy, guarding my groceries before I spray and wipe them off.

Colleen Henry - New City, N.Y.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

My 2020 college graduate son is isolating from me, but together we are planning his first vegetable garden, since he has the time. He may never garden again, but he can at least say that he tried it once.

Julie Knodler - West Springfield

Friday, May 15, 2020

Day 59 (May 13) of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Friday, May 15, 2020

On a recent morning, while I was praying in our chapel of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, who did I see out the window but a wild turkey waiting for the bus at the corner of Benton Road and Highland Avenue? After a few minutes, it took a turkey trot to the middle of the road. Traffic came to a standstill. One car tried to maneuver around the turkey, only to have the bird waddle to the driver as if to have a chat. Then the driver deftly pulled away, and the turkey returned to the sidewalk and proceeded toward Central Street. Wish I was quick with my camera.

Sister Margaret Anne Meyer - Somerville

Friday, May 15, 2020

My son Nolan graduated from UMass Amherst on Friday. He (the one with his arms up) and a few of his friends are making the best of a bad situation. Last Thursday they took graduation pictures of each other. A classic image to behold these days.

Maura Hardiman - Walpole

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

My husband, Boyd, and I have now had the time to read all the letters he wrote while serving on the front lines in Vietnam in 1968.

Karen Osler - Plymouth

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Here is a sketch of something I think about: climbing a ladder to see my deaf sister at the window on the third floor. When I send her a card or letter, I copy the same sketch each time. In that way we are having a visit, and it feels good.

Claire Dee Ecsedy - Needham

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Well, as an 18-year-old kid, this shelter-in-place thing isn't too easy. We had prom canceled and graduation postponed. Staying home with my family wasn't bad for the first week. Now it's like we live alone but eat meals together. This is an odd time in my life, but it will be one for the books.

Timmy Hasenfus - Needham

Thursday, May 07, 2020

Recently, I did a month's worth of shopping at Stop & Shop. When I finished, I was exhausted and felt as though I would faint. The woman who scanned my groceries stood by me to assure that I was safe. She loaded my groceries into carts, and two kind young women took them to my car. EMTs were called as a precaution, and they checked me out. By that time, I had recovered and was able to drive myself home safely. I will always be grateful for the wonderful people who helped me without making an undue scene.

Emily Little - Winthrop

Thursday, May 07, 2020

Enjoying afternoon walks in the Middlesex Fells with my Bernese mountain dog, here overlooking the middle reservoir. Grateful for nature’s consistent and balanced beauty.

Kate Reynolds - Winchester

Thursday, May 07, 2020

I've always been a music junkie but vulnerable to mondegreens — the misinterpretation of song lyrics. Lately this helped me coronafy classics as I sing them around the house (much to the delight of my dog Edie and the loving exasperation of my girlfriend Rosie). 'We all live in a yellow submarine' becomes 'We all live in corona quarantine.' 'I can't get no satisfaction' becomes 'I can't get no vaccination.'

Pat Bubul and Rosie Jimenez - Somerville

Thursday, May 07, 2020

For our friends in nursing homes: Close your eyes and imagine us. We are out here, your family, friends, acquaintances, and untold numbers of complete strangers. We are rooting for you, wishing for your safety and well-being and that you will beat this virus. You are not alone. We were thinking of you yesterday, we are thinking of you today, and we will still be thinking of you tomorrow. Sincere thanks as well to the many dedicated caregivers for their efforts in watching over our most vulnerable during this brutal time. Be well.

Beth Martens - Wayland

Monday, May 04, 2020

My husband and I are active elders who appreciate all the precautions folks in our community are taking. We do get out for walks, with our masks, of course. I drafted this sentiment, since what I miss most is giving and getting smiles as neighbors and strangers pass by.

Rusty Browder - Brookline

Monday, May 04, 2020

Being outside brings me peace during these confining days. I find the shapes, colors, and nuances of nature endlessly fascinating and beautiful. I’m lucky to live near the Arnold Arboretum, Allandale Woods, Olmsted Park, and many other lovely places.

Anna Rubin - Roslindale

Monday, May 04, 2020

Our response to COVID-19 has blessed me with a community that shares my love of spirituality and does spiritual practices together. I’ve studied spirituality and engaged in spiritual practices my entire life. However, due to my disability, attending yoga classes, church, or spirituality seminars in person is usually impossible . . . until now. With Zoom, I’m able to attend live chair yoga class with others, drum with people in a weekly drum circle, discuss how to apply spiritual principles during weekly church meetings, and meditate with people around the world daily. Here I am practicing yoga with my class. Love to all!

Allison Thompkins - Watertown

Monday, May 04, 2020

Day 38 (April 22) of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Seeing our neighbors out for walks, I wanted to use my fabric stash to send a little hope. We each need to find our own rainbows, knowing that this storm will pass.

Brenda Waber - Natick

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Because I live up on the top of a hill, far away from the road and most other folks, I sometimes feel like a hermit. Except now, I can’t take my usual social distancing for granted. There is another reason for this, and I don’t like it. So after quite a lot of Scrabble solitaire, here is my message to all of you.

Jane Kronheim - Harrisville, N.H.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

I find it helpful to focus on what I have, not what I am missing. I made a list of everything I’m grateful for. There are more than 300 things on it, and I keep adding to it. They are things from my past as well as the present. They include people, objects, services, living conditions, and experiences — major things, such as family and friends and my reasonably good health, and minor things, such as parks, washing machines, and paper towels. Every day I try to spend several minutes thinking about one or more of the items on the list. One that really helps me is to think about how much better my life is, even during these unusual times, than it was for my mother, who grew up poor in the 1930s, or for any of my great-grandparents and other ancestors. If I ask myself whether I’d rather be alive in 2020, 1920, 1820, or earlier, the answer is easy.

J. Gary Jump - Itasca, Ill.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

A COVID-19 haiku:
No haircut in weeks,
My gray roots are coming forth.
This is who I am.

Cindy Benal - Lincoln

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

After 35 days at home, I have brought several jigsaw puzzles to the dining room table. Time flies when pieces of sky stubbornly refuse to join with their mates. Somehow my 81-year-old brain doesn’t seem to have the zip it used to. But I soldier on.

Celia Brown - Malden

Monday, April 20, 2020

Day 31 of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Monday, April 20, 2020

I’ve always spent Wednesdays with my three granddaughters. Until now. The girls came up with the idea of porch visits. Their home has a wrap-around porch. I sit outside on a bench. They sit inside by the window. “Gram, you bring your lunch. Mom will make our lunch. We’ll eat lunch together!” We also read books, share jokes, write Mad Libs. I am grateful to see my granddaughters, but the physical distance is painful. Not hugging is unnatural. The girls express it better than I: “I hate COVID-19. When it’s over, I’m going to hug everyone I know!”

Monica Stuart - Waltham

Monday, April 20, 2020

Mom died four years ago in July, and Dad followed the next April. My brothers and I packed up the house for sale — our family home with its more than 50 years of memories. All my parents’ pictures went carefully into a bin — their wedding album and the baby album Mom had completed only for me, the oldest; us at Christmas, smiling in front of a heavily tinseled tree; at Hampton Beach in the summer, the three of us squinting into the sun in our sandy bathing suits; my brothers in their Little League uniforms, me on my beloved horse, my cousins smiling around the Thanksgiving turkey; my parents all dressed up at some fancy party. All into the bin. Someday, I thought, I’d go through them. Someday has arrived. With all the craziness in the world right now, I’m finding it comforting to go through the old pictures. Looking forward to the day I’ll have everyone over for a great slide show. Thanks for the great memories, Mom and Dad.

Pam Fitzgerald - Dracut

Monday, April 20, 2020

My granddaughter, age 4, taking a walk through the woods. Her mom — my daughter — is walking behind her, but you can see there is no one else in sight. They have stayed home for weeks, except for taking walks and playing in their backyard.

Maureen Cronin Peterson - Milton

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Day 14 of isolation after a plane ride. I feel fine. But life has changed: eat heavily and often; pajamas now fashionable throughout the day; read newspapers, do crosswords, and watch only one television news show per day; commiserate with friends and FaceTime with family; two weeks of no bra — liberating; consciously do not watch/listen to president at any time — also liberating; walk outside and exercise indoors; enjoy the quiet; write; give daily thanks for essential employees and medical workers; feel sad at dawn every day, and then let courage, hope, and gratitude take hold.

Colleen Hertel - Winchester

Thursday, April 16, 2020

We’ve always enjoyed going out exploring as a family, whether it’s in the city or out in nature. Now these outings have become a lifeline, a way for us to stay positive, get exercise, and do some learning along the way. Here is a recent shot of one of our daily field trips: Martin, age 9, at the New England Aquarium.

Josh and Jen Rose-Wood - Roxbury

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Never before seen: Two pictures from Easter Sunday as I drove back to New Hampshire from six weeks down south. New Jersey Turnpike (left) and George Washington Bridge — smooth sailing.

Mike Gallup - Alton, N.H.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

As an individual with a disability living in a nursing home, I am coping during this coronavirus crisis by doing what I find meaningful. Personally, I connect with my friends. As an aging and disability advocate, I work to support colleagues taking the lead on critical issues — the evictions of residents from their nursing homes and the advocacy to assure that there will be no discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the allocation of staff and health services. I support these endeavors by sharing relevant coronavirus updates.

Penny Shaw - Braintree

Thursday, April 16, 2020

This life is new. I know it’s hard and scary, but we’re all in this together. We all need to reset and be kind. All you have to do is just say, “Hi,” from 6 feet apart. That will help someone who has a lot of stress for the moment feel better. Also, a lot of people don’t have anyone to quarantine with. That ends up making them feel sad. If you know someone who is by themselves, you can call them a couple times a week so they don’t feel alone all the time. I bet it will make them feel better.

Henry Morin - Newton

Monday, April 13, 2020

Day 24 of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Monday, April 13, 2020

In 91 years, I survived the Depression, wars, severe storms, the polio epidemic, floods, job loss, shortages, and illness, among other tragedies. This is a new challenge, under self-quarantine, alone with telephone support of wonderful family and friends. I knit, sew, cook, clean, organize drawers, and exercise with weights to keep busy. My greatest concern is my precious family being infected, and I pray for the best, think positive, and hope we can work together to survive this frightening time. Today I’m making masks. Be good to one another.

Beverly Smith - North Easton

Monday, April 13, 2020

I am board president of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail. It seems appropriate to share this, since Abigail Adams was a pioneer in treating epidemics. In 1776, to protect her children from smallpox, Adams bravely took her family from Braintree to Boston to be inoculated.

Michelle Jenney - Boston

Monday, April 13, 2020

Trains are running. All is normal. People on platforms wait for their train. Trains arrive, and depart. Stores and restaurants are open. People on sidewalks walk together and enter and leave stores. There is much traffic on city streets. Railroad freight yards are busy. Switch engines do their work. You may ask: Where is this happening? It is in my basement, on my HO scale model railroad. I operate it as if it is the real thing. It seems to be sometimes. This hobby has helped me spend time at home quarantined.

Alan Stapleford - Merrimack, N.H.

Monday, April 13, 2020

A colleague who works for the costume shop at the Huntington Theatre Company made and dropped off masks for me and asked that I make a donation to Greater Boston Food Bank. I did. We have now moved from being connected on Instagram to becoming true friends going forward. You never know where you will find grace.

Candelaria Silva-Collins - Dorchester

Monday, April 13, 2020

As an educator of 27 years’ experience, I sit at home alone in front of a screen for the “school day.” Using Google video chat, I “student-fish,” hoping to get a bite from one of our mainstreamed kids in the Maine public school district in which I teach special education. We face-chat a lot. The kids seem to like the connection — they look for it, in fact. Every day, our principal, who used to spend his days with noncompliant students, sends out video “lifts,” funny homemade videos to remind us what is really important — like us, like the families, like the kids who miss hating their regular classes. This is school. And you know what? These amazing professionals are doing it.

Rita Pender - Rochester, N.H.

Thursday, April 09, 2020

My now-adult son Ben sculpted this unique creation in art camp during high school. I’m staying positive by taking pictures of his and his sister Emily’s artwork. Their pieces decorate our 800-square-foot Upper West Side apartment in New York. Emily lives in Somerville. We named Ben’s sculpture Corona. Sometimes the past is prologue.

Naomi Serviss - New York

Thursday, April 09, 2020

When my tooth became abscessed and my face swollen, I called my dentist’s office and left a message. Although the office was closed, I got a return call asking me to come in the following day at 10 a.m. I arrived to find my dentist masked, and wearing jeans and a paint-spattered jacket. Instead of Lucy the receptionist, my dentist’s son (about middle-school age) sat at the front desk at the computer, in class, online. While I reclined in the chair, the dentist’s daughter (also about middle-school age), assisted him. The whole scene felt quite homespun, if not a bit otherworldly. Yet at the same time, the tooth was saved.

Sharon Love Cook - Beverly Farms

Thursday, April 09, 2020

“April is the cruelest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot. The story on a Cambridge sidewalk on a recent morning.

Susan Donnelly - Arlington

Thursday, April 09, 2020

My daughter and her husband and two children live less than a mile away. We haven’t been within 6 feet of each other in weeks. My sister-in-law has a compromised respiratory system. In the last month and a half, I’ve only seen her and her husband when we’ve been FaceTiming. The huge clan that I belong to — normally a gregarious group of hug-and-kiss brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and first, second, and third cousins — now meets only on FaceTime or Zoom to gab, keep up to date on our health, or even play trivia. Knowing we’re doing the right things isn’t making it any easier.

Tom Corcoran - Chelmsford

Monday, April 06, 2020

My shelter-in-place beard, day 17.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Monday, April 06, 2020

My sister Sheridan Haines and I moved our mother, Betsy Gray, from her lifetime home in New Jersey to memory care at The Branches of North Attleborough on Feb. 1. We all had a very difficult transition to the new normal, and then along came the coronavirus. Although we haven’t been able get in to see Mom since early March due to visitor restrictions, with the help of some amazing caregivers, we celebrated her 82d birthday safely behind glass. Despite it all — Mom’s advancing dementia and the chaos of COVID-19 — she was beaming with a smile for the first time in a long time. We all appreciated sharing this simple moment of joy with her.

Jeffry Stanton - Attleboro

Monday, April 06, 2020

I like working from home because my dog always lies next to me on the couch — and sometimes likes to get in my way when I’m doing work.

Kieran Mahaffey - Westwood

Thursday, April 02, 2020

I am just past 60 and have been trying for years to exercise regularly. This pandemic finally motivated me to get healthier. I’m up to 4.5 miles on my stationary bike and have only missed one day in two weeks. I feel better and have more energy. I am also doing a book club with my daughter on FaceTime (“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”) and playing board games remotely with my family via Tabletopia.

Sarah Blodgett - Concord

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Tuesday afternoon I woke from a nap — rather suddenly — to find my kid having a pandemic jam on the front lawn. When I went outside to stop the ruckus (it was Metallica), I noticed several passersby who were . . . clapping. I let him finish. I posted on the Milton Neighbors Facebook page. Since then, more than 400 people have liked or loved the post. My mom’s response when I texted her this story: “Tell Max this is needed. I will play my accordion outside my house [in upstate New York]. Same idea. Unity.”

Elizabeth Plageman - Milton

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Homeschooling assignment for 7 year old: opinion writing. She did not hold back, wondering if ⁦@GlobeOpinion⁩ is looking for submissions??

Melissa Manganello - Boston

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Neighborhood women, socially distanced but spiritually connected, are sewing surgical masks for local first responders, as did those who came before them, making bandages at home for the front lines and hospitals during the Civil War.

Rick Mattila - Hull

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

I’m blowing thousands of leaves that lingered all winter — now I have the time. Wish I could blow out the virus as easily. — Larry Berk, Beverly Farms

Larry Berk - Beverly Farms

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

As humanity lurches headlong into a dystopian viral world, the practice of noticing signs of spring affords me a degree of solace. The swelling green buds on the crabapple tree outside my window, the ceaseless medley of a mockingbird on a treetop, and the irrepressible purple crocus randomly poking up through the crusty earth assure me that life goes on.

Nancy Ahmadifar - Boston

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

My grandkids, Haley (age 7) and Jack (age 5), take their virtual bus to school in their home in South Berwick, Maine.

Jack Clarke - Gloucester

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

I never liked working from home, and am reminded why daily, but I also have never appreciated the split-level splendor of my own home as I do now. There are multiple levels for my husband, my college-going son, an elderly dog, and me to share for our worldly activities. The noise travels easily, making conference calls a negotiation with the laundry and the work habits of cohabiters, but so does the camaraderie. Loss crops up around us daily in ways large and small, so I choose to gain solace in this homestead before it is consigned to the empty nest and, eventually, to another family.

Amity Kelley - Sharon

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

With everything shut down and shuttered, I’ve been taking two-hour walks around Jamaica Plain, including the Arnold Arboretum. I really miss hugging my friends and family. Then I decided that if I couldn’t hug them, I’d hug my favorite tree at the Arboretum, a 47-year-old giant sequoia. I made a pilgrimage to this magnificent beauty and gave it a huge hug. It felt really good. I recommend this to everyone who’s missing the human touch. And I’m sure our trees will appreciate it.

Allen M. Spivack - Jamaica Plain

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I thought I would break out my rock-painting supplies and create a “souvenir” of this crazy time, not that we will soon forget. This is a coronavirus cell. Pretty, no? No! One day I will throw it into the sea, along with my fear and uncertainty, and life will begin anew.

Jain Ruvidich-Higgins - Quincy

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Finally tackling that 1,000-piece puzzle I’ve had for months, while the grandfather clock ticks softly in the background, underlining the minutes we are alone.

Gina Weinberger - Lexington

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

My son at sunset on Friday in North Truro.

Neil Leifer - Brookline

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I live at Orchard Cove, senior housing in Canton. I’m not alone: I’m self-quarantined with my husband. Bach cello suites and my drawing table with watercolor paints brighten our anxious world.

Eleanor Rubin - Canton

Monday, March 30, 2020

Leo is practicing social distancing.

Robert O’Brien - Falmouth

Monday, March 30, 2020

A sense of humor really helps. My wife and I have been sheltering in place as she awaited the results of the COVID-19 test she had on Saturday. We’re both in our 70s, and she volunteers for the Massachusetts 211 line. The test results came back negative today, and she’s cleared to go back to taking Mass 211 calls at the end of the week. We’re in constant touch with family and friends, and we’re watching more television than usual. Both of us are avid readers. She’s reading the beginning of “The Stand” and I’m reading “Insomnia,” both by Stephen King.

Marc D. Goldfinger - Belmont

Monday, March 30, 2020

Many seniors look forward to cleaning out their closets upon retirement. We, however, are cleaning out our 35-year-old basement freezer while we are practicing home isolation. It’s filled with lots of veggies from last year’s bounty from our community garden: tomatoes, corn, pepper strips, broccoli, kale, pesto, and some store-bought items. We’ve wondered about using such an old appliance that is not energy efficient. For now, though, the ability to make hearty soups and stews during the coronavirus outbreak, without frequent shopping, may be an OK lapse in our climate impact.

Tolle Graham - Jamaica Plain

Monday, March 30, 2020

While the president delivered his daily briefing last Friday (March 20), I called a mandatory meeting with my coats in the living room. They all attended: two collapsible rain slickers, one fall wool jacket, five vests, one raincoat, one long woolen dress coat, four barn coats and/or silk jackets, two jean jackets, one pea coat, two down jackets, one leather jacket, five hooded and unhooded fleece jackets. A total of 25 pieces of outerwear. Let me repeat that: 25. At the conclusion of the meeting, I decided no one needs that many. Goodwill now has the peacoat, the woolen dress coat, one barn coat, one vest, and two ill-fitting fleece jackets (unhooded). I’ll be fine.

Carl Zukroff - Brighton

Friday, March 27, 2020

I take a power walk to the Charlestown Navy Yard each morning. On a gray day, passing the now-deserted USS Constitution, Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World” queued up on my music, and I sang along as loud as I could. Felt better.

Lynne Byall Benson - Charlestown

Friday, March 27, 2020

Every time I reach for a puzzle piece, she scratches me.

Gayle H. Edson - Wakefield

Friday, March 27, 2020

I invited my extended family — 29 siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins — to share by e-mail their challenges and opportunities in dealing with this pandemic. Interesting to note commonalities of those living in different communities across this country. Even more interesting to learn about those dealing with a wide range of health and work-related issues.

Floyd Alwon - Needham

Friday, March 27, 2020

Full-time working mom bringing the classroom outside and teaching my kids that this is so much more than just about us. So many people stopped by, from a distance, to share their heartfelt stories. A neighbor shared that her daughter is a nurse on the front lines. Perspective.

Jenna McPhee - Canton

Friday, March 27, 2020

Shelter-in-place beard update: I’m planning on taking a picture every week until this is over. The last one was taken three days in, so this one is from Day 10.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

How am I coping? Living alone at 82 could be a challenge, but fortunately my children and their families live close by. Being somewhat computer savvy helps. Several weeks ago I took a memoir-writing workshop, so I have begun writing vignettes of my life. After reading about a free online course offered by a Yale professor, I signed up. The content deals with increasing happiness in one’s life — what a good time to do that!

Lynn Gaulin - North Attleborough

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I roam where I can on the trails and streets near my house. I have walked here for 35 years, with dogs, with friends, with grandkids, and with strangers. But now I always walk alone and create impermanent “chalk talk” markings to let other humans know we are not walking alone.

Melody Winnig - Wayland

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I am a competitive ice dancer, and all the rinks are closed. So instead, I am taking jogs and walks every day and using weights and doing abs. Another way I am keeping busy is I am running an online book club on jitsi meet. I have at least seven people, and it is a really good way to keep connected. The photo is of me trying out a computer camera.

Simon Mintz - Lexington

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

All will be well (Burma-Shave-style).

Sarah Glover - Arlington

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

I’m photographing nature at local parks and making e-greeting cards to post on Facebook for my pun-loving friends and family.

Valerie A. Russo - Weymouth

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

A few nights ago, my neighbor asked me to come out to my porch at 7 p.m., and we sang “Hey Jude” together across my yard. Now singing together has become a nightly ritual, involving growing numbers of neighbors. Let’s not practice “social distancing” exactly — let’s keep 6 feet of physical distance, but stay socially connected. So lean out your window, come out to your porch, or come stroll down the street, and #singfromsixfeet! Each night’s song is chosen by Secret Boston.

Jill Harrison Berg - Jamaica Plain

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

We are playing “Guess the Etch Movie” on our Etch A Sketches. My “King Kong” was an easy guess.

Susan Dromey Heeter - Dover

Monday, March 23, 2020

During the pandemic — what really seems like the first one I’ve experienced in my almost 98 years — I am enjoying the St. Patrick’s Day flowers that my son sent me as well as the corned beef and cabbage my daughter brought me. I am keeping busy by quilting and reading my beloved Boston Globe.

Mary Murray McCarthy - West Roxbury

Monday, March 23, 2020

Finding solace going for a (short) walk in my “Garden in the Almost-Woods.”

Pam Hays - Littleton

Monday, March 23, 2020

For my dad’s 86th birthday, we filled all the bird feeders at his nursing home, spoke on the phone, and waved through the window. He thinks this quarantine is nonsense. (The image is through his window, with a reflection of us and the bird-feeders.)

Rachel Evans - Somerville

Friday, March 20, 2020

I am sheltering in place. In the springs of central Florida as often as possible. That’s my kind of social distancing. Keeping the immune system tuned up and trying to make wise choices when it’s necessary to be out and about in public. Stay safe and well, everyone.

David Burn - Weeki Wachee

Friday, March 20, 2020

I found this leaf stuck between the boards of my deck Wednesday. He’s social distancing, but I think he’s struggling with anxiety. It’s OK, leaf. We’re all having a hard time. I’m here for you.

Sunshine Menezes - West Kingston, R.I.

Friday, March 20, 2020

The first time I took a weeklong silent retreat at a monastery in the 1980s, I felt like a religious hotshot. Solitude — no crockpot, no squabbles, no traffic — was mine. Within 24 hours, I became furious. Why was no one speaking to me? Why were they all so rude — monks and everyone? Be patient. Wait for God. Baloney, I thought. Alone, I prayed and wrote letters of rage and sorrow to God. Slowly, a surge of safety and truth, wrapped in silence, rose up inside me. I met my self. Is there a “retreat” in social distancing?

The Rev. Lyn Gillespie Brakeman - Cambridge

Thursday, March 19, 2020

I’m a local cartoonist and I’ve been keeping a visual journal of what life has been like during all this social distancing. It’s a crucial way of keeping records for my daughter for when she’s older (when she hopefully won’t remember this), and to keep myself sane. I’m posting them online and I am amazed at how much my thoughts and experiences help buoy others — we are all in this together.

Maria Photinakis - Waltham

Thursday, March 19, 2020

I read an article once in The New York Times titled, “You Should Actually Send That Thank You Note You’ve Been Meaning to Write.” Well, this time at home, away from my daily work schedule, has given me the time to write those thank you notes — finally! My plan is to write a note a day during the weeks to come. I will be writing mentors, former teachers, ministers, and even authors who have inspired me. But I am starting off with a thank you note to my academic dean of studies. She has been preparing the faculty for the online teaching and learning we are about to embark on with our students after spring break. Indeed, even during this time of uncertainty, I have so much to be thankful for.

Julian Kenneth Braxton - Boston

Thursday, March 19, 2020

My gym recently closed, which means no more tennis indoors for a while. Very disappointing. Went for a lovely, sunny, and calm walk along the river. Two tennis courts sat unused, with a couple perched outside on a bench, holding their rackets. Why weren’t they playing? Did someone forget the balls? After a bit, they left. My husband and I checked out the courts. The gates were locked. We checked out the lonely playground nearby without screaming kids. Also locked. This is all like a bad movie. When will it end?

Nanda Calla - Chelsea Waterfront

Thursday, March 19, 2020

The last public event I attended was church on Sunday. I do not intend to shave again until things are back to normal. I call it my “shelter-in-place” beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

A work in progress: stenciling my bathroom.

Sara Buttrick - Maynard

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Last night we enjoyed a family dinner at our home in Cambridge with our three daughters and their families, who never left their homes in Wakefield, Plymouth, and Ashland. Everybody set their own table (we used the best dishes, and candles), made dinner, and everyone sat down to eat at 6:30, signed into Google Hangouts (but any meeting software would do). Maybe next time we will all cook the same meal.

Jane Stabile - Cambridge

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

A scene from last Friday, as reality and panic set in, and I stood in the Trader Joe’s checkout line: The woman behind me, a tense scramble of fear, stage-whispered into her phone, “There’s a cart in front of me with four-dozen eggs!” I turned to her, smiled, and said calmly, “I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but this is normal for my shopping cart. I’m picking up my son from college. He eats four eggs every morning.”

Ann Marie Lindquist - Lexington

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

By trying to find humor somewhere, anywhere.

Beth Gamse - Cambridge

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Gun sales are way up. A sense of panic. Fear everywhere. Lives disrupted. No end in sight. But amid the chaos, any island of sanity is all the more appreciated. In normal times, Trader Joe’s in Coolidge Corner is a popular destination. But in these abnormal times, it is absolutely inundated with worried shoppers. And yet, five minutes before it opened one morning, the spontaneous order of a long single-file line reminded me that people are capable of civilized behavior even in trying times. Very reassuring.

Paul E. Greenberg - Brookline

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

And coming home to this chucklehead (Chester) doesn’t hurt. Wishing everyone well during this crazy time.

Tracy Relle - Carrabassett Valley, Maine

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Staying in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. While Sugarloaf may be closed, there is plenty of hiking to be had and solace to be found in the woods.

Tracy Rellle - Carrabassett Valley, Maine

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

The wonderful Martha Sheridan of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau sent me an invitation to join a virtual walking group about 200 days ago. I haven't walked for exercise since pregnancy (a long time ago), but it's a pandemic, so I figured, why not? Since that day, I've logged more than 170 entries and walked more than 500 miles. It's been a wonderful stress reliever and a great way to connect with a friend at the end of the workday. We've seen some beautiful sights along the way too. Here's one of my favorite shots from February.

Mary Talbot - Barrington, R.I.

Monday, March 15, 2021

We used to have a dining room table; now it is the site of mask assembly and other art projects. The OED has been shoved aside for fabric samples.

The artist is my son Perry (pictured), who does music videos, short films, T-shirts, photo sweatshirts, and lots of COVID masks. His first big customer was a local pizza chain, which ordered 90 masks to start.

Chris Kerr - Dorchester

Monday, March 15, 2021

Please get vaccinated if you can. We are very tired.

Sincerely,

A dialysis social worker

Maureen Crocker - Lowell

Monday, February 22, 2021

A couple of weeks before Hanukkah, I lamented that we would not be able to gather in person with anyone outside our two-person bubble to celebrate the holiday. Then I realized that our menorah collection, which numbers close to two-dozen, includes one designed for outside use since it is enclosed in metal and glass with little chimneys at the top. With this menorah we could safely defy our isolation. On two evenings, we invited an assortment of family and friends to gather in our front yard to communally light the menorah and sing Hanukkah songs. Together we celebrated our liberation from the oppression of this pandemic.

Miriam Rosenblum - Newton

Monday, February 22, 2021

One word: birds.

These amazing creatures have kept me calm and given me an outlet to release stress as a health care worker.

Elaine DeBitetto - Concord

Monday, February 22, 2021

Down under we have faced lockdowns, opening up, then lockdowns again. The borders of our states have often been closed. Air travel has been restricted. We’ve seen panic buying, oddly on toilet paper, which exposes priorities. Much of Australia is COVID-free, so it's quite surreal to look out at what is happening in the United States. We have not started our vaccine program yet. We have seen about 900 deaths in a population of more than 25 million, so it's easy to forget a killer lurks unseen.

Peter Veal - Laidley Creek West, Queensland, Australia

Friday, February 05, 2021

Since I rely on reading lips to hear, masks make it difficult. My winter coat hides my T-shirt. Now I carry a clipboard and pen so that cashiers and salespeople can write down responses. It takes a long time to buy shoes when the salesperson has to write down every answer. Recently, I was excited about “traveling” to Florence via live video on Zoom until it dawned on me that the speakers would be wearing masks. There is no traveling overseas in my future until masks are obsolete. COVID-19 is isolating me and altering my life.

Leslie Voiers - Harrisville, N.H.

Friday, February 05, 2021

Dear Lips:
Remember me — Cherries in the Snow?
I miss you. I miss seeing my trace on your coffee cup. I miss seeing your kiss when you greet your granddaughters.
Each morning before breakfast, you’d gently turn my cylindrical body to the right and apply your favorite color: me. You never looked in the mirror. We’ve been going together for so long, there was no need.
These days, however, you’re covered under sad, plain masks. You need color. I know these are challenging times, but I want to assure you that I’m still here. Just look on your dressing table.
Forever yours,
C

Beverley Douglas - Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

My partner, Rob, and his sons, Drew and Ryan Healy (my "bonus sons"), built this for me. Everyone needs some.

Jenny DiGregorio - Scituate

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Since we can’t see our real grandchildren this Christmas, we made snow-grandchildren! Meet Molly, our skier; Nora, our swimmer; and Cullen, our ballplayer. (P.S.: Real grandchildren are better.)

Ellen Albanese - East Falmouth

Thursday, December 24, 2020

My annual gingerbread people — with masks.

Dorene Lengyel - New London, N.H.

Friday, December 18, 2020

We projected a menorah onto the side of the building during Hanukkah, adding a candle every night.

Rabbi Danny Burkeman - Wayland

Friday, December 18, 2020

Our pets have given us so much joy and laughter during this pandemic year. This is my puppy, Frodo, enjoying his first big snow with Stacia Biel of Winchester.

Deborah Kemp - Arlington

Friday, December 18, 2020

The children in our neighborhood bring us so much joy. So when their parents asked us to get creative and provide a safe trick-or-treat experience, we stepped right up.

Jill and Erik Berg - Jamaica Plain

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

My dear friends — all seniors — had a pandemic potluck for Thanksgiving. We each cooked one element of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, then brought single servings in containers to an outdoor masked gathering the day before. Each person went home with a fabulous complete dinner, and we all Zoomed together on Thanksgiving day.

Robin Tartaglia - Cambridge

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

Many in our little town have decorated their homes with lights and signs of hope to brighten the winter sky during a challenging time for our community.

Kim Cromwell - Provincetown

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

On Monday, Nov. 2, the winds were blowing strong. Perhaps Harvard Square’s windiest place is near the soaring, white, smooth-finished William James Hall. Sparrows shelter in the bushes skirting the 15-story structure that was designed by the architect of the World Trade Center towers. Against the wind, two workers plant trees on Kirkland Street. Water from a 5-gallon bottle is poured into the green Tyvek collar around the tree trunk. Greening urban landscapes today, we prepare for our future. Come what may, we’ll be sheltered and comforted by trees. American pragmatism lives.

Rob Moir - Somerville

Friday, November 20, 2020

How I cope? Daily "pandemic postcards" to four grandkids. Not being physically with grandkids since March (except occasionally) has been a bummer. About a month ago, I started sending one postcard a day — birds, flowers, trivia facts — to each grandchild. I ask a question or tell them something about me. I look forward to writing, and they (ages 5, 8, 10, and 11) look forward to receiving them!

Allyson Gall - Scituate

Friday, November 20, 2020

I’ve been drawing a series of COVID-19 memoir drawings.

Patricia Myerson - Manchester-by-the-Sea

Friday, November 20, 2020

I sent a postcard in March when I started my cartoon diary documenting life in this pandemic with my young daughter. I've been keeping it going, and sadly — notably — I recently completed my 200th page of this project (I call it "Extraordinary Times"). It's full of my notes and observations on what our locked-down, preschool-less life has been like. It's amazing to me how much we've learned and changed since March, but still, none of it feels "normal" to me.

Maria Photinakis - Waltham

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

We have been meeting outdoors once a week since March with friends for drinks and snacks — we sit socially distanced at little tables, and people bring their own drinks, snacks, and chairs. We decided to try the same thing for a family gathering for an early celebration of my 80th birthday. We basically followed the same rules, but we provided the food, and my masked wife Paula served it to folks, one masked couple at a time. We all had a great time.

Tom Duston - Chesterfield, N.H.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Each week, my son, Matthew, occasionally works from home. I am retired and try to stay over a few days a week to assist with his two children, Fox, 4, and Wren Donna, 2. Recently, a situation came up at his work that required his immediate assistance. I took this picture as he was focused intensely on his computer and his son was doing everything to get his attention — even climbing on his back while he worked. This picture captures the intensity, the closeness, and the balancing act of a son and father that working from home often requires.

Bill Milhomme - Foxborough

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

During the pandemic, I’ve stayed close to home — well, at home, actually. And during these months, within these walls, I’ve focused my lens a good deal on our cats, who seem to love the attention. Of late, I’ve used my camera, which means that I have to wait some time to have the film developed. It usually takes a week or two before I see the results. And as the development of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics will also require more time, I hope my patience as a photographer helps hold me steady.

Deborah Vatcher - Plainville

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

There are some days when the only happiness I find is when I'm buried in TikTok. Those are the days when sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, still laughing.

Mary Ellen Mulhall - Framingham

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Inevitably, the subject of Rapunzel (or Shakespeare) comes up every time we visit my mother these days. We are so grateful that her little Juliet balcony faces the sidewalk at her senior community so that we are able to see her from the street.

Katie Fallon - Wakefield

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

When you reach a certain age, you stop asking too many questions and start to do a lot of navel-gazing, pondering things such as the ancient legend of the immortality of the frog.

The frog asked: "Who am I? What do I have left to do?” She sought the answer in the silence, and in her dreams.

How sweet life was then. She cherished doing nothing, and, after having done nothing, she found pleasure resting.

Such were the days of the pandemic in 2020.

Nora Klynjan - Carlsbad, Calif.

Friday, October 16, 2020

I started a new job on March 16, the first day of the state's mandated work from home. I was worried, but I learned you can meet and bond with people even in 2D virtual form. Teams have come together in a new way, and thankfully, it works.

Lisa Heard - Reading

Friday, October 16, 2020

Good advice on a napkin: Changing one letter makes all the difference. Take the advice on the napkin and vote in person or by mail. In Massachusetts, the last day to register to vote is Oct. 24, and applications for mail-in ballots must be received by Oct. 28. So don’t forget to register and then vote. (Thank you for the reminder and the advice, folded napkin.) With the uncertainty of the pandemic, it’s the least we all can do.

Helen Zazulak - Natick

Friday, October 16, 2020

I call it my morning constitutional — the 50 or so steps from the car to the door of the nursing home. There, I hand my daily love letter to the receptionist for delivery to my husband of 56 years. The ritual began in March, when afternoons by his side were prohibited. No more hugs and kisses. So I had to do something. We might be physically separated, but no damn virus was going to keep us apart. Today I will bring my 209th letter to my sweet John.

Mary Beth Fletcher - New Bedford

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

Planning our wedding during the pandemic was a stressful task for us. After many tears, worries, and guideline changes, our wedding day came. We got rain — lots of rain! It was the only thing we did not plan for.

It did not matter. We were married.

Natalia Vargas-McCusker - Lawrence

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was asked to integrate my two professions — singer-songwriter and mind-body psychotherapist — into a weekly livestream called, "Songs from the Heart, Meditations for the Heart." Providing uplifting music and an inspirational meditation has proved to be a valuable resource.

Linda Marks - Waltham

Wednesday, October 07, 2020

I never used to write poetry. These days, it's all that feels right. By putting things under a microscope, I can forget that the world itself feels smaller, one-dimensional.

When the pandemic hit, it felt like all of my creativity evaporated. Everything I wrote felt stiff and stunted. Now, when I pick up a pen, I write a verse in five minutes and it's finished.

There are fewer rules in poetry, real or imagined. It's all emotion.

I write poetry now. I am a different person.

Can you feel it? A shift in yourself?

Susannah Bruck - Framingham

Monday, September 28, 2020

Organized religion has been on the decline in the United States. But boy, am I glad I belong to a synagogue in COVID times. Zoom prayer services and programs galore. Getting a couple of personal calls just to ask how I am doing. A drive-by gathering at our synagogue parking lot so that I can make donations for area food banks and can pick up a bag of goodies for our High Holidays. How valuable is this? Priceless.

Allyson Gall - Scituate

Monday, September 28, 2020

Spending time with my grandson and his puppy, Tug, at the beach. Since he has not returned to college, he has spent time with us talking about uncertainty in his future. This was a bonus for all of us and filled many days of our isolation.

Cynthia Spencer - East Freetown

Monday, September 28, 2020

Early in COVID lockdown, I planted dried black beans and a variety of other seeds, mostly from foods we were eating then. I wanted something to look forward to, some purpose to all of this staying at home. I’ve now been harvesting a bumper crop of fantastic kale and basil, gorgeous tomatoes (when Johnny the squirrel doesn’t steal them), green beans, oregano, and the black beans, which are a bit useless for eating unless you grow a lot more than I did. But these are still a visually beautiful part of this chapter, and they make me feel wonderful.

Victoria French-Sanches - Stamford, Conn.

Friday, September 18, 2020

Enjoying an afternoon on the front porch with my husband on a beautiful Saturday in early September, just the two of us.

David Davidson - Eliot, Maine

Friday, September 18, 2020

“We’re all in this together” — sea gulls social distancing while awaiting their fast-food dinners.

Ed Bayard - Salem

Friday, September 18, 2020

Seeking solace and happiness in the world of nature is a perfect solution. I have sought comfort by watching my bird feeder and taking long walks to see the flowers and the birds and animals. All I needed was my smartphone to capture hundreds of images of the world beyond my four walls.

Neha Shah - Westford

Friday, September 11, 2020

I feel like the world around me is falling apart. All these stores are shut down, and there are all these new rules and regulations we need to follow. Our classes have resumed, which adds a sense of normalcy during all of this craziness. I also feel like things are beginning to calm down. It's times like these where you're reminded of the importance of family.

Shane Korygoski - Lanoka Harbor, N.J.

Friday, September 11, 2020

I'm pleased to announce that Ponyhenge in Lincoln is in tune with the times.

Barbara Weinstein - Lincoln

Friday, September 11, 2020

I was thrilled to get my ballot in the mail. So at the age of 98, pandemic or no pandemic, I would never miss the opportunity to cast my vote.

Mary Murray McCarthy - Boston

Wednesday, September 02, 2020

This summer has been interesting, definitely. Quarantine was a dark time for me. As an extrovert, it was difficult spending so much time in solitude when I'm used to going out a lot and being around those I love. Once quarantine was lifted, I was blessed enough to get a new job and work on the Ocean City boardwalk with two close friends. I've been making the best of this pandemic by trying to stay positive despite the circumstances, and staying in contact with friends and family. I'm glad I have been able to see most of them and reconnect, since it had been so long since I had seen them last.

Joelle Myers - Somers Point, N.J.

Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Saturday night, Aug. 29, 8:10.
The Alewife train has reached Charles/MGH station.
And it’s a T rider’s dream come true.

Jon Vargosko - Arlington

Wednesday, September 02, 2020

Cooler nights are coming. The porch heater will extend the socially distanced outside visits.

Dennis Noonan - Wellesley

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Shrewsbury School Committee member Lynsey Heffernan passes into town folklore for her resourcefulness. During a recent online public meeting, a lightning strike took out power to her neighborhood. But she was back in minutes, using her cellphone and pointing a flashlight at her face in the darkened room.

Melanie Magee - Shrewsbury

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

My chorus, the Mystic Chorale, has been hosting weekly virtual sing-alongs for months. These create a wonderful sense of community and connection. In the center of this photo from the spring is Berklee professor Jonathan Singleton and his wife Deborah Freeman leading everyone (more than 350 of us) in a rousing gospel song.

Nick Page - Melrose

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

My pandemic lunches are usually solitary. At first I looked at Facebook while I ate, but cats or political posts got to be unsatisfying. I wanted more engaging lunch partners. So I began the practice of “Having Lunch with a Poet.” Schools make poetry intimidating by demanding a “right” interpretation. I decided to ignore “right” and to simply respond to a poet’s insight, in one line or image, or in a whole collection. Lunch became an adventure. I felt filled with beauty and myster, not just a sandwich. My recent poet companions: Wislawa Szymborska, Andrea Cohen, and Christian Wiman.

Kevin Groppe - Wellesley

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

I turned 81 in April. A dozen family members sang "Happy Birthday" to me from the grass and parking lot outside my condo, with a big sign and balloons. So very special. Gotta love 'em.

Jeanne McCallum - Easthampton

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Remotely teaching sculpture classes for a half semester with students, widely scattered, at their homes, away from tools, materials, and technical instruction, was far from ideal. The classroom shrank from an equipped shop, with access to clay, plaster, wood, plastic, and metal, to the shallow space of our laptops (the image here of my laptop propped up in my Boston studio is from late May). Students gamely stepped up to each assignment, substituting cardboard, string, paper, and cloth for other materials, and addressing the space of their bedrooms to meet requirements in the midst of much uncertainty. Perseverance!

Marilu Swett - Jamaica Plain

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

I am used to moving around. As a preschool teacher, it's all I do. Since March I have been home. When I started paying more attention to my surroundings, I would go to the backyard and listen to the birds chirping and see the skunks and bunnies checking out what might be there for them. I started walking over to the private beach nearby. Early mornings are my favorite, and getting to witness the amazing sunrises gives me a great jump-start to the day.

George Anastos - Quincy

Friday, August 14, 2020

Heading east on the mid-Cape toward the sea on an August morning, we laugh as a turkey flies up beside the road, as graceful as an airborne mop. The bruising semester of not being with my students is forgotten until a sign on a bridge overpass: "Teachers Want to Teach, Not Die."

Kathryn Mudgett - Norwell

Friday, August 14, 2020

I have a big postcard collection from a lifetime of picking them up wherever I went. Now I am sending them all out. I find it's a great way to tell my friends and relatives I am thinking of them. It's funny because it's also like a diary of my life so far.

Susan Tournas - Marblehead

Friday, August 14, 2020

I watch the world in my small backyard, where I’ve planted, with no landscape logic in mind, indigenous flowers and plants to lure butterflies and hummingbirds. I’ve replaced the grass with clover, which the bees love. I feed and watch blue jays, sparrows, finches, mourning doves, and cardinals. A pair of shy voles raise their young in this urban eden. I look forward to mornings, when squirrels hang upside down from the wrought iron grille on my back door to get my attention. But mostly, I watch the bumblebees. Sometimes, if I’m careful, I can stroke their fur.

Rebecca Jung - Pittsburgh

Monday, August 10, 2020

Two furloughs, one family member lost, three health insurance changes, two months of job hunting, one part-time job found. Countless books read and shows and movies watched ("Hamilton," anyone?). One birthday. One Zoom Seder. Two separate tailbone injuries. One sprained foot. This is my quarantine by the numbers. No one’s is alike, though many of us now know about Zoom backgrounds and "Tiger King." I used to walk miles daily in my neighborhood, grateful to see the city skyline and to be alive. Now my air cast prevents me from walking far, but I’m still grateful.

Jennifer Leavey - Roslindale

Monday, August 10, 2020

Let's hope a Dr. Seuss-inspired plea will convince some holdouts to wear a mask.

Michael Zimmerman - Brookline

Monday, August 10, 2020

Ah, my golden years. A long-awaited opportunity to see and do all that could not be done when working. COVID has thwarted this. No volunteer work, no trips, no concerts, no plays, no movies on the cinema screen. Not even lunch out with retiree friends. I’ve gone grocery and CVS shopping (masked of course) and done Netflix and Zoom and takeout. And there is the gym’s pool, just reopened. Limited occupancy and constant sanitizing. But I'm grateful for that escape. It’s both exercise and a cocoon for tired bones. I can almost forget the new world order that has wrecked all my plans.

Regina M. Pacitti - Waltham

Friday, July 31, 2020

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” sang Joni Mitchell. Watching sports (mostly football, basketball, and baseball) is one of my favorite things to do. Now I'm especially missing football. I long to see those Hail Mary passes, fumble recoveries, and interceptions. I yearn to watch the games with my brother and dad in our matching Patriots jerseys, and to yell and root for the Pats while sitting in the bleachers or at home. I miss trash-talking my friends who support the Jets and Giants. I can’t wait to return to my crazy superstitions, like crossing my legs, arms, and feet. Mostly, I wish to be together with family and friends again, bonding over something we all share.

Sanya Nadeem, age 11 - East Walpole

Friday, July 31, 2020

I'm sad not to be with the man I love, who is in Mexico. I've not seen him for almost five months, and it could be a couple more before it's safe to travel. But in the meantime, I'm finishing and will self-publish two children's books I wrote almost a decade ago, and I'm slowly completing a quilt for my granddaughter. I've also made friends with Oliver, a Steller's jay who calmly walks up my arm to take nuts. I'm grateful, explaining that this bird is the only living being I've touched in nearly five months.

Sharon Franklin - Eugene, Ore.

Friday, July 31, 2020

I stayed at home starting March 18. I had lots of projects — made cloth masks, started turning my lawn into a terraced garden, upcycled fabric into a painting. At the end of May, I was asked to come back to my job. About half the people weren't wearing masks, or were only half-wearing them. Now more people wear masks, but there are still some who don't. A week ago the first employee was diagnosed with COVID-19. People who were in direct contact with this person were told, but I'm not sure if they are required to be tested. I think that's the extent of the contact tracing. I'm worried and unsure if I should continue working there because of my age — 63.

Charlene Weinstein - Lambertville, N.J.

Monday, July 27, 2020

My family is nearing the end of a three-month project where we are walking every street in Arlington, and there are a lot of them. Using the map from our local phone book, we set out almost every day, sometimes twice a day, and pound the pavement. In the process, we have discovered extraordinary architecture, amazing views, secret nooks and crannies — and also how the Black Lives Matter movement has transformed our town. Every week we take a photo of the map to show our progress — we started May 1 and will finish Aug. 1. And almost every day we learn something new about a town that, after 17 and a half years, we thought we knew. We've discovered that we had barely scratched the surface.

Adam Pachter - Arlington

Monday, July 27, 2020

I am a watercolorist. For the past 20 years, I have focused on polar and frozen places. Once the pandemic hit, everything my work was involved in was canceled — shows, classes, etc. In a class I was taking, we were assigned to paint an interior landscape. The images of animals moving into “human” spaces during the pandemic captivated me. I’ve made over 30 paintings of these settings. “Penguin and the Cesari” encapsulates both my wonder at this new world and my longing for the old one.

Lisa Goren - Hyde Park

Monday, July 27, 2020

With the exception of our sheets, I’ve been hand-washing all of our laundry since the end of March. We live in an apartment without a washer and dryer, and I found myself dreading the laundromat when laundry began piling up at that time. At first, I thought of it as a stopgap, but I found that by doing a little every day, I was making quite a dent in the baskets. Now it is just part of my daily routine. Clothes hang in doorways and over chairs, but until things are much improved, we aren’t having any company anyway.

Trudy Gredy - Tampa, Fla.

Friday, July 24, 2020

I've been a widow for three and a half years. I thought I was doing OK, and then the pandemic hit. The loneliness was almost unbearable. I belong to a poets group, and I put together a poetry reading on Zoom that we recorded and shared via the local access TV station. Writing poetry has helped a lot of us get through this.

Karen Hayden - Methuen

Friday, July 24, 2020

I had gotten used to seclusion before most others since I was going through chemo treatments for breast cancer in the fall and winter and into spring. The loneliness came when I could not bring a loved one with me into the hospital for my lumpectomy, the last set of my chemo treatments, and my radiation treatments. I had a scary reaction to my first dose of this last cycle, and I had no one holding my hand telling me I was going to be OK. People are whining about having to wear a mask into stores. I cannot have a hand to hold while fighting cancer. It's a scary battle that deserves a hand to hold.

Sarah Cook - Gilford , N.H.

Friday, July 24, 2020

Caption: "Incognito"

Ros Winsor - Auburndale

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Finding places to be normal when nothing else is.

Kathleen Young - Salem, Ore.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

I had to evacuate from a Vietnam holiday and leave everything behind in China, including these two sweet girls I rescued from the side of the road last summer. I am desperate to get them here to the United States, but without flights, they must be shipped, and it’s insanely expensive. I am losing hope.

D’Anne Graham - Richmond , Va.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

It’s been hardest on my 92-year-old mom. She still lives independently in her home. Loneliness is tough. But she enjoyed her drive-by birthday celebration in April.

Joanne Robertson - Wareham

Thursday, July 16, 2020

I was doing pretty well with the lockdown for the past few months. Reading and watching movies. While sitting outside, soaking up nature in my green and bird-filled yard. Then, pow! The heat wave hit. Summer in the Deep South means no going out except to get the mail. Now I am stuck inside, looking out the window.

Laura Brady - Hammond, La.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

I'm raising praying mantises after staring out the window all winter at the egg case on a rhododendron. One day, the window screen was covered with a dusting of baby mantises. They are now almost 1 inch long. Amazing to watch.

Karen Shine Nelson - Somerville

Thursday, July 16, 2020

I had gotten smug, bragging about how I had saved the day when my daughter broke her ankle. Super Me jumped into gear, merged our households, took over caring for her young children, and rounded up volunteers from among my friends to provide meals.

After nine weeks passed, I proposed a Phase Two plan for the summer. She listened.

"Sure, Mom, whatever you can do to help would be great." The answer came from some faraway place. "But what if there is no school next year?"

Judi Meirowitz Tischler - Newton

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

It’s so nice to be able to share my homesickness with you. My husband and I are stranded in our winter home in Las Vegas, where we never envisioned living year-round. In late January, I realized that the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan was going to head our way, but no one really believed me, so I did not reschedule our April flight back to Boston. Big mistake.

Needless to say, we are still out here, and I think we will remain so for the foreseeable future. I don’t believe it will be safe to fly home until there is a significant breakthrough in a treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19.

I miss New England. I miss Boston. And I miss our home in Haverhill. I miss lobster rolls, fried clams, Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee, green grass, woods, lakes, and everything about home. But at least I can still read my Boston Globe online every morning. Still, I long for the day when I can walk out my door and pick up a copy of my Globe to read over coffee in my Haverhill home.

Alice Magrane - Las Vegas

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Here is a photo of our COVID protection rack, which we installed in late March, right by our front door — sort of like our key rack, but for our different methods of staying safe when we venture out beyond our front door. It now shows the accumulated methods we've been using: first, our "Covid cloths" in plastic bags (inspired by the Globe's March 17 letter to the editor, "Have 'Covid cloth,' will travel"), then a variety of bandanas, then an N95 mask or two that we scrounged from the tool closet, some hand-sewn masks made by someone in our synagogue, and finally, some store-bought blue paper masks.

Mark Schafer - Roxbury

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Spending lots of time in the gardens. They're the most weed-free ever.

Nancy Bryan - Hingham

Friday, June 19, 2020

Here is my son-in-law, Rob, showing off his new son, Montgomery, born during the lockdown. They are at the sliding glass door to their deck so that their friends can see the baby. Here is unconditional love, pride, and hope in the midst of chaos. This is Father's Day 2020.

Judith Kackloudis - Foxborough

Friday, June 19, 2020

Like many people, I find solace in sunsets, baking bread, and children's laughter, but I caught myself especially at peace helping my father with yard work and observing his method of stretching out a new leaf bag. It seems ridiculous initially, but then you realize it's actually the most logical way to do it. Now I see why the elders are always the wisest. Thanks, Dad, for always being Dad.

Bobby Conlon Jr. - Lynn

Friday, June 19, 2020

A volunteer picked up groceries for me. I opened the bag, and there was a bunch of lavender tulips. Confined to home by both the pandemic and health issues, I had been longing for flowers to bring a bit of spring into my apartment. A stranger had granted my wish. When I texted her, she told me that she thought they would brighten a difficult time. I placed the tulips in a vase on my living room window sill, gazing at them often, until the petals dried and fell to the floor.

Elaine Gottlieb - Cambridge

Monday, June 15, 2020

Early in the pandemic, my three granddaughters came up with the idea of porch visits. They sat inside by the window. I sat outside. You published a Postcard of us on April 20. Now that warm days have arrived, our visits have evolved. We set up a picnic table on the porch. The girls sit on one bench. I sit on the opposite bench. We keep a safe distance, but we feel closer without the window separating us.
Recently, the girls devoured quesadillas while I read to them, and they savored ice cream cones on a hot day. We still can’t hug or share lunch items. But it’s good enough, for now.

Monica Stuart - Waltham

Monday, June 15, 2020

I have been taking pictures of flowers and anything outside that attracts my attention. It's a great way to start or end the day, and it always brightens my mood. There is beauty all around us.

Linda Encarnacao - Andover

Monday, June 15, 2020

We can all use a chuckle during these times, and this door fit the bill.

Michael Zimmerman - Brookline

Friday, June 12, 2020

My mom has been growing plants, and I’ve been helping her. It is acutely hard work, surprisingly. But other than that, I’m just outside all day or I’m doing homework.

Xavier Leveille - Blauvelt , N.Y.

Friday, June 12, 2020

Please don’t pass judgment or think that I am crazy. Here’s one thing that is getting me through the pandemic: the squirrels. Yeah, OK, I know. These abundant rodents are destructive to homes and property. But I just can’t help it. They are so entertaining, performing on-the-spot acrobatics for a few peanuts, and they are much better to watch than TV during the pandemic.

Helen Zazulak - Natick

Friday, June 12, 2020

One day my wife painted the balusters on our staircase while my mind was elsewhere. The pandemic is helping me to improve my listening skills.

Alan Bodnar - Wellesley

Monday, June 08, 2020

In the evenings, after another day of terrible news, I have been doodling and drawing cartoons in a COVID journal. It helps me. I drew this sketch of my dresser while in bed, about to go to sleep.

Robin Herman - Waltham

Monday, June 08, 2020

I’m a dining room attendant for AdviniaCare at Seashore Pointe in Provincetown. Since the outbreak of coronavirus, I’ve been dressing up in different costumes to bring some levity to the residents, since many do not leave their rooms. I just want to brighten up their day.

Kymberly Wilkinson - Provincetown

Monday, June 08, 2020

We’ve weathered the stay-at-home order very well in my piano studio in Newburyport. All 40 of my students switched to online lessons using FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom, and we are now completing our second virtual recital since mid-March. I divided the recital into sections by personal attributes that my students and their families have shown during this epidemic. The sections were: We are brave, we are resilient, we are creative, we are optimists, we are confident, we remain playful, we remain positive, and we remain grateful. Here is one of my students, Eliza Burton, age 10.

Penny Lazarus - Newburyport

Friday, June 05, 2020

I am a teacher, teaching Wayland students from home during the pandemic. I miss my students. Most days, the sadness is palpable. But last Friday (May 29), during a small-group virtual meeting, I dismissed a girl in order to work with some of the other students. She asked if she could stay because she was very happy there. Made my day!

Jacqueline Moquin - Arlington

Friday, June 05, 2020

With a dear friend’s 70th birthday approaching at the end of April, we wanted a party. But it had to be safe. A small backyard fire pit, with masks, maybe? Then the weather turned raw. A virtual party seemed unlikely since some in our group had never used Zoom or didn't even have a smartphone. A few days later, though, a spectacular party happened. A bag was delivered to each house with ice cream, candle, and mini bubbly. Everyone learned Zoom, and we toasted and serenaded our beloved birthday girl, Annie Hale. Can’t share birthday cake? No problem, thanks to our cake-themed face masks.

Lynn Hewes - Holliston

Friday, June 05, 2020

This is a shrine to what was not to be: my new white shoes for singing at Tanglewood this summer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. And the wee cake celebrating the Tanglewood Festival Chorus's 50th anniversary this — well, next summer. See you then!

Martha Reardon Bewick - Hingham

Monday, June 01, 2020

Spending time outside has really helped me with this pandemic. I love playing games outside or reading in my backyard. Having my parents around has been essential too: bonding with them over shared experiences and challenges, watching shows together, and just getting that social interaction. I miss hanging out with loved ones, but my parents have been a wonderful support network. This pandemic has been hard, but we will all get through this stronger.

Grace Van Dyck - Wellesley

Monday, June 01, 2020

My sister suggested I share this image that I took of my dad’s 65th birthday, on May 6. I’m a professional photographer, and I knew that with the right lens I could not only drop off handmade cards (and blueberry muffins) to him; I could also capture a picture or two of my parents at a safe distance. It’s not easy to be away from family, and we miss spending time together, but we are all making the best of it. These two have been married for 44 years, and I look up to them both so much. They chose wisely, not knowing all those years ago that they would be spending countless days together during a quarantine in 2020.

Bridget Parmenter - Shrewsbury

Monday, June 01, 2020

Here is my Day 73 photo. It has been fun being part of Postcards from the Pandemic, but this is the last bearded photo you will get from me. I’ve decided to shave it off. My reasons: COVID-19 restrictions are loosening up, I’m tired of the beard, the weather is getting warmer, and barbecue food does not look good in a beard. And perhaps most important, my wife doesn’t like it. (Editor's note: To see the "before" picture, check out the March 18 postcard.)

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Friday, May 29, 2020

My Tae Kwon Do online virtual classes, long walks, knitting, music, occasional baking, and my pet Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza, have all helped give me solace during these stressful times.

Miki Polumbaum - Somerville

Friday, May 29, 2020

During this pandemic, I have been learning how to play the piano. I now know how to play several different songs, including "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran, "Ode to Joy," and other, more simple songs.

Michelle Mancia - Blauvelt, N.Y.

Friday, May 29, 2020

I have been creating one small artwork each day and e-mailing the artwork to friends, often including photos of the day.

Dianne Jenkins - Swampscott

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Walking between buildings at the hospital about a week ago (I am a social worker), I was struck by how many beautiful days we have had — sunny, crisp wind — weather that makes one question how something could be in the air, on surfaces, and on our breath that kills those around us so swiftly. For a moment, I imagined the beauty of ignorance — of believing that the sunlight takes away our danger, that the bodies stacked up at nursing homes and hospitals around the world are merely hearsay. Denial can be beautiful in its own way, and I understand this. But make no mistake, we will pay for such ignorance. Fighting against the allure of ignorance takes effort: Ask any health care worker for advice on how to live every day with the intense need to stare ugliness in the face, fight for little bits of hope, go home exhausted, then wake up and do it again. To deny the truth of this fight is to spit in the face of all those fighting for the hope that one day, we will be out in the world again (yes, in the new normal), free of the unrelenting fear that the sun is only a facade, that the cool breeze is only carrying death, and that we will forever be just one moment away from the paralyzing reality of being afraid of something invisible yet deadly.

Johnna Marcus - Boston

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

I've been inoculating logs with mushroom plug spawn to grow edible mushrooms. Some of the advice I read on how to do it is conflicting, so I've been trying various methods and combinations of woods and mushroom species, resulting in a little mushroom farm on the side of my house. It's a delayed-gratification kind of project, since the mushrooms will take at least six months to start growing, and some much longer than that. I look forward to eating my first quarantine mushrooms but wonder what version of normal we will be living in by then. Regardless, I'm sure they will be delicious, and these days it's always good to have something special to look forward to.

Melanie Mendez - Arlington

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Honking cars filled the cul-de-sac, children cheering through the windows. My little brother Theo was celebrating his 9th birthday, and his classmates’ families had driven to our house to give him presents and cards. I caught paper airplanes and Hot Wheels in my gloved hands while Theo talked to his friends and the kids’ parents chatted with ours. Of course, everyone wore a mask. Despite the 6 feet of separation, we enjoyed one another’s company. In these difficult times, Theo still found a way to have a birthday party with his friends.

Maria Maier - Walpole

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

My dog, Daisy, guarding my groceries before I spray and wipe them off.

Colleen Henry - New City, N.Y.

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

My 2020 college graduate son is isolating from me, but together we are planning his first vegetable garden, since he has the time. He may never garden again, but he can at least say that he tried it once.

Julie Knodler - West Springfield

Friday, May 15, 2020

Day 59 (May 13) of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Friday, May 15, 2020

On a recent morning, while I was praying in our chapel of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, who did I see out the window but a wild turkey waiting for the bus at the corner of Benton Road and Highland Avenue? After a few minutes, it took a turkey trot to the middle of the road. Traffic came to a standstill. One car tried to maneuver around the turkey, only to have the bird waddle to the driver as if to have a chat. Then the driver deftly pulled away, and the turkey returned to the sidewalk and proceeded toward Central Street. Wish I was quick with my camera.

Sister Margaret Anne Meyer - Somerville

Friday, May 15, 2020

My son Nolan graduated from UMass Amherst on Friday. He (the one with his arms up) and a few of his friends are making the best of a bad situation. Last Thursday they took graduation pictures of each other. A classic image to behold these days.

Maura Hardiman - Walpole

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

My husband, Boyd, and I have now had the time to read all the letters he wrote while serving on the front lines in Vietnam in 1968.

Karen Osler - Plymouth

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Here is a sketch of something I think about: climbing a ladder to see my deaf sister at the window on the third floor. When I send her a card or letter, I copy the same sketch each time. In that way we are having a visit, and it feels good.

Claire Dee Ecsedy - Needham

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Well, as an 18-year-old kid, this shelter-in-place thing isn't too easy. We had prom canceled and graduation postponed. Staying home with my family wasn't bad for the first week. Now it's like we live alone but eat meals together. This is an odd time in my life, but it will be one for the books.

Timmy Hasenfus - Needham

Thursday, May 07, 2020

Recently, I did a month's worth of shopping at Stop & Shop. When I finished, I was exhausted and felt as though I would faint. The woman who scanned my groceries stood by me to assure that I was safe. She loaded my groceries into carts, and two kind young women took them to my car. EMTs were called as a precaution, and they checked me out. By that time, I had recovered and was able to drive myself home safely. I will always be grateful for the wonderful people who helped me without making an undue scene.

Emily Little - Winthrop

Thursday, May 07, 2020

Enjoying afternoon walks in the Middlesex Fells with my Bernese mountain dog, here overlooking the middle reservoir. Grateful for nature’s consistent and balanced beauty.

Kate Reynolds - Winchester

Thursday, May 07, 2020

I've always been a music junkie but vulnerable to mondegreens — the misinterpretation of song lyrics. Lately this helped me coronafy classics as I sing them around the house (much to the delight of my dog Edie and the loving exasperation of my girlfriend Rosie). 'We all live in a yellow submarine' becomes 'We all live in corona quarantine.' 'I can't get no satisfaction' becomes 'I can't get no vaccination.'

Pat Bubul and Rosie Jimenez - Somerville

Thursday, May 07, 2020

For our friends in nursing homes: Close your eyes and imagine us. We are out here, your family, friends, acquaintances, and untold numbers of complete strangers. We are rooting for you, wishing for your safety and well-being and that you will beat this virus. You are not alone. We were thinking of you yesterday, we are thinking of you today, and we will still be thinking of you tomorrow. Sincere thanks as well to the many dedicated caregivers for their efforts in watching over our most vulnerable during this brutal time. Be well.

Beth Martens - Wayland

Monday, May 04, 2020

My husband and I are active elders who appreciate all the precautions folks in our community are taking. We do get out for walks, with our masks, of course. I drafted this sentiment, since what I miss most is giving and getting smiles as neighbors and strangers pass by.

Rusty Browder - Brookline

Monday, May 04, 2020

Being outside brings me peace during these confining days. I find the shapes, colors, and nuances of nature endlessly fascinating and beautiful. I’m lucky to live near the Arnold Arboretum, Allandale Woods, Olmsted Park, and many other lovely places.

Anna Rubin - Roslindale

Monday, May 04, 2020

Our response to COVID-19 has blessed me with a community that shares my love of spirituality and does spiritual practices together. I’ve studied spirituality and engaged in spiritual practices my entire life. However, due to my disability, attending yoga classes, church, or spirituality seminars in person is usually impossible . . . until now. With Zoom, I’m able to attend live chair yoga class with others, drum with people in a weekly drum circle, discuss how to apply spiritual principles during weekly church meetings, and meditate with people around the world daily. Here I am practicing yoga with my class. Love to all!

Allison Thompkins - Watertown

Monday, May 04, 2020

Day 38 (April 22) of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Seeing our neighbors out for walks, I wanted to use my fabric stash to send a little hope. We each need to find our own rainbows, knowing that this storm will pass.

Brenda Waber - Natick

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Because I live up on the top of a hill, far away from the road and most other folks, I sometimes feel like a hermit. Except now, I can’t take my usual social distancing for granted. There is another reason for this, and I don’t like it. So after quite a lot of Scrabble solitaire, here is my message to all of you.

Jane Kronheim - Harrisville, N.H.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

I find it helpful to focus on what I have, not what I am missing. I made a list of everything I’m grateful for. There are more than 300 things on it, and I keep adding to it. They are things from my past as well as the present. They include people, objects, services, living conditions, and experiences — major things, such as family and friends and my reasonably good health, and minor things, such as parks, washing machines, and paper towels. Every day I try to spend several minutes thinking about one or more of the items on the list. One that really helps me is to think about how much better my life is, even during these unusual times, than it was for my mother, who grew up poor in the 1930s, or for any of my great-grandparents and other ancestors. If I ask myself whether I’d rather be alive in 2020, 1920, 1820, or earlier, the answer is easy.

J. Gary Jump - Itasca, Ill.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

A COVID-19 haiku:
No haircut in weeks,
My gray roots are coming forth.
This is who I am.

Cindy Benal - Lincoln

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

After 35 days at home, I have brought several jigsaw puzzles to the dining room table. Time flies when pieces of sky stubbornly refuse to join with their mates. Somehow my 81-year-old brain doesn’t seem to have the zip it used to. But I soldier on.

Celia Brown - Malden

Monday, April 20, 2020

Day 31 of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Monday, April 20, 2020

I’ve always spent Wednesdays with my three granddaughters. Until now. The girls came up with the idea of porch visits. Their home has a wrap-around porch. I sit outside on a bench. They sit inside by the window. “Gram, you bring your lunch. Mom will make our lunch. We’ll eat lunch together!” We also read books, share jokes, write Mad Libs. I am grateful to see my granddaughters, but the physical distance is painful. Not hugging is unnatural. The girls express it better than I: “I hate COVID-19. When it’s over, I’m going to hug everyone I know!”

Monica Stuart - Waltham

Monday, April 20, 2020

Mom died four years ago in July, and Dad followed the next April. My brothers and I packed up the house for sale — our family home with its more than 50 years of memories. All my parents’ pictures went carefully into a bin — their wedding album and the baby album Mom had completed only for me, the oldest; us at Christmas, smiling in front of a heavily tinseled tree; at Hampton Beach in the summer, the three of us squinting into the sun in our sandy bathing suits; my brothers in their Little League uniforms, me on my beloved horse, my cousins smiling around the Thanksgiving turkey; my parents all dressed up at some fancy party. All into the bin. Someday, I thought, I’d go through them. Someday has arrived. With all the craziness in the world right now, I’m finding it comforting to go through the old pictures. Looking forward to the day I’ll have everyone over for a great slide show. Thanks for the great memories, Mom and Dad.

Pam Fitzgerald - Dracut

Monday, April 20, 2020

My granddaughter, age 4, taking a walk through the woods. Her mom — my daughter — is walking behind her, but you can see there is no one else in sight. They have stayed home for weeks, except for taking walks and playing in their backyard.

Maureen Cronin Peterson - Milton

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Day 14 of isolation after a plane ride. I feel fine. But life has changed: eat heavily and often; pajamas now fashionable throughout the day; read newspapers, do crosswords, and watch only one television news show per day; commiserate with friends and FaceTime with family; two weeks of no bra — liberating; consciously do not watch/listen to president at any time — also liberating; walk outside and exercise indoors; enjoy the quiet; write; give daily thanks for essential employees and medical workers; feel sad at dawn every day, and then let courage, hope, and gratitude take hold.

Colleen Hertel - Winchester

Thursday, April 16, 2020

We’ve always enjoyed going out exploring as a family, whether it’s in the city or out in nature. Now these outings have become a lifeline, a way for us to stay positive, get exercise, and do some learning along the way. Here is a recent shot of one of our daily field trips: Martin, age 9, at the New England Aquarium.

Josh and Jen Rose-Wood - Roxbury

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Never before seen: Two pictures from Easter Sunday as I drove back to New Hampshire from six weeks down south. New Jersey Turnpike (left) and George Washington Bridge — smooth sailing.

Mike Gallup - Alton, N.H.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

As an individual with a disability living in a nursing home, I am coping during this coronavirus crisis by doing what I find meaningful. Personally, I connect with my friends. As an aging and disability advocate, I work to support colleagues taking the lead on critical issues — the evictions of residents from their nursing homes and the advocacy to assure that there will be no discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the allocation of staff and health services. I support these endeavors by sharing relevant coronavirus updates.

Penny Shaw - Braintree

Thursday, April 16, 2020

This life is new. I know it’s hard and scary, but we’re all in this together. We all need to reset and be kind. All you have to do is just say, “Hi,” from 6 feet apart. That will help someone who has a lot of stress for the moment feel better. Also, a lot of people don’t have anyone to quarantine with. That ends up making them feel sad. If you know someone who is by themselves, you can call them a couple times a week so they don’t feel alone all the time. I bet it will make them feel better.

Henry Morin - Newton

Monday, April 13, 2020

Day 24 of my shelter-in-place beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Monday, April 13, 2020

In 91 years, I survived the Depression, wars, severe storms, the polio epidemic, floods, job loss, shortages, and illness, among other tragedies. This is a new challenge, under self-quarantine, alone with telephone support of wonderful family and friends. I knit, sew, cook, clean, organize drawers, and exercise with weights to keep busy. My greatest concern is my precious family being infected, and I pray for the best, think positive, and hope we can work together to survive this frightening time. Today I’m making masks. Be good to one another.

Beverly Smith - North Easton

Monday, April 13, 2020

I am board president of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail. It seems appropriate to share this, since Abigail Adams was a pioneer in treating epidemics. In 1776, to protect her children from smallpox, Adams bravely took her family from Braintree to Boston to be inoculated.

Michelle Jenney - Boston

Monday, April 13, 2020

Trains are running. All is normal. People on platforms wait for their train. Trains arrive, and depart. Stores and restaurants are open. People on sidewalks walk together and enter and leave stores. There is much traffic on city streets. Railroad freight yards are busy. Switch engines do their work. You may ask: Where is this happening? It is in my basement, on my HO scale model railroad. I operate it as if it is the real thing. It seems to be sometimes. This hobby has helped me spend time at home quarantined.

Alan Stapleford - Merrimack, N.H.

Monday, April 13, 2020

A colleague who works for the costume shop at the Huntington Theatre Company made and dropped off masks for me and asked that I make a donation to Greater Boston Food Bank. I did. We have now moved from being connected on Instagram to becoming true friends going forward. You never know where you will find grace.

Candelaria Silva-Collins - Dorchester

Monday, April 13, 2020

As an educator of 27 years’ experience, I sit at home alone in front of a screen for the “school day.” Using Google video chat, I “student-fish,” hoping to get a bite from one of our mainstreamed kids in the Maine public school district in which I teach special education. We face-chat a lot. The kids seem to like the connection — they look for it, in fact. Every day, our principal, who used to spend his days with noncompliant students, sends out video “lifts,” funny homemade videos to remind us what is really important — like us, like the families, like the kids who miss hating their regular classes. This is school. And you know what? These amazing professionals are doing it.

Rita Pender - Rochester, N.H.

Thursday, April 09, 2020

My now-adult son Ben sculpted this unique creation in art camp during high school. I’m staying positive by taking pictures of his and his sister Emily’s artwork. Their pieces decorate our 800-square-foot Upper West Side apartment in New York. Emily lives in Somerville. We named Ben’s sculpture Corona. Sometimes the past is prologue.

Naomi Serviss - New York

Thursday, April 09, 2020

When my tooth became abscessed and my face swollen, I called my dentist’s office and left a message. Although the office was closed, I got a return call asking me to come in the following day at 10 a.m. I arrived to find my dentist masked, and wearing jeans and a paint-spattered jacket. Instead of Lucy the receptionist, my dentist’s son (about middle-school age) sat at the front desk at the computer, in class, online. While I reclined in the chair, the dentist’s daughter (also about middle-school age), assisted him. The whole scene felt quite homespun, if not a bit otherworldly. Yet at the same time, the tooth was saved.

Sharon Love Cook - Beverly Farms

Thursday, April 09, 2020

“April is the cruelest month,” wrote T.S. Eliot. The story on a Cambridge sidewalk on a recent morning.

Susan Donnelly - Arlington

Thursday, April 09, 2020

My daughter and her husband and two children live less than a mile away. We haven’t been within 6 feet of each other in weeks. My sister-in-law has a compromised respiratory system. In the last month and a half, I’ve only seen her and her husband when we’ve been FaceTiming. The huge clan that I belong to — normally a gregarious group of hug-and-kiss brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and first, second, and third cousins — now meets only on FaceTime or Zoom to gab, keep up to date on our health, or even play trivia. Knowing we’re doing the right things isn’t making it any easier.

Tom Corcoran - Chelmsford

Monday, April 06, 2020

My shelter-in-place beard, day 17.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Monday, April 06, 2020

My sister Sheridan Haines and I moved our mother, Betsy Gray, from her lifetime home in New Jersey to memory care at The Branches of North Attleborough on Feb. 1. We all had a very difficult transition to the new normal, and then along came the coronavirus. Although we haven’t been able get in to see Mom since early March due to visitor restrictions, with the help of some amazing caregivers, we celebrated her 82d birthday safely behind glass. Despite it all — Mom’s advancing dementia and the chaos of COVID-19 — she was beaming with a smile for the first time in a long time. We all appreciated sharing this simple moment of joy with her.

Jeffry Stanton - Attleboro

Monday, April 06, 2020

I like working from home because my dog always lies next to me on the couch — and sometimes likes to get in my way when I’m doing work.

Kieran Mahaffey - Westwood

Thursday, April 02, 2020

I am just past 60 and have been trying for years to exercise regularly. This pandemic finally motivated me to get healthier. I’m up to 4.5 miles on my stationary bike and have only missed one day in two weeks. I feel better and have more energy. I am also doing a book club with my daughter on FaceTime (“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”) and playing board games remotely with my family via Tabletopia.

Sarah Blodgett - Concord

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Tuesday afternoon I woke from a nap — rather suddenly — to find my kid having a pandemic jam on the front lawn. When I went outside to stop the ruckus (it was Metallica), I noticed several passersby who were . . . clapping. I let him finish. I posted on the Milton Neighbors Facebook page. Since then, more than 400 people have liked or loved the post. My mom’s response when I texted her this story: “Tell Max this is needed. I will play my accordion outside my house [in upstate New York]. Same idea. Unity.”

Elizabeth Plageman - Milton

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Homeschooling assignment for 7 year old: opinion writing. She did not hold back, wondering if ⁦@GlobeOpinion⁩ is looking for submissions??

Melissa Manganello - Boston

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Neighborhood women, socially distanced but spiritually connected, are sewing surgical masks for local first responders, as did those who came before them, making bandages at home for the front lines and hospitals during the Civil War.

Rick Mattila - Hull

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

I’m blowing thousands of leaves that lingered all winter — now I have the time. Wish I could blow out the virus as easily. — Larry Berk, Beverly Farms

Larry Berk - Beverly Farms

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

As humanity lurches headlong into a dystopian viral world, the practice of noticing signs of spring affords me a degree of solace. The swelling green buds on the crabapple tree outside my window, the ceaseless medley of a mockingbird on a treetop, and the irrepressible purple crocus randomly poking up through the crusty earth assure me that life goes on.

Nancy Ahmadifar - Boston

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

My grandkids, Haley (age 7) and Jack (age 5), take their virtual bus to school in their home in South Berwick, Maine.

Jack Clarke - Gloucester

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

I never liked working from home, and am reminded why daily, but I also have never appreciated the split-level splendor of my own home as I do now. There are multiple levels for my husband, my college-going son, an elderly dog, and me to share for our worldly activities. The noise travels easily, making conference calls a negotiation with the laundry and the work habits of cohabiters, but so does the camaraderie. Loss crops up around us daily in ways large and small, so I choose to gain solace in this homestead before it is consigned to the empty nest and, eventually, to another family.

Amity Kelley - Sharon

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

With everything shut down and shuttered, I’ve been taking two-hour walks around Jamaica Plain, including the Arnold Arboretum. I really miss hugging my friends and family. Then I decided that if I couldn’t hug them, I’d hug my favorite tree at the Arboretum, a 47-year-old giant sequoia. I made a pilgrimage to this magnificent beauty and gave it a huge hug. It felt really good. I recommend this to everyone who’s missing the human touch. And I’m sure our trees will appreciate it.

Allen M. Spivack - Jamaica Plain

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I thought I would break out my rock-painting supplies and create a “souvenir” of this crazy time, not that we will soon forget. This is a coronavirus cell. Pretty, no? No! One day I will throw it into the sea, along with my fear and uncertainty, and life will begin anew.

Jain Ruvidich-Higgins - Quincy

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Finally tackling that 1,000-piece puzzle I’ve had for months, while the grandfather clock ticks softly in the background, underlining the minutes we are alone.

Gina Weinberger - Lexington

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

My son at sunset on Friday in North Truro.

Neil Leifer - Brookline

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I live at Orchard Cove, senior housing in Canton. I’m not alone: I’m self-quarantined with my husband. Bach cello suites and my drawing table with watercolor paints brighten our anxious world.

Eleanor Rubin - Canton

Monday, March 30, 2020

Leo is practicing social distancing.

Robert O’Brien - Falmouth

Monday, March 30, 2020

A sense of humor really helps. My wife and I have been sheltering in place as she awaited the results of the COVID-19 test she had on Saturday. We’re both in our 70s, and she volunteers for the Massachusetts 211 line. The test results came back negative today, and she’s cleared to go back to taking Mass 211 calls at the end of the week. We’re in constant touch with family and friends, and we’re watching more television than usual. Both of us are avid readers. She’s reading the beginning of “The Stand” and I’m reading “Insomnia,” both by Stephen King.

Marc D. Goldfinger - Belmont

Monday, March 30, 2020

Many seniors look forward to cleaning out their closets upon retirement. We, however, are cleaning out our 35-year-old basement freezer while we are practicing home isolation. It’s filled with lots of veggies from last year’s bounty from our community garden: tomatoes, corn, pepper strips, broccoli, kale, pesto, and some store-bought items. We’ve wondered about using such an old appliance that is not energy efficient. For now, though, the ability to make hearty soups and stews during the coronavirus outbreak, without frequent shopping, may be an OK lapse in our climate impact.

Tolle Graham - Jamaica Plain

Monday, March 30, 2020

While the president delivered his daily briefing last Friday (March 20), I called a mandatory meeting with my coats in the living room. They all attended: two collapsible rain slickers, one fall wool jacket, five vests, one raincoat, one long woolen dress coat, four barn coats and/or silk jackets, two jean jackets, one pea coat, two down jackets, one leather jacket, five hooded and unhooded fleece jackets. A total of 25 pieces of outerwear. Let me repeat that: 25. At the conclusion of the meeting, I decided no one needs that many. Goodwill now has the peacoat, the woolen dress coat, one barn coat, one vest, and two ill-fitting fleece jackets (unhooded). I’ll be fine.

Carl Zukroff - Brighton

Friday, March 27, 2020

I take a power walk to the Charlestown Navy Yard each morning. On a gray day, passing the now-deserted USS Constitution, Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World” queued up on my music, and I sang along as loud as I could. Felt better.

Lynne Byall Benson - Charlestown

Friday, March 27, 2020

Every time I reach for a puzzle piece, she scratches me.

Gayle H. Edson - Wakefield

Friday, March 27, 2020

I invited my extended family — 29 siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins — to share by e-mail their challenges and opportunities in dealing with this pandemic. Interesting to note commonalities of those living in different communities across this country. Even more interesting to learn about those dealing with a wide range of health and work-related issues.

Floyd Alwon - Needham

Friday, March 27, 2020

Full-time working mom bringing the classroom outside and teaching my kids that this is so much more than just about us. So many people stopped by, from a distance, to share their heartfelt stories. A neighbor shared that her daughter is a nurse on the front lines. Perspective.

Jenna McPhee - Canton

Friday, March 27, 2020

Shelter-in-place beard update: I’m planning on taking a picture every week until this is over. The last one was taken three days in, so this one is from Day 10.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

How am I coping? Living alone at 82 could be a challenge, but fortunately my children and their families live close by. Being somewhat computer savvy helps. Several weeks ago I took a memoir-writing workshop, so I have begun writing vignettes of my life. After reading about a free online course offered by a Yale professor, I signed up. The content deals with increasing happiness in one’s life — what a good time to do that!

Lynn Gaulin - North Attleborough

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I roam where I can on the trails and streets near my house. I have walked here for 35 years, with dogs, with friends, with grandkids, and with strangers. But now I always walk alone and create impermanent “chalk talk” markings to let other humans know we are not walking alone.

Melody Winnig - Wayland

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

I am a competitive ice dancer, and all the rinks are closed. So instead, I am taking jogs and walks every day and using weights and doing abs. Another way I am keeping busy is I am running an online book club on jitsi meet. I have at least seven people, and it is a really good way to keep connected. The photo is of me trying out a computer camera.

Simon Mintz - Lexington

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

All will be well (Burma-Shave-style).

Sarah Glover - Arlington

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

I’m photographing nature at local parks and making e-greeting cards to post on Facebook for my pun-loving friends and family.

Valerie A. Russo - Weymouth

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

A few nights ago, my neighbor asked me to come out to my porch at 7 p.m., and we sang “Hey Jude” together across my yard. Now singing together has become a nightly ritual, involving growing numbers of neighbors. Let’s not practice “social distancing” exactly — let’s keep 6 feet of physical distance, but stay socially connected. So lean out your window, come out to your porch, or come stroll down the street, and #singfromsixfeet! Each night’s song is chosen by Secret Boston.

Jill Harrison Berg - Jamaica Plain

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

We are playing “Guess the Etch Movie” on our Etch A Sketches. My “King Kong” was an easy guess.

Susan Dromey Heeter - Dover

Monday, March 23, 2020

During the pandemic — what really seems like the first one I’ve experienced in my almost 98 years — I am enjoying the St. Patrick’s Day flowers that my son sent me as well as the corned beef and cabbage my daughter brought me. I am keeping busy by quilting and reading my beloved Boston Globe.

Mary Murray McCarthy - West Roxbury

Monday, March 23, 2020

Finding solace going for a (short) walk in my “Garden in the Almost-Woods.”

Pam Hays - Littleton

Monday, March 23, 2020

For my dad’s 86th birthday, we filled all the bird feeders at his nursing home, spoke on the phone, and waved through the window. He thinks this quarantine is nonsense. (The image is through his window, with a reflection of us and the bird-feeders.)

Rachel Evans - Somerville

Friday, March 20, 2020

I am sheltering in place. In the springs of central Florida as often as possible. That’s my kind of social distancing. Keeping the immune system tuned up and trying to make wise choices when it’s necessary to be out and about in public. Stay safe and well, everyone.

David Burn - Weeki Wachee

Friday, March 20, 2020

I found this leaf stuck between the boards of my deck Wednesday. He’s social distancing, but I think he’s struggling with anxiety. It’s OK, leaf. We’re all having a hard time. I’m here for you.

Sunshine Menezes - West Kingston, R.I.

Friday, March 20, 2020

The first time I took a weeklong silent retreat at a monastery in the 1980s, I felt like a religious hotshot. Solitude — no crockpot, no squabbles, no traffic — was mine. Within 24 hours, I became furious. Why was no one speaking to me? Why were they all so rude — monks and everyone? Be patient. Wait for God. Baloney, I thought. Alone, I prayed and wrote letters of rage and sorrow to God. Slowly, a surge of safety and truth, wrapped in silence, rose up inside me. I met my self. Is there a “retreat” in social distancing?

The Rev. Lyn Gillespie Brakeman - Cambridge

Thursday, March 19, 2020

I’m a local cartoonist and I’ve been keeping a visual journal of what life has been like during all this social distancing. It’s a crucial way of keeping records for my daughter for when she’s older (when she hopefully won’t remember this), and to keep myself sane. I’m posting them online and I am amazed at how much my thoughts and experiences help buoy others — we are all in this together.

Maria Photinakis - Waltham

Thursday, March 19, 2020

I read an article once in The New York Times titled, “You Should Actually Send That Thank You Note You’ve Been Meaning to Write.” Well, this time at home, away from my daily work schedule, has given me the time to write those thank you notes — finally! My plan is to write a note a day during the weeks to come. I will be writing mentors, former teachers, ministers, and even authors who have inspired me. But I am starting off with a thank you note to my academic dean of studies. She has been preparing the faculty for the online teaching and learning we are about to embark on with our students after spring break. Indeed, even during this time of uncertainty, I have so much to be thankful for.

Julian Kenneth Braxton - Boston

Thursday, March 19, 2020

My gym recently closed, which means no more tennis indoors for a while. Very disappointing. Went for a lovely, sunny, and calm walk along the river. Two tennis courts sat unused, with a couple perched outside on a bench, holding their rackets. Why weren’t they playing? Did someone forget the balls? After a bit, they left. My husband and I checked out the courts. The gates were locked. We checked out the lonely playground nearby without screaming kids. Also locked. This is all like a bad movie. When will it end?

Nanda Calla - Chelsea Waterfront

Thursday, March 19, 2020

The last public event I attended was church on Sunday. I do not intend to shave again until things are back to normal. I call it my “shelter-in-place” beard.

Jim Hamilton - Marshfield

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

A work in progress: stenciling my bathroom.

Sara Buttrick - Maynard

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Last night we enjoyed a family dinner at our home in Cambridge with our three daughters and their families, who never left their homes in Wakefield, Plymouth, and Ashland. Everybody set their own table (we used the best dishes, and candles), made dinner, and everyone sat down to eat at 6:30, signed into Google Hangouts (but any meeting software would do). Maybe next time we will all cook the same meal.

Jane Stabile - Cambridge

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

A scene from last Friday, as reality and panic set in, and I stood in the Trader Joe’s checkout line: The woman behind me, a tense scramble of fear, stage-whispered into her phone, “There’s a cart in front of me with four-dozen eggs!” I turned to her, smiled, and said calmly, “I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but this is normal for my shopping cart. I’m picking up my son from college. He eats four eggs every morning.”

Ann Marie Lindquist - Lexington

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

By trying to find humor somewhere, anywhere.

Beth Gamse - Cambridge

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Gun sales are way up. A sense of panic. Fear everywhere. Lives disrupted. No end in sight. But amid the chaos, any island of sanity is all the more appreciated. In normal times, Trader Joe’s in Coolidge Corner is a popular destination. But in these abnormal times, it is absolutely inundated with worried shoppers. And yet, five minutes before it opened one morning, the spontaneous order of a long single-file line reminded me that people are capable of civilized behavior even in trying times. Very reassuring.

Paul E. Greenberg - Brookline

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

And coming home to this chucklehead (Chester) doesn’t hurt. Wishing everyone well during this crazy time.

Tracy Relle - Carrabassett Valley, Maine

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Staying in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. While Sugarloaf may be closed, there is plenty of hiking to be had and solace to be found in the woods.

Tracy Rellle - Carrabassett Valley, Maine

Tuesday, March 17, 2020