Pandemic Life - February to March

March 27th

A year has passed and NY is re-awakening but these are a few more photos from February and March that I want added to my official pandemic 1st year record. At this point I get daily Facebook memories reminding me the craziness that was happening a year ago. It’s definitely helping me reflect on what we have been through and the changes we have made. Wow! Now just keep wearing a mask and being careful and we will pull past this!

March 9

Covid means smaller birthday gatherings spread over multiple nights! That means lots of safe in-person fun! So happy to be hanging tonight with my BID colleagues, without whom I never would have survived this pandemic! And doing it at Fanelli Cafe, which had offered us a place for cold beverages and fun all along the way, adapting as time went on. Yay NoHo and SoHo and surviving this thing!

March 6

Thank you for all the birthday greetings. I love hearing from everyone, especially this year, where our virtual connections are more important than ever. I spent my Saturday birthday volunteering at the Manos Que Dan, Reciben Bendiciones food pantry like I always do. After 8 months, the people there have become my covid family and yesterday they rose up and surprised me with a cake and some delicious Ecuadorian aguardiente. One covid silver lining for me has been befriending all these folks while working hard each week with them to serve our community during these especially dark times.

March 5

Oh how times have changed in a year! We sure didn’t know what was coming!! This year we had to take a few more precautions at my birthday drinks. #maintainyourdistance #wearamask #alcoholkillsthegerms

February 17

11 months... Ugh, remember when we thought we were just going home for two weeks... then two months... Now it seems silly to plan for the future, since I don’t know what that will look like. So I double mask and continue to live my new normal and hope that the vaccine will finally arrive in meaningful numbers and that enough people will take it. February in NYC is never great. Covid doesn’t help. But the blanket of snow that keeps falling a little more every couple of days sure is pretty and listening to kids play and laugh in it feels healing. And indoor dining opened up to 25% again this past weekend, so hopefully that will help restaurants survive. I don’t want to eat inside, but apparently others do. Meanwhile I still like the adventure of bundling up and eating and drinking outside. Stay healthy everyone. We’ll get through this!

February 12

With so many public celebrations being turned virtual, I was so happy that my favorite Chinese New Year tradition, when lions and drummers come out to bless the businesses in Manhattan Chinatown, still happened today. There definitely was a smaller crowd, but there still plenty of celebration in the air. Happy Year of the Ox!

February 11

Multi-tasking during a work Zoom... And now my Valentine’s Day mask is ready! Let the celebrations begin!

Vaccinated!!!

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 was my last day on the office pre-pandemic.  I sure had no idea what was coming. Now, today, exactly one year later, I went to Javits to get my first vaccine shot. It’s just so incredible to contemplate how much has changed during this year.  I hope today marks the beginning of the end and I’ll see you all in person somewhere soon.

Covid Tourism - Charleston 2021

Curiosity about how other areas were getting through the Pandemic and a desire to find a new place to take long solo walks with some sun in the forecast, prompted me to hop a flight to Charleston, SC. Yes, maybe it was risky, but I decided to #doublemaskandcarryon and after 14 days and covid tests before, during and after, I didn’t get sick. The sunshine felt great. The historic architecture was beautiful. The food was YUM!!! And I got to visit an old friend and get a peak into his life. Not bad for a weekend during these crazy times.

Check out my Photos from Charleston on Facebook